Qui suis-je?
30 années d'expérience en relations internationales
Je suis Sylvain St-Amand: j'ai travaillé en relations internationales au sein de trois universités: l'Université McGill, l'Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) et l'Université du Luxembourg. Au cours de ces années, j'ai acquis une compréhension unique du processus d'internationalisation des universités, un processus qui continue d'évoluer et de questionner les établissements d'enseignement supérieur du monde entier. Petite ou grande, célèbre ou encore en démarrage, votre organisation, ou pourquoi pas vous-même, pouvez profiter de mon expérience dès maintenant.
Un réseau de contacts vraiment international
Au cours des 30 dernières années, j'ai développé des relations personnelles et professionnelles qui peuvent vous aider à élargir votre empreinte internationale.
Nous accompagnons les étudiants étrangers qui souhaitent venir étudier au Canada
Le Canada demeure un endroit privilégié pour venir étudier, mais il est parfois difficile pour les familles à l'étranger et leur enfant de s'y retrouver et de faire des choix éclairés quant aux offres d'études, exigences académiques, et documents administratifs requis. Nous sommes là pour aider. Nous sommes associés à des agences reconnues pour leur rigueur et leur efficacité et nous visons tous au succès académique et personnel de l'étudiant. Voilà notre vision d'un recrutement qui met en priorité l'étudiant.e et son futur.
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Remembering Norman Bethune, one of my heroes
As we are starting to celebrate the Chinese Spring festival, I am reminded of Norman Bethune who died in war-torn China in 1939, 85 years ago. It took a long time for Canadians to recognize this great man, and it seems that we are again starting to forget him.
Norman Bethune was born in Gravenhurst, Ontario, in 1890, but he spent most of his medical career in Montreal, working as a surgeon at the Royal Victoria Hospital and at the Sacré-Coeur Hospital. He was a bit of a bohemian, with strong anti-fascist ideas and keenly aware of the misery of the poor. He advocated for a socialized medical system after a visit to Russia and because of those beliefs, he was ostracized by his colleagues for the rest of his life.
As a surgeon in Montreal, he invented numerous surgical tools, among them the famous “Bethune rib shears”, still used today by surgeons. He published 14 articles on innovative thoracic techniques.
However, Bethune was not entirely satisfied with his comfortable life in Montreal and in 1936 he decided to join the International Brigades in Spain to fight fascism. He was among more than 1700 Canadians who volunteered and joined the Republicans. Working on the battlefield, Bethune was appalled by the number of soldiers dying of blood loss, and he got the idea of setting up a mobile blood transfusion service, receiving blood donated by civilians and then bringing the bottles to the wounded soldiers on the battlefield. He returned to Canada in 1937 to raise money for the Republicans.
This is when he learned about the war in China and decided to go and to join the communist troops under the leadership of Mao Zedong. He traveled to remote villages, setting up makeshift clinics and training local doctors. His innovative mobile medical units revolutionized healthcare delivery in China, saving countless lives in the process. Stationed with the Eighth Route Army, conditions were difficult, but Bethune was tireless. Unfortunately, he got infected while operating on a soldier, contracted septicemia and died on November 12, 1939. Recognized as a war hero, Mao Zedong wrote an eulogy for Norman Bethune, a poem which became famous and later on became required reading in China’s elementary schools in the 1960s:
“The red sun rises from the East, shining over China. Our land will be full of light once again. The faith of revolution, the banner of truth will be raised high again.
Please remember Norman Bethune. He is our friend, and your friend. He is not a Chinese, but his spirit belongs to China. We should carry forward his spirit, so that China and the world will be filled with strength and light again.”
Bethune is one of the few Westerners to whom China has dedicated statues, and I had the privilege to visit his memorial and tomb in Shijiazhuang in Hebei Province. There is a statue of Bethune erected near the Guy-Concordia Metro station in Montreal but today most of the passersby ignore who he is. I find that quite unfortunate.
As we celebrate the Spring Festival, let us remember the remarkable legacy of Norman Bethune and the enduring friendship between Canadian and Chinese people. Happy Spring Festival