Tammy Chen, killed in Burkina Faso, awarded Senate medal for being 'a ray of light'

Tammy JaneMacKayChen was 32 years old and six months pregnant when she became one of the 18 people killed in a Burkina Faso terrorist attack on Aug. 13.

Shewas "doing what she loved," her mother said completing a doctorate on poverty and gender issues at the University of Cambridge in England.

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Thursday marked the99thday since she was killed.NancyMacKaywould know.

"As a mother, I can feel it every day."

On Thursday,MacKaystood in a room insideRiverdaleHigh School in the Montreal neighbourhood ofPierrefondswhere she works with special needs studentsand where Chen went to school.

She is holding the minted Senate 150th Anniversary Medal posthumously awarded to Chen this week for her "commitment to education and development among the world's poor [which] was a ray of light in the face of tragedy."

The medals were created to honour Canadians who enriched their communities.

"Tammy was a superstar, right? She was a superstar,"MacKaysaid.

"She truly deserved it."

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Mother remembers determined and caring daughter

MacKay showedphotos and memorabilia that made up Chen's life.

They range from Chen,newly married, with her Senegalese husband Mehsen Fenaiche (who was also killed in the attack) kissing her forehead, tothe ultrasound of MacKay'sunborn grandchild.

There is also her bachelor's degreefrom McGillUniversity and her master'sfrom Queen's University.

Chen was so dedicated, her mother says, "she was the first at school, last to leave.She never missed a day."

A passion for helping those in need

Her daughter took that passion for learning and worked to pass it onto others, especially those most in need.

• Former Toronto teacher and Montreal-based volunteer killed in Burkina Faso attack

She founded a charity called Bright Futures of Burkina Faso after she graduated from Queen's and lived in the West African country for more than eight years.

There, she conducted fieldwork on poverty and women's empowerment and worked for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, according to her LinkedIn page.

"I just want to say besides all that, she was the funnest and I miss that [most],"MacKaysays, her smile dissolving to tears.

If you were standing in the kitchen in pyjamas, washing dishes, Chen may come up behind you and surprise you, her mother said. Or, she'd hidearound a corners in the hall,ready to pounce.

Raised to be strong and independent

When Chen visited in July, "we went to Chteau Vaudreuil and had dinner for six hours,"MacKaysays. Chen brought her mother a necklace from Burkina Faso and a statuette representing strong women.

It's one of the valuesMacKaysays she instilled in her two daughters, "to be strong, smart, independent women, who care about themselves and the world."

MacKayreminds herself now that she, too, is strong. "They got that from somewhere, right?"

"I tell myself in the morning when I cry in the shower, 'Suck it up buttercup,' and I come to school and I hug everyone. and I love everyone, and the day goes by."

She says she feels it's her job "to keep Tammy alive by passing on the torch of love."

The year before Chen was killed, there was a terrorist attack in another restaurant not far from where she stayed.

Burkina Faso is one of the poorest countries in the world and has long battled Islamic extremists.

'If I die there, I'll have died happy'

"I asked her, 'Why the hell do you want to go back?'"

Chen replied that, "if I die there, I'll have died happy, doing what I love, I believe in the people and the country. I want to help,"MacKaysaid, remembering what her daughter told her.

She says Cambridge is reviewing Chen's work, which she was close to finishing, and plans on granting her an honorary PhD.

A tribute on the university website callsher "an exceptional student." The school has pledged to create a scholarship in her honour.

Riverdalehas created ascholarship fundin her honour too, so that her positive contributions can continue to be felt by future generations.