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June 2002 |
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Message of goodwill and peace Toronto students visit Afghan refugee school
During March break, the students want to “chill out” after a ‘strenuous winter’ and to get away from school and books. They party and have fun before they get busy with studies for the exams. For 15-year old, "socially conscious" Dilzayn Panjwani, a student at Branksome Hall, an independent girls school in Toronto, it was a time to go to Pakistan with her parents and nine-year old sister, Dilshaan. It was not just a ‘meet the family back home trip’ but also something much more than that. Dilzayn visited Esmat Girls' School in Peshawar, Pakistan, to share a message of peace and goodwill and present coveted school supplies and Roots 'Canada' woollen toques, to refugee and orphaned Afghan children, thereby extending a bridge to literacy and friendship. Dilzayn's fellow students wrote letters of friendship to their Afghani peers and donated the supplies for the Esmat Girls' school, which is funded entirely by War Child Canada, a Toronto-based charity supporting war-affected children globally through emergency relief and rehabilitation programs. “So far, this trip to Pakistan made it the most memorable March break for me,” said an enthusiastic Dilzayn. Dilshaan, a Rosethorn Junior School student, performed both the Canadian and Pakistani national anthems for their Afghani peers. She delivered posters with messages of friendship signed by her peers. "I know that all of you have to face many more challenges in your life than most of us do in Canada," Dilzayn told the Afghan students, "I do admire your courage and determination. It makes me sad and angry when I hear that hundreds of thousands of women and children around the world continue to suffer from poverty, poor health and lack of education. Together, we, the younger generation, can make a difference and bring about change." Dilzayn feels lucky that students here have so many opportunities. "Used to computers, textbooks and libraries at schools in Canada”, Dilzayn was moved by the hardship faced by the students at Esmat Girls' School, “where there are no computers, where one textbook is shared amongst six students, and the library comprises of a bookshelf with only a few books. We should give back what God has given us,” she says. It was the horrific events of Sept. 11 and the aftermath including an attack on Afghanistan that got Dilzayn’s schoolmates interested in the plight of children living in refugee camps in Pakistan. Nanci Smith, dean of students of senior school at Branksome Hall wishes Branksome Hall “to forge a relationship with the Esmat School.” “We can donate library resources, but we plan to develop a lasting link with the Pakistani school. Our ultimate goal is to sponsor a student to come here for an exchange. Currently, we host students on exchange from Japan, France and Australia. We'd like to host kids from developing parts of the world, as well,” she told a local neighbourhood newspaper, the Etobicoke Guardian, in Toronto. NGO Afghan German Basic Education founded the Peshawar school for Afghan refugee and orphaned children and youth, funded by War Child Canada shortly after the U.S. launched its “war on terror”. War Child Canada conducts outreach to Canadian youth to foster their involvement in international projects, Marla Young, communications director with War Child Canada. “Involving and engaging Canadian youth is one of our major mandates. Our mandate is to help war-affected youth and children. The real vehicle of change is youth here, in Canada. Youth power makes our organization a lot stronger,” according to Marla Young, quoted in an interview to the Etobicoke Guardian. The humanitarian efforts of Dilzayn and Dilshaan were widely reported in the local ethnic media, including The Canadian Asian News.
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