Service Spotlight: Tahira Rajwani

Tahira Rajwani began her seva journey in the way most of us do, as an extremely eager yet equally frightened eight-year-old junior volunteer. In 2012, she became a junior volunteer at Mississauga Jamatkhana, but little did she know at the time of the journey that would begin with this one step. Tahira started attending Meadowvale Jamatkhane in 2014, when it opened, and continued her work as a junior volunteer until March of 2017 when she officially became a full-fledged badged IVC volunteer. Just over one year after graduating to a senior position, she was offered the role of Big Sister, or what would come to be known during my term as a Junior Volunteer Lead (JVL). At first, Tahira shares, her family and her thought her appointment was a mistake – she only 14 and all the other JVLs were at least 15 if not older. But it was definitely not a mistake and served her local jamat as a Junior Volunteer Lead for nearly three years. Her term ended in 2020 when she was appointed Student’s Kamadiani for the 2020-2021 year. During this time, she had the opportunity to propose and organize virtual youth events, host virtual jamati events, and also assist in planning and executing virtual events that involved eight khanes in the west sector. Most recently, she was able to participate in a marketing and promotion initiative for Meadowvale Jamatkhana’s pop-up vaccination clinic that had a particular focus on youth vaccination. For her voluntary service with Meadowvale IVC, she was granted an Ontario Volunteer Service Award by the province. 

Tahira shares: “Through my time with IVC I have learned a great number of skills, but also acquired an understanding of how one individual’s contributions can have a positive effect on so many lives and of how, when your compile your efforts with that of a team, you can make an even bigger difference in your community, province, country and world.” 

When summer break of 2020 occurred, and it was apparent that the Covid-19 pandemic was bad and getting worse, and with no school to keep her occupied, Tahira started to feel helpless. Recalling the values and lessons she had learnt from my time with IVC, she decided that now more than ever she wanted to contribute her time and efforts to a team that was working to make a difference. Tahira started doing research into Covid-19 specific organizations that she might be able to become part of. Most organizations directly involved with working at hospitals or in hotspots required volunteers to be adults which left her even more frustrated.  

Tahira took a step back and realized that if she really wanted to give back to the community, she had to assess her own skills and passions, because that is where she would produce the best work from. That’s when she discovered Canadian Youth for Covid-19 (CYCS) - an organization partnered with the William Osler Health Centre whose goal was to address deteriorating mental health in the city’s population due to the pandemic.to date, she has participated in five initiatives and has created 100+ handwritten cards that have been handed out to members of the community. This past October, Tahira was recognized as ambassador of the month for her contributions with the organization. With such a positive experience with CYCS and still a great deal of free time on her hands, Tahira decided to explore other local youth lead non-profit organizations that focused on things she was passionate about and yet still allowed her to contribute to the community.  

This led Tahira to apply as a volunteer writer and editor for a Canadian-based organization called ARTiculate. As a thoroughly creative person – both a poet and an actor – Tahira is a strong believer in the importance of the arts in communities to build empathy, share experiences and promote diversity. The initiative aims to provide youth with a platform to share their creative works, tell their stories, and have their voices heard With ARTiculate Tahira has had the opportunity of publishing pieces on their website regarding mental health, disability, female empowerment and more, as well as contributing to a podcast episode on feminism and performing a poem at a conference they hosted on mental health awareness. Coming up on a year now with the organization, Tahira has had the honour of being recognized as top editor of the month in October of 2020 for her article on Invisible Disabilities in Canada, as well as has received certificates of recognition and appreciation in May of 2021.  

Soon after joining ARTiculate, Tahira joined another more local and established youth lead non-profit arts-based organization known as Ink Movement Mississauga. She currently volunteers with them in the role of Social Media and Marketing Director on the executive team.  

During that summer of 2020, Tahira felt like she still had more to give, so in August of 2020 she applied to volunteer with an up-and-coming local youth lead non-profit called The Bloom Red Project. The organization's mission was to tackle period poverty (the lack of affordable access to menstrual hygiene products) in the Peel region as well as confront issues surrounding menstrual stigma. Tahira was onboarded as Equity & Inclusivity Officer on The Bloom Red Executive Team and has had the pleasure of working with them for nearly a year now. They have been able to raise hundreds of dollars in donations to purchase menstrual hygiene products to donate to local shelters and food banks.  

With her senior year of high school fast approaching, and university soon to come, Tahira shares: “I know life will become increasingly more hectic. But due to my formative experiences with IVC I know that I will do everything I can to keep finding ways to contribute to the community and that volunteering will always be a part of my life.” 

Tahira’s passion for service and dedicate to her community is incredibly inspiring. Thank you Tahira for all that you do!