平特五不中

By Karen Seidman, Montreal Gazette,聽April 26, 2016 :

"Every semester, 平特五不中 faculty lecturer聽Anita Nowak challenges her students to come up with projects for her social entrepreneurship and social innovation class based on a theme that she finds particularly timely and relevant.

For this semester, it was helping Syrian refugees integrate into Canadian society.

The result, she says, is an array of projects that are both creative and practical and, most importantly, display a terrific empathy for the plight of refugees fleeing war-torn countries for the safety of a country that presents new hurdles.

To date, Quebec has welcomed about 5,368 Syrian refugees (3,550 adults and 1,850 children), with a total of 7,300 still the goal聽for the end of 2016.聽

Through a series of guest speakers, Nowak first exposed her management聽class to the realities of what it means to be a refugee. Then she put the ball in their court and asked her students聽to create a better world for the聽refugees, but stemming from empathy 鈥� not pity.聽

That distinction, she says, is important to refugees.聽

鈥淚t is a meaningful experience for the students,鈥� Nowak said in an interview Tuesday. 鈥淚t challenges their ideas about the world.鈥�

Furthermore, she said, it helped dispel any concerns about the safety considerations of opening Canada鈥檚 borders to Syrian refugees. 鈥淚t humanized them and their situation,鈥� Nowak said.

She hopes it also teaches her students聽to walk the walk and not just offer platitudes about changing the world.聽

鈥淚 want them to think about how they spend their money, their time and their energy to really reflect who they聽want to be in the world,鈥� Nowak said. 鈥淚 tell them to 鈥榖e the change.'鈥�