Behind every face on UBC’s campuses, there is a story.

For UBC’s World University Service of Canada (WUSC) refugee award winners, those stories highlight their incredible resilience and ambition. Through perseverance and dedication, this small group of students has overcome immense challenges to build a new future for themselves through education.

The WUSC refugee student award and sponsorship program is jointly funded by UBC Enrolment Services, the Alma Mater Society (AMS), and additional funding from Vantage College, as well as donors. Awards generally cover tuition, books, housing and living expenses.

At just 20-years old, Syrian undergraduate Science student Hajar Alnabilsi lives in residence at UBC after spending 11 years in a Jordanian refugee camp. Her family fled to Jordan to escape the brutal civil war in her home country.

Her determination to excel academically led her to UBC through the WUSC sponsorship program, where she is now pursuing sciences

“I am studying sciences here since I arrived in 2024. Then I want to go to medical school and become a heart surgeon,” she said. “I talk to my family twice a day on the phone. I tell them about everything. Sometimes we laugh, sometimes we cry.”

“Being away from them is difficult, but I am focused on my purpose. My parents say to me ‘This is a new step in your life.’ Right now, education is the most important thing.”

“I am learning how to be independent and adapt to a new place and adapt to new ways. I hope to inspire more support for refugees around the world. Nobody chooses to be a refugee,” she said.

Alnabilsi is one of 153 WUSC award winners from around the world who have studied at UBC since 1981. A student fee administered by the AMS to help fund a permanent sponsorship program was formally approved in 1985.

Back then, UBC alumni Chris Friesen (now Chief Operating Officer at the Immigrant Services Society of BC) had recently returned from a trip to India when he started a push to permanently fund a refugee sponsorship program through WUSC through a 50-cent annual increase in student fees. He and a small team organized a student led referendum, campaigning through the fall of 1984. In early 1985, when the referendum was held and the results announced, it had not passed by a small margin. A week later after a recount occurred it was discovered that the referendum had actually passed with a tiny 29-vote majority.

“A small group of well-meaning students came together to organize a successful referendum and the impact of that decision continues to create opportunities to support refugee students from around the world. The program has helped shape UBC’s global reputation and underscores the power of education to create a better world for refugees,” said Friesen.

Forty years later, the fee per student is now $6.64. Those fees, combined with central funding and donor support, currently allow UBC to fund nine WUSC refugee sponsored students annually. Beyond financial assistance, the program enriches the campus community by bringing diverse perspectives and experiences that contribute to global learning, said UBC WUSC program advisor Althea Evans.

“International students, including WUSC award recipients, bring valuable insights and global perspectives to their classrooms, friendships and campus life,” said Evans. “It’s a privilege to meet these scholars and to hear their stories. They make meaningful contributions, whether they stay here in Canada or choose to return to their countries of origin.”

Yom Magot Jipur, 25, is in her third year of biomedical engineering studies at UBC. She was born in a refugee camp in Kakuma, Kenya, after her mother fled civil war in Sudan in 1992. Inspired by her experience in spending time with her sick brother in hospital, she is passionate about developing medical technologies that improve health care access in underserved communities.

“It was beautiful,” she recalled of her first impression of Vancouver, but there have been challenges along the way. “Adapting to a new academic environment was difficult at first, but I have learned so much and gained confidence in my skills.”

While she has overcome those initial challenges, she too has yet to be able to return home and see her mother in person.

“I am motivated to take advantage of a chance she never had. She would be proud of how far I have come. That is what she always wanted,” Jipur said.

The shock of arrival and the stark differences between BC and home are also fresh in the mind of Hafso Muktar. She came to UBC in 2022 after eight years in Dadab, a Kenyan refugee camp. She, along with her eight siblings and their mother, fled Somalia in 2014.

“It was like a dream coming true coming to Vancouver,” said Muktar. “I felt like I couldn’t believe I’d made it. Everything was different. I struggled to understand the Canadian accent at first, but I was determined to make it.”

Now in her third year of Food, Nutrition and Health studies in UBC’s Faculty of Land and Food Sciences, Muktar is active in student clubs and has made a core group of friends from around the world.

“I’m so grateful to be here,” said Muktar. “I would like to go back to Kenya with the knowledge I have acquired here and give back to my community.”