/ I want to get my dream job / Before Selman Housain (36) was forced to leave Syria in 2014, he had spent nine years working as a senior medical and quality engineer in a hospital. Now he and his family are trying to build a new life in Maastricht, where he recently started his master’s in Healthcare Policy, Innovation and Management at the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences.
system. I’m ambitious; I want to get my dream job. You know what’s funny? When I came here, I didn’t like the healthcare system at all. I felt that it took a long time to get medications and treatment. Now I understand it better, I think it’s one of the best healthcare systems in the world.” Future For Housain and his family, a new chapter in life has begun. He is satisfied with his choice for Maastricht University. “Lately, I’ve started considering doing a PhD here, or working as a lecturer”, he says. “I’m a very hard worker and I like to study, so who knows what will happen. If possible, I would like to stay in Maastricht. The city has a rich culture and background, and the people are open minded. I like that.” <<
“When I arrived in the Netherlands, I knew I’d have to start life again from scratch. In the beginning it was complicated. I had to deal with a new culture and a different language. An asylum seeker centre is a difficult place to start life anew: you either destroy it or build it up.” Housain came to the Netherlands alone, leaving behind his two children and his wife, who was pregnant at the time. By the time they were reunited almost a year later, his son was nine months old. Asylum seeker centre “Those first months, I decided to just think about the future and put all my energy into learning Dutch, for language is the key to a new life. I started to read a lot. I read everything I could find about the history, culture and geography of the Netherlands. That way I learnt to understand Dutch people and how to deal with them.” In the asylum seeker centre, he kept himself busy helping others. He translated, taught basic Dutch to fellow asylum seekers and helped them to activate bank accounts, sign rental contracts and prepare documents for family reunions. He also got in touch with as many Dutch universities as he could, knowing that an additional master’s degree would increase his chances in the labour market. “In Syria, I studied engineering and had a master’s degree in management. I realised that if I wanted to continue my career in the healthcare sector, I would need to understand the specifics of Dutch healthcare
www.facebook.com/refugeeprojectmaastricht refugeeprojectmaastricht.nl/nl
Harm Hospers (1957) studied psychology in Groningen and joined the UM Department of Health Education in 1985. He obtained his PhD and transferred to the Faculty of Psychology in 1999, where he was appointed Director of Studies and member of the Faculty Board. He became the dean of University College Maastricht in 2009. Two years later, he was also appointed Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Sciences. Hospers currently holds the chair in Applied Health Psychology and serves as Vice Rector for Education and director of EdLab.
Aurelia Streit (1994) studied European Studies at the UM Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. She is the founder and leader of the Refugee Project Maastricht, for which she was awarded the Student Award 2015. She is currently enrolled in the Master in Public Policy and Human Development at UNU Merit.
11 October 2016 / UMagazine