From all over the globe
The final installment in a three-part series: International students celebrate their diversity
October 31, 2007
Bethany Meckelburg
“Anytime something to do with Africa comes up, it tweaks my heart,” says Andrew Dawn, a third-year chemistry major. “Once you’ve been in Africa, you don’t forget it. Africa is a part of who you are,” he says. “It’s hard to get away from.”
Dawn’s parents were missionaries in Africa when he was young, making him a missionary kid, or “MK.” Six years of his life were spent in Kenya where his parents were developing a language program for Africa Inland Mission (AIM) and then later when his dad became principal of a missionary college that trained Africans to minister to other Africans.
Being an American citizen and landed immigrant in Canada, one would think that Dawn would have a strong identity tied to the U.S., but that isn’t the case.
“Two years in the States isn’t a lot to know what it’s like to be American,” he laughs. “I feel Canadian, but I’m not.”
And to complicate matters, he still feels a tug to Africa.
His international upbringing has given him a heart for the global community. Dawn currently works and lives in The Globe with International Students Programs, and was the International Resident Assistant last year.
“It’s exciting working with international students because it’s different. Not different for me as an MK, because I’ve had similar experiences. [But] living in the international dorm [is exciting],” he says.
The Globe provides a place for international students to be comfortable, a place for them to hang out and feel like they belong. It also creates a space that allows international and North American students to meet and build relationships.
The Globe is host to a wide variety of activities: Bible studies, dorm meetings, game nights, dinner and the Spanish table and more. “It’s a springboard for everything we do,” says Andrea Ribey, Assistant Director of Community Life for International Students. “It’s like a collegium-type thing and it’s the ISP headquarters.”
The Globe boasts a full kitchen and homey atmosphere that is open to anyone and everyone and is working towards bringing together as many people as possible.
According to Dawn, The Globe’s focus right now is to reach out to home-stay students through ESLI student lunches. Since they are off campus, they may not feel as comfortable in Canada as international students who are on campus.
“We’re getting the impression that they’re not connecting as much,” he said. “We’ve had some impact, but living in the dorm has broken down a lot of their comfort zone barriers and we want to connect home stay students as well.”
“We are blessed at this University to have so many incredible students from all over the world. Often though, in the busyness of our lives, we don’t consider who it really is that sits beside us in chapel, or class or the library… God longs to speak to us through the different cultures of His world,” Ribey pointed out.
International Week is fast approaching and it will be an opportunity to be engaged in the global community of TWU. There are many rich cultures to explore through friendship, and ISP is trying to provide events that will be the catalyst for these relationships.
“International Week is a time to initiate getting to know more about these special friends, to stop and think about what it means to include, love and accept others, and to begin developing a more global awareness,” Ribey says.
It runs from November 5-8, and will include events such as sushi-making, bubble tea, a Venezuelan meal, tea and coffee with Dr. Raymond and much more.
It will be a time for students, like Dawn, who have been shaped by their experiences outside of the North America, to come together and share their unique stories.
And even though Dawn only spent a few years in Africa as a child, it has shaped him; a corner of his heart still belongs to the continent, and it is on his mind.
“The situation in Darfur is on my mind quite regularly. I care and I know. But there are a lot of things I don’t know about,” he said. “I went through a time where Africa was the past, and then I started to think I really want to go back. I still want to go back, but I’m not sure how. There’s something in my heart for Africa.”
Now you go...
Got something to say?