West Vancouver youth has global message for young adults in era of CoViD-19

If there’s one thing that many young Canadians are certain of these days, it’s that they’re feeling a lack of certainty when it comes to their immediate futures. But they’re also feeling a lot of hope.

Like many people who are just trying to do their best in the era of COVID-19, West Vancouver resident Tanaz Pourkaram has been anxious about a great many things. She’s been filled with equal bouts excitement and apprehension about starting her dietetics program at UBC this fall, even though the online education she’ll be receiving falls short of the in-person instruction she was hoping for. And, naturally, she’s felt fear over the ongoing health crisis which has so far claimed the lives of more than 8,000 people in Canada and more than 400,000 people worldwide. Her most immediate cause for concern, however, has involved her family back home in Iran. “All my family is in Iran also, so we always have to live in that fear of what’s going on there,” Pourkaram, 21, tells the North Shore News. “I’m super grateful that we have this super health-care system [in Canada], that is such a relief. We know that health care covers us.”Iran was one of the countries that was hardest hit by the novel coronavirus, especially early on in the global outbreak. There has been almost 200,000 confirmed cases of the virus in the country, resulting g in 9,000 deaths.

A few weeks ago,

Pourkaram received the news that her uncle in

Tehran had been diagnosed with the disease. Even though her uncle and his wife have a newborn at home, he’s had to be hooked up to a ventilator to breathe a little easier with the virus taking its toll. “It’s around the twoweek mark and he’s still sick,” says Pourkaram. “You have to be there for your family – but we can’t be with them right now.” But despite her own feelings of global uncertainty, Pourkaram has been intent on sharing a message of togetherness for other youth the world over who may be feeling trapping in this unprecedented time of isolation. A youth ambassa