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Rewarding initiative

Eugene Correia in Toronto

Five South Asian students were among the 20 winners of the TD Canada Scholarships for Outstanding Community Leadership.

In this cross-Canada selection, Sabine Dhir, Navneet Joahl, Nosheen Mian and Ruchika Shukla are from the Greater Toronto Area while Shalini Melwani is from Westmount, Quebec.

The scholarships, established in 1995, carries full tuition for up to four years of undergraduate study at any accredited college or university in Canada, $ 3,500 a year toward living expenses for up to four years while attending college or university, and guaranteed offer of summer employment at TD Canada during the years of the scholarship.

The awards recognize and honour young Canadians who have demonstrated outstanding and consistent caring for the improvement of the community around them.

Sabine Dhir set up the Can U Believe Project at the Humberside Collegiate Institute. As part of the project, girls between 10 to 14 were given a one-week leadership course last summer. The 19-year-old also played a leading role in the annual Student Leadership Conference. She supervised 85 students who planned, organized and facilitated a skill-building and motivational experience. In recognition for her work at the conference, the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education awarded her a prize of $ 2000.

"I hope to study both arts and science at the University of Toronto. I hope my studies will help me pursue a career in architecture. But before I join the university I plan to visit India, and my native state Punjab. I was there when I was little," Dhir said.

Navneet Johal, 18, from the Streetsville Secondary School, Mississauga, started The Interact Club with help from the Streetsville Rotary Club.

"We were able to get more than 100 blankets and sleeping bags for the homeless in Toronto. We also raised more than $ 2000 for World Vision through a 30-hour drive for people suffering from famine in Africa," she said.

A volunteer for the Credit Valley Hospital and other charitable organizations such as Kidney Foundation Campaign, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Multiple Sclerosis Society and the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, Johal has enrolled at the McMaster University, Hamilton, to study political science and hopes to pursue a career in law.

Nosheen Mian,18, started the social services branch of the Muslim Ummah at her school, Weston Collegiate Institute.

"We raised money for children suffering in war-torn places like Kashmir, Bosnia, and Chechnya through social activites," Nosheen said.

As executive secretary and treasurer of the Muslim Ummah, a prayer group, she helped new Muslim students come together to share their common beliefs.

"There are at least 80 Muslim students on an average every year," she said.

Nosheen isn't sure what she wants to do at university but her choices are either going into teaching or medicine.

Raising $ 800 for the Hope for Rwanda Children's Fund was a commitment for Ruchika Shukla of Markville Secondary School. She did it through the Helping Hands Club, which she founded.

The 18-year-old said the club members visit local food banks and other charities to help out.

"We recently raised money and got clothes for a family whose house was burnt down. They didn't have any insurance on the house," she said.

Ruchika was one of the 28 students from across Canada selected to attend the Ontario Science Centre Science School and one of the three students to receive the prestigious Alcan Scholarship.

"I will be joining McMaster University with the hope of pursuing a career in medicine, possibly pediatrics or neurosurgery," she said.

Shalini Melwani is a native of Westmount, Quebec. She founded Excel Minority Youth Group at Dawson College. The group is dedicated to instilling leadership and management skills in young Canadians from minority groups.

She planned and organized the first Excel Minority Youth Conference, held at McGill Univeristy in 1999, entitled Preparing Minority Youth for the Next Millennium.

Shalini was also a representative on Dawson College's senate and board of governors. She hopes to become a lawyer specializing in family law.

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