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Local Surrey Student Travels to Turkey to Volunteer at a Syrian Refugee Camp
3-10-2015
Local Surrey resident, Ayesha Khan, 21,and a past student of BCMA, and presently is a third year sociology undergraduate student who is currently undertaking various volunteer projects. Khan, currently is the BC board member and Secretary for Human Concern International (HCI), will be travelling to Reyhanli, Turkey this coming April. She will be using her current undergraduate studies in sociology- specifically social justice and global studies to help implement positive changes at Al Salam- a Syrian refugee school. Khan will be using her TESOL certification (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) to assess the current English curriculum being used, in addition to conducting female empowerment classes to Al Salam’s female students, she will also be teaching leadership workshops for the entire student population. Currently this refugee camp school has surpassed its capacity, and is in great need of an expansion. Ayesha’s experience in Turkey will help HCI assess how much funding is needed to aid in the expansion of this school for these displaced students.
After Ayesha’s volunteer experience in Reyhanli, she will be travelling to Accra, Ghana, West Africa, where she will be following through with a charity initiative she started last summer. This past summer she was a student in a competitive history and archaeology Harvard Summer School program which focussed on the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, the African Diaspora and Slave Roots Tourism, where she spent two and a half months in Ghana.
Prior to departing for her international studies in West Africa, Khan organized to take twenty five soccer balls arranged by Akal Football Club with her; with the help of a few of Harvard Summer School peers- including local resident Emma Cleveland, she conducted a fourty four player friendly soccer tournament in Legon- a suburb of the nation’s capital Accra, where all teams took home soccer balls at the tournament’s end. Soccer clubs currently involved in Ayesha’s “Leagues to Legon” project are: Akal Football Club and Surrey Football Club. Ayesha is scheduled to arrive in Ghana on April 28th, where she will be working with Dr. Bella Bello Bitugu who is the Director of Sports at the University of Ghana to distribute an even larger donation of soccer uniforms, balls and other equipment to underprivileged schools in the Greater Accra area. Presently, Ayesha is looking for contributions for the purchase of soccer balls and corporate sponsors to help with costs of shipping the soccer equipment.
On March 13th, 2015, Ayesha will be hosting a charity benefit ball at Grand Taj banquet hall in Surrey; proceeds of this ladies-only evening will go to the expansion of the Al Salam school as well as towards the “Leagues to Legon” project. For further event information and ticket purchases please contact: SaharaEntertainment@Shaw.ca.
Ayesha invites all women to come out and enjoy an evening which will highlight her initiatives as well networking with other women, dinner and great music. This evening is all about utilizing the power women have to achieve their goals. There will also be small business vendors on sight. All donations can be made to HCI and receive your tax deductible receipts on sight.
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