Please donate & support my doctoral education fund
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As a person living with HIV since 2003 at the age of 25, I lived through a time when I thought post-secondary education would be out of my reach. I am currently raising funds through crowd-funding so I can fulfill my dream to complete a Doctor of Public Health program in Public Health and Policy at the prestigious London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine commencing September 2020. I am requesting you to help me raise £17,500 / US$21,650 (CAD$30,500) to help cover for school fees and living expenses for 6 months for my first year of the program while I continue to apply for additional funding for the remaining two years of a three-year program.
The requested amount will be in addition to the CAD$20,000 I am expected to receive from a research council fellowship which will go towards the tuition and my cost of living as a student. Given the professional doctorate program is unfunded and the cost of living is extremely high in London, your assistance and generosity will be vital. As a personal living with HIV, a respected AIDS activist, and a community researcher, my wish to pursue a doctorate program is to further develop my research skills so I can become a public health leader and help advance health equity for people living with HIV and key population groups globally.
To assure you that your funds are well-invested, I possess a track record of academic and professional success: Academically, I am a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholar, and was awarded the Canadian Institute of Health Research Canada Graduate Scholarship-Master Award (CAD $17,5000) and a Ryerson Graduate Development Award ($7,500) to support my master level training in critical, anti-oppressive social work research and practice at Ryerson University. Professionally, I was selected by the Canadian Government to serve as a civil society representative at the United Nations High Level Meeting on Ending AIDS in 2016, and have been awarded the Ontario AIDS Network Person Living with HIV/AIDS Leadership Award in 2017 and a Poz-TO Award in 2018 for my HIV activism in the community.
Currently, I serve as an international steering committee member of the Undetectable=Untransmittable (U=U) Campaign which raises awareness on the scientific evidence that people living with HIV on effective treatment do not pass on HIV sexually. I am currently a Natioanal Ambassador for the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research (CANFAR), a Community Advisory Committee Member on the CIHR Canadian Trials Network (CTN), and a member of the Champions Team of the Toronto to Zero (TTZ) Fast Track City Initiative. As a settler to Turtle Island who is committed to the Truth and Reconciliation process and becoming a public health leader/researcher who commits to not causing further harms to Indigenous communities, I would pledge 10% of any donations I receive and 10% of my future income after completion of the program to the International Indigenous HIV/AIDS Community (IIHAC), a young yet vibrant international NGO with committed Indigenous leaders from across the globe to advance the holistic well-being of Indigenous Peoples living with and affected by HIV/AIDS.
As a child, I grew up in a broken home in Hong Kong and experienced bullying as a child due to what I later learned was homophobia. Being queer and not having learned how to make friends in school, I realized my yearning for connection with others had placed me at risk for HIV as I was not able to put into practice what I had learned about safer sex education during high school. In my early 30s, after I received treatment for hepatitis C, I started volunteering at local AIDS service organizations and returned to school as a mature student. Little would I imagine that I would have completed my college diploma and undergraduate and master degrees in social work in the decade to come.
Being the first-generation within my immediate family to complete post-graduate education, I am continuing to pursue my higher education not for the self but to ensure that the diverse communities of people living with HIV can gain access life-saving medications and the care and services they desire as human beings. I hope you will invest in my cause and in a better future for all people living with HIV and members of key population groups most affected by this epidemic today.
In solidarity,
Christian Hui, MSW, RSW
CANFAR National Ambassador Christian Hui
Ryerson Graduate Student Christian Hui Positive power
The requested amount will be in addition to the CAD$20,000 I am expected to receive from a research council fellowship which will go towards the tuition and my cost of living as a student. Given the professional doctorate program is unfunded and the cost of living is extremely high in London, your assistance and generosity will be vital. As a personal living with HIV, a respected AIDS activist, and a community researcher, my wish to pursue a doctorate program is to further develop my research skills so I can become a public health leader and help advance health equity for people living with HIV and key population groups globally.
To assure you that your funds are well-invested, I possess a track record of academic and professional success: Academically, I am a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholar, and was awarded the Canadian Institute of Health Research Canada Graduate Scholarship-Master Award (CAD $17,5000) and a Ryerson Graduate Development Award ($7,500) to support my master level training in critical, anti-oppressive social work research and practice at Ryerson University. Professionally, I was selected by the Canadian Government to serve as a civil society representative at the United Nations High Level Meeting on Ending AIDS in 2016, and have been awarded the Ontario AIDS Network Person Living with HIV/AIDS Leadership Award in 2017 and a Poz-TO Award in 2018 for my HIV activism in the community.
Currently, I serve as an international steering committee member of the Undetectable=Untransmittable (U=U) Campaign which raises awareness on the scientific evidence that people living with HIV on effective treatment do not pass on HIV sexually. I am currently a Natioanal Ambassador for the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research (CANFAR), a Community Advisory Committee Member on the CIHR Canadian Trials Network (CTN), and a member of the Champions Team of the Toronto to Zero (TTZ) Fast Track City Initiative. As a settler to Turtle Island who is committed to the Truth and Reconciliation process and becoming a public health leader/researcher who commits to not causing further harms to Indigenous communities, I would pledge 10% of any donations I receive and 10% of my future income after completion of the program to the International Indigenous HIV/AIDS Community (IIHAC), a young yet vibrant international NGO with committed Indigenous leaders from across the globe to advance the holistic well-being of Indigenous Peoples living with and affected by HIV/AIDS.
As a child, I grew up in a broken home in Hong Kong and experienced bullying as a child due to what I later learned was homophobia. Being queer and not having learned how to make friends in school, I realized my yearning for connection with others had placed me at risk for HIV as I was not able to put into practice what I had learned about safer sex education during high school. In my early 30s, after I received treatment for hepatitis C, I started volunteering at local AIDS service organizations and returned to school as a mature student. Little would I imagine that I would have completed my college diploma and undergraduate and master degrees in social work in the decade to come.
Being the first-generation within my immediate family to complete post-graduate education, I am continuing to pursue my higher education not for the self but to ensure that the diverse communities of people living with HIV can gain access life-saving medications and the care and services they desire as human beings. I hope you will invest in my cause and in a better future for all people living with HIV and members of key population groups most affected by this epidemic today.
In solidarity,
Christian Hui, MSW, RSW
CANFAR National Ambassador Christian Hui
Ryerson Graduate Student Christian Hui Positive power
Organizer
Christian Hui
Organizer
Toronto, ON