Canada, My Home ELIZABETH BANFALVI For Equitable Representation CHANDRAKANT SHAH Leaning into the Light OLIVE HANNA She Stoops to Conquer SAVITHRI DUDDU Small Happinesses YIREN ❏ The Cow who visited
CHANDRAKANT SHAH ❏ I struggled for two years to bring diversity, equity and inclusion in the board and executive management of the Canadian Blood Services (CBS) as it lacked visible minorities. CBS is a publicly funded entity with the annual budget over one billion dollars. The board is appointed by the Corporate Board Members who are the Ministers of Health of all territories and provinces except Quebec.
SERINA LEWIS ❏ Four seasons, Four elements, Four directions, Four aspects of being. 4 the little children, 4 the spirits who live on, 4 the families who grieve, 4 the Indigenous tribes of Turtle Island.
ELIZABETH BANFALVI ❏ Canada, my country and home so free and beautiful. We have twenty percent of the world’s fresh water here. There are so many things we need to be grateful for in our wonderful country. I was born in Brantford Ontario beside the Six Nations Indian Reserve and was raised in my teen years in Azilda, close to Sudbury, Ontario.
FAID SHAHABUDDEEN ❏ A beautiful and heavenly creation on earth, Gradually evolved since the last ice age, Such is the magnificent splendor of Niagara Falls, A MOST SPECTACULAR AND IMPRESSIVE SIGHT.
ISHRAT CHOWDHURY ❏ I was sitting in a park near a brook below, I heard thousands of melodious sounds, Songbirds, chirping birds, whispering of winds all around, It is a nature’s precious gift for me and you.
OLIVE HANNA ❏ Summer mornings are best enjoyed in a warm sunny garden. Add a cup of coffee and, for me, it feels like heaven. Sipping my way along the flower beds, I feel like a detective searching for evidence the perennials have made it through another winter. By mid-May, once the garden outline reappears, I happily settle into a feeling of relief and renewed expectation.
SAVITHRI DUDDU ❏ The auto rickshaw had stopped at the perpendicular end of the road because the driver did not want to go the 15 meters further down since it was a short distance to walk. So, carrying my suitcase without wheels and a bag with fruits and vegetables native to my place, I walked to the house with an iron gate of a common man’s height that opened on the left-hand side. There was no lock. I took the latch handle and hit it hard against the iron. Tung! Immediately, there came a voice asking, “Who is it?” It was the familiar and dear voice everyone in our family waited to hear, the voice of my ammamma.
SAJEDA MANZOOR ❏ She walked on the straight path, She found the destination, She walked on the crooked, And hard pebbles, She found her goals, The various roles of her life, She found peace inside her soul.
MIRANDA WONG ❏ A stone, alone, No purpose, no spark, Once paired or joined, Strength, purpose intact, Its hard side shaved away, By mighty currents of water, Cut, shattered by metal blades, Or crushed to granular matter.
