Abdullah Al-Hayali

Abdullah Al-Hayali

Program:Bachelor of Science Degree
Major:Biomedical Engineering

I am an Iraqi immigrant in third-year, Biomedical Engineering and a proud member of the University of Guelph student body.

Guelph’s motto is to ‘Improve Life’ and this universal purpose resonates with me. As an immigrant from a war-torn country, I understand the horrors of conflict upon entire regions and my passion is to improve life for those caught in the cross-hairs.

For this reason, I managed a project to fundraise and renovate Huda High School in an impoverished area of Al Taji, Iraq. Many of the students are displaced immigrants or Syrian refugees.

I raised money and brought awareness to my goals so that the school could be re-furbished and re-supplied. I take great pride in this first project, and the positive response has motivated me to dig deeper and champion more causes.

In 2017, I managed a local project in Guelph called ‘Innovation Valley’ where junior high school students were invited to work on an interdisciplinary project and present it to community businesses. My goal was to help students develop communication and presentation skills.

I am delighted to accept the Summerlee Humanitarian Scholarship. It will allow me the opportunity to attend a conference with several worldwide humanitarians and UN personalities. I am also embarking on a campaign with a UN Youth Ambassador that is meant to educate people on how they can help refugees and displaced citizens most effectively.

I want to continue bringing help and funding to those who are suffering. I believe that the more I can learn about becoming an efficient and effective manager of relief programs and fundraising initiatives, the better a humanitarian I can be.

I have come to realize that raising awareness of people’s suffering is a big part of helping them – after all, we must know that a problem exists before we can contribute to a solution.

The funds that help us accomplish humanitarian relief do more than provide for people who are suffering. Awareness and momentum for other contributions will spread and this deepens my gratitude to the donors behind the Summerlee Humanitarian Scholarship.

I have described how this specific award will help me to help others, but there is no quantifying how many more lives will be improved as your generosity awakens the generosity of others. Thank you.