uni_students_280319_2.jpg Silverline Otago student lead (from left) Maddi Mitchell (21), Social Impact Studio programme activator Kasey Miles (23), and international student wellbeing lead Amal Abdullahi (24). Its pilot was so successful the programme is still going, and the funding will hopefully enable the group to connect with more of the university's international student population - which numbers more than 2500 students. The group's international co-ordinator, Amal Abdullahi, said Silverline would be holding "Silverline Sessions" with the funding, which it has received from the Ministry of Education's International Student Wellbeing Strategy fund. Some of the challenges faced by international students included not only isolation and feeling like they did not belong, but "not having the right awareness or language". Sometimes mental health struggles were "not well-regarded" in other cultures, she said.

Source: Otago Daily Times March 28, 2019 13:41 UTC