Dec
2010
Dec
Hanan Awneh, who left the United Arab Emirates with her mother and two brothers for Ottawa about four years ago, received this year's Marion Dewar Scholarship for immigrant and refugee youth.
It's not easy to be a top student in your class when you are new to the country and don't speak much English, explains Hanan, in an interview with Canadian Newcomer. “Back in United Arab Emirates it [the education] was based on memorizing books and stuff, and here it's about understanding what you are learning.”
Hanan from Lisgar Collegiate Institute, was one of two students that received the Marion Dewar Scholarship, a multi-organizational partnership between the Marion Dewar Scholarship Fund program and Ottawa Community Immigrant Services Organization (OCISO).
At the OCISO annual gala ceremony on 24 Nov., Mayor-elect Jim Watson presented Hanan and Brahim Jelassi from Ecole Secondaire Publique Omer-Deslauriers with cheques for $1000 each to help them pay for their post-secondary education.
Brahim emigrated from Tunisia two years ago is currently studying engineering at the University of Ottawa.
The Marion Dewar Scholarship pays tribute to the late mayor and her enduring commitment to the needs of immigrants, especially immigrant youth in the community. Ms. Dewar, who passed away in 2008, helped found OCISO in 1978 and the award is aimed at recognizing the role she played in the immigrant community.
“The Marion Dewar Scholarship Fund is really a celebration of a new and creative way to invest in our future leaders and pay tribute to a dear friend and a mentor,” said Hamdi Mohamed, Executive Director of OCISO. “It is a way for all of us to collectively make a tangible difference and a way for us all to be a part of a ”˜village' that helps immigrant and refugee youth succeed.”
To qualify for the scholarship, the applicants must prove that they are top students in their classes and involved in their community. The minimum GPA of the applicants cannot be below 3.3 out of four.
The scholarship will help Hanan pay her fees at Algonquin College, where she studies interior design. The young woman has been working at McDonalds part-time since eleventh grade.
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