United Sudanese Student’s Association
Hey hey hey! This blog talks all about the one and only, United Sudanese Student’s Association! What better way to embrace diversity and culture, than with this amazing student group! The United Sudanese Student’s Association is a non-profit group on campus that focuses on promoting diversity and inclusion, spreading Sudanese culture, and creating a safe space to educate one another on preserving Sudanese identity. Given that Sudan historically has faced difficulty in unity between it’s ethnic groups (geographically and internally), having a strong student group with leaders who are passionate about educating others, and uniting with their fellow Sudanese students, is incredibly important. We are so proud to feature them in this blog, and definitely feel their group is worth checking out - you don’t have to be Sudanese to get involved :)
In terms of volunteer opportunities, the USSA is always recruiting new volunteers, and stated that they greatly appreciate any support from the University’s Community! They believe volunteers are “essential to the accomplishment of the club's goals and plans”, and will start formally recruiting in October 2021. They also have a mailing list available, and you can follow them on Instagram here! Candidacy applications for the executive team positions open in November of 2021!
Co-president’s Aseel and Camala, are two powerful women who aspires to create change and foster a healthy environment for their Sudanese peers. “The USA's mission is to strengthen the sense of Sudanese identity and unity for Sudanese students on the University of Alberta campus.” The aim is to create a greater sense of community, by holding events, and curating educational content. The USSA wants to “promote the advancement of the overall Sudanese community within Edmonton; through both education and togetherness.”
But there’s more to the USSA than meets the eye. This group promotes Black excellence, it promotes diversity of religions -celebrating their islamic students; it speaks on current events, and ensures to advocate for countries in greater Africa as well. Their students have connections not only to Sudan, but to the greater middle east and parts of Africa as well, and this is the best representation we could hope for - because that means this team is well versed in understanding multiculturalism, and advocating for vulnerable or underrepresented sectors.
In terms of events, and how University students can get more involved, the USSA stated that they will be providing leadership and recreational opportunities for group members to take part in, that focus around developing programs which serve to create a sense of community between them and the broader student body. Like we said earlier in this blog, the USSA’s recruitment will be starting in October of 2021, and members who are interested in more of a long term commitment, can look out for executive position applications, in November of 2021. As a shameless promo - their Instagram page @uofaussa will have updates pertaining to volunteer opportunities and general membership information, and you can reach out to their email: (uofaussa@gmail.ca) for all the extra deets!
We thank you for taking the time to read about this amazing student group, and hope that you consider getting involved, and learning more about the USSA today! :)