Just over a year ago, Jade Dagher travelled to his native Lebanon with his wife and children on an emotional journey to the country he had not seen since he left to start a new life in Canada 38 years ago.
That experience has led to another equally emotional quest for Dagher as he embarks upon an initiative to raise $100,000 to help McGill’s Lebanese students blindsided by recent events in that beleaguered country.
“The hotel in Beirut where we stayed last year was actually overlooking the port where the recent explosions happened and was totally destroyed,” recalls Dagher, BSc’89, DipManTour’92, MBA’98. The devastating explosions of August 4 killed nearly 200 people and injured thousands more, causing widespread destruction in the centre of Beirut (another blaze broke out in the port in September).
That tragedy combined with social unrest, COVID-19, an economic meltdown and rampant inflation have exacerbated the serious problems facing the country’s citizens as well as McGill's Lebanese students who are left without a financial lifeline due to current banking restrictions.
“Many people rely on their savings in those banks to support their children outside Lebanon,” explains Dagher. “When banks impose restrictions on movement of capital, you can’t get access to your money to pay for your child’s education in Montreal – or anywhere else in the world.”
In 2019, McGill had more than 300 Lebanese undergraduate students enrolled. Today, many of these students cannot afford their tuition or living expenses. A case in point is Dagher’s own niece, cut off from family support in Lebanon and now supported by Dagher. Not all students however, are fortunate enough to have family outside Lebanon.
“My brother [in Lebanon] said we need to find a way to support the future leaders of Lebanon and that education is more crucial than ever in today’s world,” says Dagher. “That idea stuck in my mind.”
An active Desautels Faculty of Management alumnus, Dagher supports his Faculty and volunteers as a mentor and guest lecturer. He reached out to the Faculty’s Senior Development Officer Joy Bennett to see if there was some way to help Lebanese students and that provided the impetus for a support fund. Dagher gave the fund a kick start with a donation of $12,000 and a passionate appeal to fellow alumni and community at large via social media.
Now, Dagher, together with students Yara-Maria Coussa (Political Science and International Development) and Alexia Chammas (Management) of the McGill Lebanese Students’ Association, is leading a Seeds of Change fundraising campaign to help McGill’s Lebanese students who have been financially affected by the Beirut explosion.
The goal is to raise $100,000 by October 31, 2020, in order to distribute funds for the winter semester, or sooner. The funds will be provided to eligible students after assessment from McGill’s financial aid office and will go towards tuition and living expenses.
“Hopefully people are tuning in to the communication we’re sending out to generate awareness of this significant gap that exists today and we can try to at least generate donations to meet our goal,” says Dagher, an executive at Roche Diabetes Care Canada in Montreal. “With this fund we can help impacted students and allow them to bridge the financial gap to continue their education.”
“I went to McGill for my Bachelor’s degree and my MBA,” adds Dagher. “My son is at McGill’s Faculty of Engineering. I see the value of education and I hope that the Lebanese community and all alumni can pitch in to support those students in need until the situation in Lebanon improves. Any small amount can go a long way for these students.”
Donations to the Lebanese In-Course Student Support Fund can be made here.