Amy Ghuman: Making a Difference

August 10th, 2006 by admin

When Amy (Amrinder) Ghuman learned that fundraising for Delta Hospital had fallen short of the amount required to keep the hospital open, the SFU student and community activist went into immediate action. Ghuman, founder and president of the non-profit Trinjan Punjabi Folk Academy, got in touch with other non-profit Indo-Canadian organizations to put on Josh, The Energy 2004 to save Delta Hospital.

The event raised $40,000, but Ghuman wasn’t done. The following year, Trinjan held another fundraiser, Mela Mawa Dhiyan Da (Festival of Mothers and Daughters), which raised another $15,000 for the hospital, says Ghuman. “The only request I had was that the hospital ward would be named after Mata Gujriji, the mother of the tenth Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singhji, which was granted.”

The fundraisers for the hospital are just two examples of Ghuman’s commitment to making a difference. Mehfil Magazine spoke to her about her passion for donating her time and energy to worthy causes.What is Trinjan’s focus?
Since 2003, Trinjan has organized two annual fundraisers: the lohri celebration Kuri Munday Di Lohri and Mela Mawan Dhiyan Da. Trinjan has started a new trend for lohri where there is no discrimination and both males and females are celebrated equally. The second fundraiser focuses on women and health issues that affect them. With the Fraser Health Authority, we set up a health fair featuring different booths that aimed to create awareness about issues like obesity, depression, heart disease, exercise, pregnancy and abortion.

You’re a director on the board of the Kalpana Chawla Foundation of Canada. What is that organization’s focus?
Our goals are to honour Chawla’s work (Chawla was the Indian-American NASA astronaut who was killed when the Space Shuttle Columbia exploded in 2003) and to raise funds for scholarships that will provide education for female students who are interested in pursuing sciences.

You’re also a board member of the Chetna Association. What is Chetna’s mission?
Chetna holds seminars to raise awareness and fundraises to provide financial help to the lower castes in India.

What inspired you to take on all these roles?
I want to do something to help others and make a difference within my community. I was born in India and I have been exposed to both sides of the culture: real Indian values with Western lifestyle. My mother and older sisters were not aware of the health-care resources available to them in Canada and I thought to myself, do I want to be in the same position or do I want to educate myself and others? I wanted to provide information to immigrants coming to Canada in order to educate them about health-care options in their new country.

What’s the story behind Trinjan’s lohri celebration, Kuri Munday Di Lohri?
Lohri is traditionally celebrated when a male child is born into a family. Growing up, I saw males and females being treated differently because of their gender. In my family, I have six uncles and one aunt. My grandparents have always celebrated my aunt’s lohri because she was the only female in the family. This inspired me to change lohri into a more positive context: males and females are equal and this should be celebrated.

What are your career goals?
I am a third-year student at Simon Fraser University and I am majoring in psychology. My goal is to do my Masters and PhD in psychology and open up my own psychology practice.

Who inspires you?
Mother Theresa: She had so much passion to help others and to serve children who were less fortunate in order to provide them with a brighter future.

Shaheed Bhagat Singh, a freedom fighter who died for India.

Kalpana Chawla: She was a confident Indian female who has set an example for other women who may not have thought space travel was possible.

Source: Mehfil Magazine Online (www.mehfilmagazine.com)

—–

Related Article: Hospital Ward Named After Mata Gujri Ji

Posted by admin in archive |
Print This Article or leave a response or trackback