Anjali, Gr. 12, was awarded the 2014 Gandhi Peace Award in recognition of her local and global service initiatives. The award is from BC Peace and Global Educators (P.A.G.E), a professional association within the B.C.T.F.
The award recipient is a Gr. 10, 11 or 12 student that “sincerely models a life of non-violence, compassion, seva (service to community and life), simplicity, humility, and shows an understanding of the big picture (politically, socially, philosophically, and spiritually).”
At York House, we call this “Not For Ourselves Alone”, and Anjali certainly models this well. She is a student ambassador, member of the Globe Leader’s Group, KidSafe at-risk youth tutor, Head of the Service Club and is a Community Service Captain on our Student Executive.
Outside of school, Anjali is an avid women’s rights activist. She founded her own organization, GirlsCo., a non-profit organization that seeks to educate and inform youth about the issues that women and girls face, while raising money for girls education in developing countries. She also founded Bombay Pads, a program to deliver sanitary pads to high schools in India — improving health and attendance. Anjali is also on the YWCA Youth Advisory Committee and a mentor in their Welcome to My Life Program. She has volunteered for the organizations One!International, Justice for Girls and Because I am a Girl.
In October, Anjali travelled to New York to speak to the United Nations on “what it means to be a girl”, for International Day of the Girl. Read her message here.
More recently, Anjali has been selected to be part of the Government’s newly announced Girls Advisory Council. The goal of the Council is “to inform the ongoing work of the Government of Canada in areas such as: how to empower girls to be leaders; mentoring and championing for girls; preventing violence against young women and girls, including the harmful effects of social media (e.g. cyberviolence); and, how to use social media tools in positive ways (e.g. to promote role models and gender equality)”.
Anjali was nominated for the Gandhi Peace Award by Lynne Stanger, our former Director of Globe Programs and Service-Learning. In the nomination, Lynne writes:
Anjali has committed her time, talents and resources to serving her school community and has done so with modesty, generosity, purpose and thoughtfulness. Anjali has a grasp of the challenging issues that face her local and global communities and takes advantage of all the opportunities available to her for her to make a personal contribution emotionally, financially and socially. She has demonstrated time and time again her compassion, creativity, engagement and passion for serving her community with integrity, kindness and sensitivity.
Pummy Kaur from P.A.G.E. attended our March 3rd assembly to present Anjali the award in person, in front of her peers. Congratulations Anjali, what a remarkable achievement.