For international students, moving to an unfamiliar country to attend university can be a difficult adjustment; however, one University of Saskatchewan student hopes to make that transition somewhat easier through a website that allows access to products from these students’ home countries, which cannot be found in Canada.

Gibson Odoka, fourth-year economics student, is the creator of El-Cuzupa Marketing, an online platform for companies all over the world to sell their products to people that might not otherwise be able to obtain them.

While serving as the international student representative on the U of S Student Council, Odoka became aware of the issues faced by other international students at the U of S.

“I’ve been [working] with the international students for the past couple years and I realize some of the challenges they are facing, in terms of getting products they’re used to. I just felt like it didn’t make any sense for people to keep having that same issue,” Odoka said.

El-Cuzupa Marketing was created as a response to this problem. As an online service, it gives students access to a wide range of products that are shipped directly to the customer via courier service, including food items, clothing and music, among others.

Once the website took off, Odoka discovered that it was popular even among international residents that do not attend the U of S but are looking for a taste of home.

“As soon as I started it for students, it became something that people outside the university needed. So I started working on that,” Odoka said. “I think a lot of people can use it, not just in Canada — more people in the U.S. use it than in Canada.”

Odoka notes that the website has also found success outside of North America, with sellers from places such as India and Mexico. As its popularity continues to rise, Odoka hopes to move to the United States after completing his degree and continue his work with El-Cuzupa Marketing.

Being an international student himself, Odoka recognizes the unique situation that many students find themselves in and points out some of the other challenges that accompany studying in another country.

“For people that have traditional names, they tend to face challenges getting jobs, because someone might hear a name and think that it has nothing to do with English, and they wonder if that student has a permit or if they can speak English. Little problems like that,” Odoka said.

For this, among several other reasons, Odoka hopes his website can help international students feel closer to home and increasingly able to adapt to their new, perhaps unfamiliar, surroundings.

As Odoka works hard to accommodate the needs of international students, he admits that balancing both his business and education can be difficult.

“I think it’s hard. It’s hard because you hear stories about people that dropped out of school and, from my experience, it wasn’t intentional, like ‘I just want to drop out of school,’ but you just get into what you do, especially if you love what you do,” Odoka said.

Although being an entrepreneur is not always easy, Odoka still encourages aspiring business owners to pursue the ideas that interest them.

“I think it’s really important to get into business, especially as a student. That way you can really do something more creative other than just going to a job where you know everything is fixed. So it’s better to just get something started of your own.”

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Photo: Caitlin Taylor / Photo Editor