Two Western PhD candidates are among the inaugural recipients of a scholarship to commemorate victims of the Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed shortly after taking off in March 2019.
Flight 302 Legacy Award was created to support university and college students and honour the legacies of the 157 people aboard that flight, specifically in humanitarian work and environmental preservation.
Olayinka Ariba and Wisdom Avor saw themselves in the stories of those killed on Flight 302, including passengers who worked in mental health, women’s empowerment and community support.
“I’ll be able to step into their shoes to continue the work of these peoples’ lives,” Avor said.
“I also support people with forms of mental illness or other psychological issues they have. I’m not in this alone. There are other people doing this, and though tragedy befell them, I can still continue to enhance the vision and the humanitarian work of people who were involved in this tragic event.”
The $10,000 scholarship, run by Universities Canada, was awarded to 42 students in 2024, its first year.
Ariba and Avor, both PhD candidates in the Faculty of Health Sciences, came to Canada to pursue research related to vulnerable populations. Ariba studies the experience of women who are homeless and separated from their children. Avor studies long-term recovery among those with substance use challenges.
They both plan to conduct research in their home countries – Ariba in Nigeria and Avor in Ghana – and hope the findings will help the communities they study.
“Both students are great choices for scholarships to pursue humanitarian causes,” said Western nursing professor Abe Oudshoorn, who is supervising Ariba and Avor.
Touched by homelessness
Ariba has a long history working in maternal and child health. But when she began her research on women experiencing homelessness, and their experiences with their children, she found a personal connection.
“So many people have experienced homelessness. When I got into my research, I learned that at some point, my mom had experienced homelessness. There is still a lot of nuances around the definition of homelessness (in Nigeria). When I realized this had happened in my own family – and I was unaware – it was another spark for me.”
Olayinka Ariba, a Western PhD candidate and recipient of the Flight 302 Legacy Award (Olayinka Ariba photo)
Ariba worked for UNICEF in Nigeria and in the U.K. for public health and non-profit agencies, focusing on women and children, before she came to Western to pursue further education. She now volunteers with Anova, a sexual assault centre in London, Ont. She dreams of setting up an organization and umbrella group for those working to prevent and end homelessness across Africa.
“Thousands of women are experiencing homelessness in Africa. If these women are not provided adequate housing, it is going to trickle down and increase the cycle of poverty and vulnerability for them and their families. Providing these women with stable housing is not just about giving them a place to live; it is about empowering them to break free from the cycle of homelessness and build a better future for themselves and their children,” she said.
“Yinka’s passion is around the trauma women who are homeless often experience through separation from their children, sometimes by choice, if they are left with other family, sometimes not by choice, if they are taken by the state,” Oudshoorn added.
“She is going to be doing her research in both Canada and Nigeria and recognizes that while the countries are different, the experiences of mothers on the street are strikingly the same.”
Like Avor, Ariba was attracted to the Flight 302 Legacy Award because of the work the victims had been doing prior to the tragedy. She considered how much global change could have been driven by those who died.
“I believe we need to start raising voices. We need to start creating support systems for women experiencing homelessness in Africa so that they can also be empowered and have equality.” – Olayinka Ariba, Flight 302 Legacy Award recipient
The award from Universities Canada is an important resource for Ariba, who is preparing to start her data collection in Nigeria.
“This scholarship is really a relief. I don’t have to run out and get another job. I can dedicate myself to my research,” she said.
Recovery research
Avor hopes to expand treatment options in Ghana, where abstinence is the prevailing response for substance use treatment.
“I feel very passionate about people who are on the other side of life, not as fortunate, maybe amid tragedy they are forced to handle. Most people turn to substances because of anxiety, depression and other challenges. How can we help navigate their stress in day-to-day activities?”
Wisdom Avor, a Western PhD candidate and recipient of Flight 302 Legacy Award (Wisdom Avor photo)
Avor worked as a mental health nurse in Ghana while earning his undergraduate and master’s degrees – often clocking 80 to 90-hour workweeks – before coming to Western. He taught preventative mental health care in schools and in the community, provided care to pregnant women and connected with family members who need health-care support for their loved ones struggling with mental health or addiction.
It meant rushing out to crisis situations on a motorbike at 3 a.m. or arranging transportation to ensure clients received the medical care they needed.
Avor was also successful in advocating for those with mental illnesses to be added to a national health-care plan for free, in one Ghanaian district where he worked.
“Most of these people are poor. The medications they take, if it is covered by insurance, they can freely get it. If they don’t take their medicine, they will become worse,” he said.
“I made the case that this is important health care, and this is what we can do to help them.”
Coming to Canada, especially amid COVID-19, was a big change, but traveling and learning in new environments and cultures is a top priority for Avor.
“He is taking what he has learned about harm reduction in the Canadian mental health and addictions context and sees the potential to influence treatment services in Ghana by perhaps starting to shift definitions,” Oudshoorn said.
Avor hopes his research will help drive change in Ghana.
“It is my hope that my findings will help me extend my humanitarian work to others, especially women and the aged who are very vulnerable.”
