Change Tomorrow's World Educating and Inspiring Youth

Lena Elamin, a second year criminology and professional writing student, was inspired and motivated by the obstacles that she experienced when she immigrated to Canada. She made use of her experiences and from them, she developed into a strong and passionate individual with dreams and hopes of changing the world.

When she immigrated to Canada, Lena faced difficulties that were obstacles to achieving her aspirations. She experienced discrimination due to religious intolerance. She was judged – not only on her external looks (namely skin colour and clothing), but also on her religion.

Instead of surrendering to prejudices, Lena has used them to fuel her motivation to promote change. Beneath the outward appearance lies something unique; something not identified by colour, race, ethnicity or religion – but rather, by passion. She has a n a mission to eliminate the hatred, and to share the ideology that people should acknowledge each other by one’s actions rather than by external looks.

Lena cites her inspirations as Martin Luther King, Mahatma Ghandi, Mother Teresa and her mother. In her view, our sense of equality and inclusivity could be compared to a damaged ship that needs a major construction before it sets sail to the horizon of peace and tranquility.

The University of Toronto Mississauga, known for its diversity and equality, gave Lena a chance to express herself which led to her active involvement in various activities. She is currently working as the Anti-racist coordinator. Her long list of involvement also includes being the Minister of Social Justice, a SAIA (Students Against Israeli Apartheid) executive and a WUSC committee member. Thus, she has an active involvement in the Ministry of Equity, Ministry of Social Justice and World University Services of Canada. In addition, she also volunteered and organized various events such as the Refugees Awareness Week which was dedicated to promoting awareness about the  the refugees’ lives in third world countries. She also participates in debates that concern international issues, such as XAO (eXpression Against Oppression).

Lena is involved with the Task Force on Anti-Racism – providing an opportunity for students to voice their opinions about mistreatment on campus and discuss discriminatory experiences. From this event, Lena and her colleague (and good friend) Vickita Bhatt, gathered a petition of over 400 students for an equity officer in UTM campus to deal with the issues raised during the forum.

Moreover, her keen interest in poetry and inspirational writing has help her write over 40 spoken word poems and inspirational words which were published in public domains and were performed across the GTA in several events since 2006. Her poems are performed at events at the university, and she currently has a blog you can check out, where she expresses her thoughts creatively and passionately.

You can see how her personal experiences encouraged Lena to develop a passion which has motivated her to make a difference. Change is what she aims for – for a better society where there are no racial barriers and a sense of equality is felt by everyone. Lena shows us that we should not be intimidated by discriminatory barriers but instead, be motivated to act against them and promote tolerance and understanding. In Lena Elamin’s words, “It’s not what I am that describes me, it’s my actions that define me. We are worth to the world what we do for the world.”

By Fydez Tan

Blog Writer 2009-2010, Change Tomorrow’s World