REACHING OUT TO OTHERS

We all met an amazing young woman on Thursday, August 9th: Nakita Sekhon. At just 17 years of age, Nakita was recognized as one of Canada's "Top Twenty Under Twenty" in 2006. This award celebrates and honours Canadians who have demonstrated a significant level of innovation, leadership and achievement but have not yet reached the age of 20. Top 20 Under 20 is a national youth awards program presented by Youth in Motion and sponsored by ING Canada, ING Foundation, Bell Canada, CHUM Limited and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario.

And while Nakita is proud of this award, that's not why she came to talk to us. She came to tell us about Jamsher Children's Village, the mission of which is to support orphaned children through partner agencies and volunteers by providing opportunities to contribute towards the children's education, healthy living environment and help enable their future.

Nakita's "passion for action" surfaced early, when she was 11 and on a visit to India with her family. She was deeply affected by the poverty and hardship she saw there, and how much it contrasted with her life back here in Canada. From that sprang the origins of her dream of founding the Jamsher Children's Village Orphanage in Punjab. That dream is on its way to becoming a reality, with 3.5 acres of land already donated by her family—land that had been in the family for generations. She has set a fund-raising goal of half a million dollars, to be achieved over the next couple of years, and plans to have construction start in the fall of 2009.

What makes Nakita's accomplishments even more meaningful is that she has undertaken all this while stuggling with an on-going chronic medical condition, Reflex Neurovascular Dystrophy, that leaves her in almost constant pain. Nakita is the immediate past lieutenant governor for Kiwanis Educating Youth International (KEY Club) in the Pacific Northwest District. She volunteers with B.C. Children’s Hospital, and annually speaks to medical students about the issues surrounding youth in health care. Nakita has accumulated over 5,000 volunteer hours in the last 4 years. She was recently awarded the Kiwanis Educating Youth Opportunities Fund, the first ever Canadian recipient of this award, and an “Amazing Kids” scholarship from her local business community.

An amazing young lady, indeed!