{"id":884,"date":"2014-06-20T20:15:09","date_gmt":"2014-06-20T20:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/indocanadianstudies\/?p=884"},"modified":"2014-06-20T20:15:09","modified_gmt":"2014-06-20T20:15:09","slug":"kusum-soni-awarded-betty-urquhart-award-during-convocation-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/sasi\/2014\/06\/20\/kusum-soni-awarded-betty-urquhart-award-during-convocation-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Kusum Soni Awarded Betty Urquhart Award During Convocation 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Centre for Indo Canadian Studies was very proud to hear that its nominated candidate, Ms. Kusum Soni was selected as the 2014 recipient of the Betty Urquhart award. Kusum Soni, the Multicultural Services Coordinator of Mission Community Services has been a good friend of the Centre’s for many years and the Centre has a working partnership with Mission Community Services. Kusum was honoured and presented the award during the 2014 UFV Convocation ceremonies on June 13th.<\/p>\n

UFV-wide Press Release:<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Kusum Soni\u2019s inclusive embrace that earned her this year\u2019s Betty Urquhart community service award from the University of the Fraser Valley.<\/p>\n

In 1995, UFV renamed its community service award in honour of Betty Urquhart, who passed away that year. One of UFV\u2019s first employees, Urquhart was commitment to building a strong relationship between UFV and the Fraser Valley community \u2014 a bond that continues today.<\/p>\n

Kusum certainly fits the criteria for a community-focused award.<\/p>\n

A guiding light in a foreign land, Kusum ties together vulnerable communities with compassion. She instils confidence through programming for seniors at Mission Community Services, educating immigrants and other vulnerable elders on building positive attitudes by making action plans for food and exercise, and organizing field trips via the West Coast Express to show the benefits of public transportation.<\/p>\n

Kusum\u2019s vision has widened the scope and range of Mission\u2019s Diwali celebrations over the last five years, helping the event to grow from 30 participants to 800 community members and 16 partners, including the UFV Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies.<\/p>\n

Though funding is available for catering, Kusum\u2019s philosophy of inclusion stretched to bring Rotarians into the Sikh temple to help cook meals.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could have easily bought food, but bringing two cultures together creates harmony and understanding,\u201d she says.
\n\u201cSocializing with each other tears down walls.\u201d<\/p>\n

That connection between food and community is carried on by Kusum\u2019s own hands when she creates traditional Indian dishes for two dozen women at Abbotsford\u2019s Warm Zone, a Home, Healing and Space program and a day shelter for women who are living and working on the streets.<\/p>\n

What began as a monthly venture quickly evolved into a weekly institution.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe meal was just a medium to talk to the women, but it took almost a year to earn their confidence. I wanted to know what happened in their life, and eventually they became a part of mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joining her in the kitchen was Kusum\u2019s husband Surinder, continuing a long tradition of togetherness stretching well before their immigration to Canada in 2003. Back in India, Kusum worked as a Human Physiology professor at Christian Medical College and Hospital, instilling a love for teaching \u2013 a career she hopes to revisit.<\/p>\n

Surinder served as an accountant, a career he planned to renew after successfully completing his CGA shortly before his death in 2012.<\/p>\n

Two weeks after her husband died, Kusum was back serving rice pudding and bread to her friends at the Warm Zone.
\n\u201cEvery woman gave me a hug and whispered in my ear \u2018don\u2019t worry, everything will be good.\u2019\u201d
\n\u201cThat place has transformed my life so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year, her commitment to bridge societal divides stretched into The Color of Fear: the Paradox of Race and Oppression in the new Millennium, a campaign focusing on cross-cultural\/racial challenges about confronting racism in today\u2019s world. As the latest theme in Kusum\u2019s three-year effort supporting the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Colour of Fear involved leaders and other influential people promoting a healthier and more inclusive community through music and art.<\/p>\n

She also presented \u2018Dating an Ethnic Man\u2019 to encourage cross-cultural marriages and relationships.
\n\u201cThere are so many wars because of different cultures or religions. If we start on a smaller scale, a neighbourhood only, we can change that,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we understand each other, share a meal together, all those misconceptions can be cleared.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kusum\u2019s nomination for this year\u2019s Betty Urquhart community service award included glowing support from volunteers at Mission Community Services Society, where she works in addition to volunteering at Mission\u2019s Cultural Resource Commission. She also volunteers on the board of directors for the Women\u2019s Resource Society of the Fraser Valley, and Mission\u2019s Literacy in Motion. She recently joined another volunteer role as member of the Regional Ethno-cultural Advisory Committee of Corrections Services Canada.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe continually goes above and beyond her call of duty,\u201d wrote her nominators.<\/p>\n

\u201cKusum is a consummate advocate for women\u2019s rights, youth empowerment, race relations, seniors\u2019 programs, provincial and local diversity initiatives, community engagement across all sectors and multicultural and immigrant integration services. Her capacity to care and share is well known and many people are indebted to her for her tireless service, advice, and support. Kusum has our unequivocal support for this nomination and we would like to advocate for her inclusion in this worthy award as an example of a dedicated community leader.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Kusum sees herself as the lucky one, fortunate enough to bring people together and allow them to see for themselves that we\u2019re really all the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople will see this and share this, and maybe talk about this to 10 other people,\u201d she says.
\n\u201cThey will tell relatives in other countries and maybe we can make a difference in this world.\u201d
\nIt\u2019s safe to say Kusum Soni has already done exactly that.<\/p>\n

\"Kusum<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Centre for Indo Canadian Studies was very proud to hear that its nominated candidate, Ms. Kusum Soni was selected as the 2014 recipient of the Betty Urquhart award. Kusum Soni, the Multicultural Services Coordinator of Mission Community Services has been a good friend of the Centre’s for many years and the Centre has a … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/sasi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/sasi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/sasi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/sasi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/sasi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/sasi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/sasi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/sasi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/sasi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}