Aman is a grade 8 honor roll student who is passionate about children less fortunate than himself. He wants to make a difference and is excited and honoured to be chosen to represent youth for the SOS Children’s Village in BC.
In grade 5, Aman set up a lemonade stand outside his neighbourhood Choices grocery store to raise money to buy pencils for school children in Kenya. Later that summer he travelled with his family to the coastal city of Mombasa, Kenya where he handed out the pencils to children at the SOS Children’s Village.
This summer Aman organized an African school supplies drive at his school, West Point Grey Academy. The initiative was a success and over 5000 stationery items were collected. Eight boxes of stationery items were donated to the SOS Kerrisdale Thrift Store. Later, Aman travelled to the SOS Children’s Villages in Eldoret and Nairobi, Kenya. He also visited Hill School, Eldoret, and Darajani Primary School in Tanga, Tanzania. At these places, Aman and his sister Raheesa distributed the stationery items that they had collected. The experience gave him an invaluable glimpse of the lives of children in developing countries and he was touched most by the happy and hopeful spirit of all the children.
Aman is also an active participant with the World Partnership Walk for the past 7 years. He has made numerous presentations at his school on global poverty. He was invited to participate live on camera during the Children’s Hospital Miracle Weekend, 2012. He is an accomplished pianist having completed his RCM Grade 10 exam and has won awards at numerous piano festivals and workshops. Since age 6, he has been volunteering to entertain and play piano for seniors at nursing homes.
Other activities Aman enjoys doing is reading, playing soccer and being a dedicated volunteer for over 8 years with the Ismaili Volunteer Corps.
“I love SOS because I know I can make a difference. Whether it be in my local community or third world country I am inspired by the children’s happy outlook and beautiful smiles. It takes so little to make change for the better. I am enthusiastic and excited about raising awareness by sharing my stories and experience of the SOS Villages I have visited. It is truly a humbling experience knowing you can make a small but important impact.”
