Menno Simons College Blog

MSC announces recipient of first Elizabeth Buckland Memorial Scholarship

Posted by CMU Staff  |  Friday, November 14, 2014 @ 1:12 PM

MSC is pleased to announce that Ashley Henry has been awarded the first Elizabeth Buckland Memorial Scholarship.

The scholarship is awarded to a student majoring in International Development Studies (IDS) or Conflict Resolution Studies (CRS), who is of Indigenous identity or is a newcomer Canadian, and who recognizes the potential of education to overcome particular challenges.

The scholarship is in memory of Elizabeth Buckland who died in May of this year. A professional librarian, Buckland worked for the Winnipeg Public Library system and the Manitoba Education Library. She was a person of deep faith who directly, and indirectly by supporting her family, exercised her commitment to social justice in many ways.

Recipient Ashley Henry is pursuing a 3-year IDS degree as well as an Honours degree in Biology at the University of Winnipeg. 

Henry, who will graduate next spring, hopes to work in the field of public health in the future. For her, there are strong connections between public health and international development.

“In development, health outcomes and health goals are a huge field,” she says. “With the Millennium Development Goals, a large portion are health-related.”

Public health refers to coordinated efforts that aim to prevent disease, promote health, and prolong life among a whole community or population.

Henry says part of public health work is to protect at risk populations such as elderly and children. “It’s about studying where diseases are coming from and finding out what you can do to protect the community,” she says.

Gina Loewen, MSC’s Academic Advisor and chair of the Scholarship and Bursary Committee, says, “It’s great to be able to offer a new scholarship that supports students in pursuing what they’re passionate about. The combination of studies that Ashley has chosen is unique and forward thinking.”

Henry says, “Education is a big confidence builder as well as a path towards understanding yourself a little better.” She attributes her university education with teaching her “how to work hard and persevere through stressful and difficult periods.”

Also interested in veterinary medicine, Henry spent time in 2012 volunteering with a wildlife organization in South Africa. Working with the regional veterinarian, she assisted with public health programming such as treating dogs with rabies and protecting livestock from ticks.

When she took the Introduction to IDS course, she saw parallels between the course material and her work in South Africa as a number of veterinary organizations work at “improving health outcomes and systems for livestock in development countries.”

Her interest in the field of public health has led her to a variety of volunteer placements in Winnipeg. At the Humane Society, she supervises a group of young volunteers. She assists schools with gardening and food sustainability programming at Fort Whyte Farms. As a volunteer in the community development branch of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, she designs a newsletter for a social housing complex.

Henry is exploring graduate study programs that focus in public health, which will help her achieve her goal. “I want to chase diseases around the world,” she says.

To date, MSC has awarded $20,250 in scholarships and bursaries to 25 students during the 2014-15 school year.

Ellen Paulley is the Writer & Social Media Coordinator at Menno Simons College