Hamza Mustafa (second from left) and his family.
Massey University’s School of Veterinary Science has created a scholarship in the name of 16-year-old aspiring veterinarian Hamza Mustafa, who was killed in the March 15 Christchurch shootings.
A talented horse rider and year-12 pupil at Cashmere High School, Mr Mustafa was an aspiring vet, a passion supported by his farrier father Khaled Alhaj Mustafa, who also died in the massacres. The Mustafa family were Syrian refugees in Jordan for five years before moving to New Zealand last year.
The scholarship fundraising and organisation is being driven by vet school staff members Dr Kate Hill and Eloise Jillings. The Hamza Mustafa Memorial Scholarship will be awarded annually to one or more veterinary science students who meet criteria to be determined in conjunction with his mother, Salwa Mustafa. Ms Jillings says Mrs Mustafa was very touched when this idea was discussed with her and grateful for the opportunity to have her son’s name remembered through a scholarship.
The aim is to raise a minimum of $30,000 to invest, enabling about $1500 per scholarship to be awarded in perpetuity.
“Hamza dreamed of being a vet and now a scholarship in his memory will help others achieve that goal,” Ms Jillings says.”We are hoping to collect between $50,0000 and $100,000 to enable a larger scholarship to be awarded and to have the option to contribute some funding support directly to Salwa and her remaining two children. So we still have a long way to go.”
A Givealittle web page has so far raised $30,000 including a $10,000 kickstart from VetNZ, which represents Vet Clinic Morrinsville, West Coast Vets and VetSouth, as well as donations of $1000 each from DermCare (Australia) and NVS (Australia).