It\u2019s over two years now since the appalling\nterrorist attack in Christchurch which killed 51 people in 2 mosques. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the victims was a 16-year-old Syrian\nboy named Hamza Mustafa. His father was a farrier, and his mother a teacher,\nand Hamza had dreamed of becoming a vet. He was an accomplished horse rider, as\nwere all the family, and had absorbed a lot of his father\u2019s skills in handling\nhorses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
The family had fled Syria nine years\npreviously to Jordan, before leaving Jordan in 2018 to come to New Zealand, a \u201csafe\ncountry\u201d. For them, tragically, it wasn\u2019t. Hamza and his father Khaled were murdered\nin the mosque on that day. Hamza\u2019s younger brother was seriously injured, and\nplayed dead to avoid further danger. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can\u2019t imagine the pain of losing a\nhusband, father, brother, son on that terrible day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I absolutely can<\/em> imagine being a young boy, dreaming of being a vet, working\nwith animals, being outside and with farmers, or helping pets and their owners,\nor working with horses and building on the skills your father had. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The dream that Hamza had- not just for\nhimself, but for his family- was cruelly and brutally extinguished that day. He\nwould never live to get to vet school; his father would never live to feel the\npride he undoubtedly would have felt when Hamza walked through those Massey\ndoors. And his mother and siblings now had to navigate a bleak future in an\nunknown country while bearing their tragic loss. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I think all of us in those dark days felt\nthe need to do something<\/em>. To reach\nout and support somehow<\/em>. Out of those\nsparks the idea of the veterinary community coming together to develop a\nscholarship in Hamza\u2019s name was born, driven by some wonderful people at Massey\nUniversity and the enthusiasm of vet clinics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The scholarship is designed to be awarded\nto encourage inclusivity in the veterinary profession, particularly amongst\nunder-represented ethnic groups or those who may be financially\nchallenged. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This week the first Hamza Mustafa Memorial\nBursary was presented to a fourth year Maori vet student. The ceremony was a\nremarkably moving event with a powerful weaving together of Maoritanga, the Muslim\ncommunity, and the vet community. Hamza\u2019s remaining family- his mother, and 2\nyounger siblings – travelled up from Christchurch for it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It was an utter privilege to be able to be\nthere and participate in some small way; and even more so to be called to say a\nfew words. I think we all value the special community that is our veterinary\ncommunity, and we know whenever we get together some special things can happen.\nBut coming together and raising over $30k was quite unique; and being able to\nkeep the memory of Hamza alive was very special. <\/p>\n\n\n\n By all accounts, Hamza was a remarkable\nyoung man. Kind, gifted, gentle and caring, but with a burning dream to work\nwith horses as a vet. His father Khaled was an exceptional farrier, who did\nwork for the Syrian royal family, and travelled across the Middle East as a\nfarrier. When they arrived in New Zealand Khaled quickly found work as a\nfarrier, despite having limited English. His ability with horses was\nsufficient. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Hamza\u2019s mother, Salwa, is also a remarkable\nwoman, and also an accomplished horsewoman. It is impossible to understand her\npain and even more difficult to comprehend how she bears it. But she bears her\nloss with remarkable grace, choosing to believe that most people are not evil,\nnor racist, nor wish harm on others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Salwa not only lost her husband and eldest\nson on that terrible day, but the dreams the family had to continue to work\nhard, to contribute to society, and build a stronger, safer future for\nthemselves. One of Hamza\u2019s motivations to study vet was not just the animals,\nbut the people. This was a family built on caring for others. They cared for\nanimals, they worked with animals, and they saw Hamza\u2019s goal of becoming a vet\nin this bright, new country as the natural culmination on their difficult\njourney. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Remarkably, Hamza\u2019s younger sister, who is now 13, also wants to be a vet. After the ceremony, the family and supporters went for prayers and were then shown around the vet school, before travelling back to Christchurch. I really hope that Salwa\u2019s youngest continues her path towards vet and I hope our community may be able to help her along the way somehow too. And whilst nothing brings Hamza back, for us as veterinarians this was a very humbling day, with a very special family, to celebrate a very special young man. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Mark Bryan<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s over two years now since the appalling terrorist attack in Christchurch which killed 51 people in 2 mosques. One of the victims was a 16-year-old Syrian boy named Hamza Mustafa. His father was a farrier, and his mother a teacher, and Hamza had dreamed of becoming a vet. He was an accomplished horse rider, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2458,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[82,296],"tags":[2243,381,39,85,1798,2242,2241],"class_list":["post-2867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","category-post","tag-christchurch","tag-kiwi-post","tag-new-zealand","tag-opinion-2","tag-post","tag-terror","tag-terror-attack"],"rise-blocks_total_comments":0,"rise-blocks_categories":[{"term_id":82,"name":"Opinion","slug":"opinion","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":83,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":94,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":82,"category_count":94,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Opinion","category_nicename":"opinion","category_parent":0},{"term_id":296,"name":"Post","slug":"post","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":297,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":39,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":296,"category_count":39,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Post","category_nicename":"post","category_parent":0}],"rise-blocks_excerpt":"It\u2019s over two years now since the appalling terrorist attack in Christchurch which killed 51 people in 2 mosques. One of the victims was a 16-year-old Syrian boy named Hamza Mustafa. His father was a farrier, and his mother a teacher, and Hamza had dreamed of becoming a vet. 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