A UWindsor engineering student has been invited to deliver a TED-Ed talk about her experience fleeing a war-torn country and starting a new life in Canada.

Staecey-Merveille Ngabire, a second-year civil engineering student, will join 12 students from across the globe Nov. 17 on the TED headquarters stage in New York City for the TED-Ed Student Talks. As part of TED-Ed Weekend, the full-day event invites students to share their ideas on a global stage.

Ngabire fled conflict in the east African nation of Burundi and moved to Ontario with her family when she was eight years old.

“Missing school because lack of security, hiding from guns and bombs, moving place to place, became a routine — a lifestyle,” Ngabire says in her speech. “Every journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, but that single step is often the most difficult one to make.”

Ngabire believes if you move beyond your fear, you will realize “you were born with wings.”

The TED-Ed Weekend event will be live-streamed on the Student Talks YouTube channel.

—Kristie Pearce