WEBVTT

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Q: So to start with can you tell me a bit

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about the ACSSU?

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A: So the ACSSU

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student union it's a non-profit

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organization registered in Canada

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and it's situated at about five

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different campuses. We have

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chapters at Mcmaster, Brock, Western, York,

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U of T,

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and so basically we give a voice to

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Syrian students

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across the the nation and we raise

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awareness about the

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Syrian heritage as well as promoting

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higher education like amongst our

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members,

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as well as awareness about human rights

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issues such as like what the event is

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being held right now.

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Q: And can you tell me about the event that

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you're holding on campus?

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A: It's called the life of a Mesopotamian

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refugee.

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We choose the word Mesopotamia because

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it encompasses the native people that

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are

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to Iraq and Syria and Turkey and Iran.

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Assyrians are spread

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across all of these countries and so the

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whole purpose

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is to raise awareness about what's

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currently going on in

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Iraq and Syria especially towards

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minorities which is why we have this

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symbol of a nune. This was

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placed on the houses of people that are

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that were christians

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during the ISIS invasion in 2014 so

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giving

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us this whole title of Mesopotamian and

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students sleep outside in a tent

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in an effort to raise awareness and

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emulate the life of a refugee by not

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eating

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or drinking unless given by donation.

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Sleeping outside in the cold

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and standing pretty much on their feet

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all day long trying to gather

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like funds and collect donations to send

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back to the displaced peoples.

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Q: And how would you say this experience

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has helped you to better understand how

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refugees live?

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A: This experience has shown me that

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you will face rejection. You will face

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positive

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interactions with people. However you

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should not be discouraged but the

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rejection kind of reminded me of

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the neglect the negligence that the

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entire international community is

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putting towards these minority groups

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and so I got to feel that a little bit

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as well as the cold condition.

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Not being able to go home, not

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showering, not eating, or drinking unless

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given by donations. So those are a little

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bit.

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Q: And where do your funds go? A: The funds

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will be

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given to an agency called the Catholic

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Near East Welfare Association.

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This organization is a charitable

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organization registered in the

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Government of Canada

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that operates in the Middle East.

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Primarily given

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projects to, to support minority groups.

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However they help all people in terms of

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their psychological needs,

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their you know medical needs, if they

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need any,

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food or water, rebuilding

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churches. Things like that this is what

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the organization does and that's where

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the funds will be given.

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Q: So why did you choose this charity

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specifically? A: So this charity -

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for us we are majority

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Assyrians and we have a lot of family

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that are in the

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in these areas that are Christians and

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they directly support Christians. So this

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is why

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we have chosen this charity. However they

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do support

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all like, anybody of any faith. However we

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just know that you know through this

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charity that our people will also get

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the

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help. Q: And what have you accomplished so

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far?

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A: So far we have, I mean in terms of funds, I

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can't give you a guaranteed number.

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I want to say somewhere close to like

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eight thousand dollars,

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through like online and both on Mcmaster

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and York or sorry, Ryerson campuses.

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But we have gotten the word out and

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that's what's most important is

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to let people know that in these past

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few years since ISIS has come around

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there have been many many lives that

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have been affected directly and

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they those people don't want to flee.

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These are people that want to remain in

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the homeland because they want to

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maintain their history and it's

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now being rebuilt. You know Iraqi

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forces and as well as other militias

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have

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tried to regain those cities that were

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taken over

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and demolished. So a lot of things

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are being restored in this process so

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getting

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people to be aware of this is very

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important. Q: So what is your fundraising

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goal?

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A: Our goal is thirty thousand dollars.

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However you know in the past it's just

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because we've constantly every year

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gone up in terms of our funds collected.

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So we last year,

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raised twenty eight thousand and four

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hundred fifty dollars. We figured that we

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would just shoot higher

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so we're aiming for thirty. However

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you know so far it's been really great. I

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know that the Canadian community has

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been overwhelmed with

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the refugee sort of intake here

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so a lot of people have already donated

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in terms of that. So

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whatever we get is great. I mean just

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raising awareness is also a big goal of

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ours.

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Q: And how can people help support your

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cause?  A: So people can support it

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by obviously donating. However also just

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letting people know about

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who we are. There are minorities

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people don't even think that there are

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Christians in Iraq and Syria.

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So this is something that we'd like

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to just educate the community about.

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Q: Okay, well thank you so much for your

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time.