How Pascal Siakam supports the dreams of fellow Cameroonians attending UNB

Mark Leger · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 16, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 7 hours ago

Erick Mbianda wasn't readying to be assemblage this past twelvemonth due to the fact that his household successful Cameroon couldn't spend to nonstop him.

They had endured a decennary of disruption owed to the equipped struggle that began successful 2016, forcing them from their location successful the northwest to the much centrally located superior Yaoundé.

Then Mbianda received an email from the University of New Brunswick offering him a assistance done the River Philip Foundation and the PS43 Foundation, operated by chap Cameroonian and erstwhile Toronto Raptors prima Pascal Siakam, who's present playing with the Indiana Pacers successful the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

"I commune I tin conscionable him 1 time to convey him. It was a life-changer," Mbianda said. "My dada wasn't successful the state erstwhile I got the news. I called him and helium started crying, saying, 'God bless Pascal Siakam' implicit and implicit again."

Last fall, Mbianda arrived astatine UNB to survey chemic engineering connected an $8,000 entranceway scholarship. He is the 2nd Cameroonian pupil to person the assistance since the programme began successful 2023.

Cedrick Tahmo, the archetypal recipient, is present entering his 4th twelvemonth studying machine science. At the time, UNB flew him to Toronto to conscionable Siakam connected the tribunal aft a Raptors game.

"After they won the game, they told america to hold connected the tribunal for him to travel out. Just seeing him was conscionable truthful amazing," Tahmo said. 

"He is simply a large guy, helium was precise chill. We person a colloquial connection successful my country. It's similar a modified English oregon French. He spoke that with maine and it was conscionable an astonishing experience. Just seeing idiosyncratic astatine that level who inactive holds choky to his roots was truthful astonishing for maine to see."

Tahmo says Siakam made him consciousness similar helium wasn't unsocial successful his acquisition of gathering a beingness successful a caller country.

"He told maine helium came present arsenic a pupil arsenic well," said Tahmo. "He knows my struggles. He knows however it is to beryllium successful a antithetic state without your household around. Just sharing that acquisition with maine made maine recognize that I'm not unsocial here."

The concern betwixt UNB and Siakam's instauration began aft a gathering successful Toronto betwixt Siakam and Frank McKenna, lawman seat of TD Bank and a erstwhile New Brunswick premier. 

"Frank had heard astir his passionateness for acquisition and peculiarly the integer [skills component]," said Adrienne Oldford, the enforcement manager of the McKenna Institute. 

"So they met for luncheon and truly recovered they had this shared transportation to marque a difference."

Oldford said the assistance could beryllium a archetypal measurement successful a broader partnership. The McKenna Institute has committed $1.3 cardinal to integer acquisition programs successful New Brunswick schools.

The PS43 Foundation, based successful Ontario, runs programs similar Coding for Champions, which provides integer literacy and exertion grooming for under-served youth, said enforcement manager Dakota Whyte.

"[Our] ngo is each astir advancing younker education," she said. "We bash this done the lens of integer technology, STEAM learning [science, technology, engineering, creation and math], beingness skills and mentorship for underrepresented and marginalized groups." 

'We're each driven by education'

Siakam's foundation has remained based successful Ontario even aft he left Toronto successful a commercialized to the Pacers shortly aft the UNB concern was announced.

Vanessa Siakam is his sister and manager of programs with PS43. She said their father, who died successful 2014, ever told them acquisition was important, adjacent arsenic her member pursued his imagination to beryllium a hoops player.

"We're each driven by acquisition due to the fact that that was the lone code that my begetter would springiness you each day," she said. "That was the main inspiration [for the foundation]. We knew helium loved everything astir education."

PS43 has 2 halfway programs that person acquisition and athletics components — an yearly hoops campy successful Cameroon wherever they're besides taught lessons successful leadership, resilience and idiosyncratic growth, and a programme successful Canada called Data Dunkers wherever students successful grades 5 done 12 larn information subject skills done studying and analyzing hoops statistics.

"Our begetter loved athletics and the information that Pascal was drafted successful the NBA and my begetter wasn't capable to witnesser that imagination of his, I deliberation it's conscionable a mean happening for Pascal to articulation everything that helium loved," Vanessa said. 

"We're going to assistance [realize] my father's imagination since helium wasn't determination to acquisition it."

Siakam wants to assistance UNB students prosecute their dreams

Whyte said Siakam was good supported arsenic helium pursued his dreams done programs similar Basketball Without Borders, truthful it's earthy for him to privation to enactment others.

"We look astatine Erick and we look astatine Cedrick and we privation to consciousness a portion of their improvement of thing that they are capable to achieve," Whyte said. "It has started disconnected with 1 accidental and hopefully Pascal could beryllium an inspiration to them that they tin marque immoderate of their dreams happen."

Mbianda is studying chemic engineering and his imagination is to instrumentality to Cameroon and assistance the country move from fossil fuels to renewables similar star power, which tin besides assistance radical suffering from "energy poverty" successful agrarian areas that aren't connected to existing powerfulness grids.

"We person the potential," Mbianda said. "I consciousness similar it's our role, it's up to our procreation to effort to alteration things."