Even Smiling is Charity; Malika

Malika Salih is a quiet woman, but when she speaks, her words are chosen wisely and spoken with so much passion that it stuns you. Malika often talks about philanthropy in Canada concerning minority cultures. Most interestingly, Toronto cannot consider them minorities anymore. With Malika’s upbringing, culture and heritage, as well as experience and education she will change the way Canada views and undertakes philanthropy.

Here is Malika’s story:

What drove you to choose a career in philanthropy?

“Philanthropy was always a part of my life, but it was only after I accidentally found Humber’s Fundraising and Volunteer Management program that I learned that I can actually make this my career.”

Were there any injustices that pushed you towards philanthropy?

“My parents came to Canada as refugees leaving behind friends and family. They are Oromo. Oromo is the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia and the Oromo’s have been oppressed for decades. My dad always tells me of what it was like when he was a young man and he first heard the bombs explode. He would tell me about everything they did just to stay alive. Even though this was more than thirty years ago he still remembers it like it was yesterday. His story is so detailed that I can picture it in my mind; it’s like I’m watching a war movie. Sometimes I have to remind myself that it was real life. I am fortunate to have grown up in a country like Canada and I am always grateful for what I have.

Being the fortunate ones to have made it over to Norh America, it was the duty of my parents to help those who were left behind. Even though my parents were struggling to make a living here in Canada, they would never stop sending money over to Ethiopia. It was the norm to send money back home every few weeks. One day I hope to write a book or create a documentary film to capture the stories of the Oromo people. They are my heroes.”

How have your travel experiences effected the way you view the world, the way you view philanthropy? Is there anyone you met along the way that pushed you, whether they knew it or not, into this field?

“In 2006, I was fortunate enough to go back home to Ethiopia. My family has been sending money back to Ethiopia for years to friends and family, and I was finally able to meet them. I spent 2 months there and was able to eat, play and live with them. I saw the children and the schools. I saw how they travelled and cooked. It was inspiring. I promised one of the schools there that I would help them as much as I can as soon as I went back to Canada. My family has been fundraising for Bilal School ever since. It’s great working with them because they update us every year with what they have done with the money by documenting it on DVD. I hope to go back one day with my own kids.”

How do you feel your culture has affected the way you view philanthropy?

“Charity is also a part of my faith; it is one of the 5 pillars of Islam. Apart from the voluntary acts of kindness, Muslims are required to donate 2.5% of their yearly income to charity. One of my favourite quotes which inspires me is from the Prophet Mohammed (pbuh): ‘Charity is prescribed for each descendant of Adam every day the sun rises’ He was then asked: ‘From what do we give charity every day?’ The Prophet answered: ‘The doors of goodness are many … enjoying good, forbidding evil, removing harm from the road, listening to the deaf, leading the blind, guiding one to the object of his need, hurrying with the strength of one’s legs to one in sorrow who is asking for help, and supporting the feeble with the strength of one’s arms – all of these charity prescribed for you.’ He also said: ‘Your smile for your brother is charity.’ This is just an example of how I view charity. It’s not only about the money; even smiling is charity.”

Why is your work important?

“My work is important because I know that if my parents were not brave enough to escape Ethiopia years ago, I wouldn’t be here today. I would probably be in Ethiopia and hoping that somebody in Canada would be generous enough to send money to my family so that I could feed my children. I have two children of my own and I can only imagine what mothers go through in Ethiopia. I must give back; I must help and pay it forward. And having a career in philanthropy is a blessing.”

What else would you be doing to make you happy?

“I am also the founder of Oromo Family Conference, which I first organized in 2012. The second annual conference is coming up very soon. The goal of this event is to strengthen the Oromo community in Toronto. It brings families and people of all ages together to discuss issues affecting the Oromo community here and in Ethiopia.”

What is your dream for your children’s world?

“My dream for my children is for them to know that it is important to work hard and persevere. I want them to know that they can make a difference in this world as individuals. I want them to be grateful for what they have and to never forget that it is their responsibility to help those who are in need.”

If Malika’s story didn’t give you goosebumps then I don’t know what will. Malika is a passionate young woman who believes our world can be a better place. She puts her efforts into helping others. Through her beliefs and values she has already begun her journey and empowered others. What will you do to change the world?

Reconfirming Philanthropy; Adele Wang

Adele Wang wants to change the world. She gets excited at opportunities that are innovative and helpful to our society. She has always had a passion for travelling, meeting new people and learning anything and everything at once. She is a social butterfly who demands presence when she enters a room; which is hard to do when one is so short. Adele gains respect from her peers and colleagues through her intelligent analysis and ability to listen.

Here are some questions I asked Adele.

What are some of your passion when is comes to fundraising and philanthropy?

“I’ve always loved learning about people. There’s that curiosity about where someone’s from, what they do, what shapes what they believe in without fail and what drives the changes in opinions over the difference courses of their lives. I was lucky as a kid, I had a mentor who really instilled this in me.

As I got older, I became interested in issues beyond Canadian borders. This led me to my studies in Political Science with an emphasis on international relations, and drove me to take a life-changing volunteer trip to a small rural community in Guatemala before my fourth year. That was my first taste of meeting people from different places in Canada, and really the entire world. I got to observe different ways of life firsthand. From there I never really looked back – I knew that I wanted to do SOMETHING to connect with other people and help them.”

Do you feel like philanthropy gives meaning to other areas in your life?

“Working alongside and seeking people who see a different picture and potential of what could be, and wholeheartedly believe in their own personal power to change what they envision and see differently is important to me. The sense of community I have found at Evergreen Brickworks and among my friends from the Humber Fundraising and Volunteer Management program can really amplify the moments of empowerment in my daily life.

Anyone who knows me might complain that I go into too much detail about my love for travelling. I think it’s because I consider some of those trips as my most defining experiences to date. I spent two years travelling on and off, trying to figure out what direction I was moving in. I had a strong feeling I wanted to work in the non-profit sector but I wasn’t sure what my game plan was. Watching people connect from different parts of the world; it fascinated me and moves me. I really do think this is where I realized my love of local community development. I brought home the realization that I wanted to invest in my own city and community. Funny enough, it all came full circle. I fell in love with a lot of places where seeing that close sense of community, getting my food at a local market where I got to see and speak with others. This drew me to my internship at Evergreen Brickworks. Evergreen transformed an abandoned brick factory into a beautiful green space for the community to share with while still integrating it’s history.

Also, I have a deep passion for the arts and culture sector in Toronto. Personally, I equate it with quality family time. Growing up, my sister and I would get swept to museums, art shows and the symphony on weekends. Investing in a city that I live in, that’s special and it’s become a passion in my life.”

I think that some people have multiple passions, others have one. I have a few, and with fundraising and philanthropy I can explore them all.

Why do you feel like philanthropy is the right career path for you?

“Right now, I truly believe everyone has a dream, even if it’s not obvious to them, I think people feel strong emotions when something triggers it and they know that what they believe is that something should be different; that something should be changed. Something can be changed and it takes action and guts to do that. People want to be moved and if you can provide them with the moment where they feel it, it makes you feel amazing. I’m at such an early stage in my career that I’m not sure I have been able to do that yet, but I have been lucky enough to be around people who do, see and hear the stories of those affected, and where I have experiences a “wow, I want to be part of that” moment. I want to connect people to organizations that they either don’t know about or have always been connected with.

The thing that attracts me most to philanthropy is being in a position to be a part of helping others be more philanthropic. I want to be an enabler and connect people to opportunities.

Meeting my friends at Humber, experiencing the open culture of fundraising and philanthropy professionals in the non-profit community and the people I have met thus far in my internship have all reconfirmed why I feel as though this is the right place for me to be right now. We have to spend so much time at work that to have a moment of inspiration makes a difference in your productivity and day-to-day life. There is something to be said about finding and connecting with people who get just as passioned as you do about a cause. Imagine what it must be like to mobilize them and then you can’t wait to see what happens!”

Ranking Passions

Angie Docking completed her undergraduate degree in English and International Development Studies from Dalhousie University. After a couple years of working she returned to school to complete her Post-Graduate Certification in Fundraising and Volunteer Management from Humber College.

Angie and I embarked on a road trip to Washington, D.C. earlier this year. We get along for many reasons, some of which include reading, travelling, libraries, world issues and our passion to always be learning. In the car, Angie talked to me about a book she had been reading, Escape from Camp 14. It is a story about how Shin Donghyuk escaped from a North Korean Concentration Camp. We then began to discuss the politics of North Korea and why the world hasn’t tried harder to intervene.

This lead us to an existential discussion about ranking world problems. The conversation rendered us both emotional. Why not rank the world’s problems from 1-100 and start at one and FIX them. But then how do you decide what is number one? How do you choose one person over another? It’s just not possible.

This is when I began to ask Angie why she is so passionate about the Arts compared to these world issues? She told me that you cannot rank one as more important than the other. That everything in moderation, together is what makes our world … well, our world.

I decided to ask Angie some more questions recently. Here are a few of her answers.

Why did you choose fundraising as your choice of career?

“Throughout my time as an undergraduate student, I had worked part-time jobs with the Housing Department at my university. When I graduated in the winter of 2010, I was offered a full-time position. After working there for a year, I realized how little passion I had for what I did every single day. It made me question what career path I should take, and how it would make me excited to wake up in the morning. My answer to this question was RESOUNDINGLY that I wanted to be working for a theatre company. This answer set me on my journey to seek out opportunities to become a full-time fundraiser.”

Why not be a performing artist then?

“I’d like to make it clear – I am not an artist. However, theatre and the Arts are an important part of my life, and it is my belief that they are integral to our community. Whether you are watching a play, looking at an art exhibit or listening to music, art helps us to open doors to a greater understanding of diverse perspectives within our community. This is especially important for all Canadians, since our national community is chalk-full of cultures from around the world.

Since I am no artist, I wanted to find a valuable way to contribute to a theatre company. My strengths in administration and my passion for the value of art in the community helped me to discover my path toward fundraising. While I don’t have the talents to contribute artistically, raising the money required to carry out the artistic mission feels like an important contribution to any theatre company, and something I’d like to come to work for everyday.”

How would you describe philanthropy?

“I like to describe Philanthropy as a synonym for empathy. As fundraisers, we come to work every day in order to create capacity for empathy. To me, that makes it the coolest job in the world.”

Angie has a passion for so many things in this world. While she works full-time in the Arts she volunteers in her spare time, she reads and educates herself about the world and it’s problems; our problems and then shares this with others.

Angie is a true philanthropist. She believes in the mission, in the people; she has a love and hope for humankind that most of us can only wish for. Most importantly Angie proves that an act of kindness can make a difference.

One cannot take on the world all at once. Our smallest actions can make big changes. (me)volution believes in small acts of kindness to render this possible. Keep this in mind in your day-to-day life.