Thousands of people are arriving from abroad and are on the brink of entering Canada to flee war, taking only the bare minimum with them and leaving their loved ones and communities behind. Among these people, many are youth and students who find themselves in extremely precarious and difficult situations. The Montreal Clinical Research Institute (IRCM) will soon welcome a prospective summer intern and student from Ukraine. Many others will be in a similar situation. These students arrive destitute and unprepared, taken aback by a war as unexpected as it is cruel for the civilian population of Ukraine.
In order to help these students, and in collaboration with the IRCM Foundation, the IRCM’s Pragmatic Health Ethics Research Unit is launching a special mutual aid campaign to respond to the extraordinary situation in which these students find themselves. Funds can be donated to our Foundation’s emergency fund (choose “Emergency fund for IRCM student ” and select the option “Sponsorship of a Ukrainian student” to help our intern and others who find themselves in a similar predicament).
Please see the following link to access the Foundation’s portal: https://www.imakeanonlinedonation.org/fondationircm/FURGENCE//
The suffering caused by this war shakes us to our core. Despite the helplessness we feel, we still have the means to act concretely by demonstrating our solidarity as a community and helping youth continue their studies, especially given that knowledge is one of the most powerful antidotes to violence and one of the best guarantees for a better future.
Eric Racine, PhD, FCAHS
Director, Pragmatic Health Ethics Research Unit