Generation Z takes the world forward

Today we continue with the two-part series on Generation Z - the young people who are making a difference. Called selfish and self absorbed by many, these young people with their initiatives have helped prove those allegations wrong.

Profiled by Community Journalist Aarya Budhiraja, their work shows that they care and enough to do something substantial about it.

If you know of other such young people involved in community work and are making a difference to people’s lives, tell us. We would like to feature them. You can contact us on our Facebook page ‘Gulf News Al Nisr Publishing UAE’ or email us on readers@gulfnews.com

Academia: Broadening horizons in our schools

Talk to 18-year-old Anirudh Sivaram about politics, the world economy, or global crises, and an enthusiastic, articulate speaker comes to life. An avid debater and ‘quiz-whiz', his fascination with learning spurred him to bring a non-profit initiative that promotes education to the UAE.

Anirudh was central to bringing the World Scholar's Cup to the UAE — an academic competition where school students from many countries learn a unique curriculum around a theme that changes every year. Participants learn subjects such as economics, literature, science, history, and the arts, which foster the development of team and social skills through debates, writing assignments and quizzes.

Every year, regional stages of this competition are held globally — elimination stages for their larger annual global round.

"In 2009, I was part of the first team from the United Arab Emirates to travel to the global round of this competition in Singapore. I was fascinated by its concept and was keen to bring it to the UAE."

Anirudh contacted the founder of the competition, Daniel Berdichevsky, and discussed the possibility of hosting such events in the region.

"With support from my school and teachers, we organised the first ever Middle East Regional Round in April 2010 at Dubai Modern High School."

"This year, the number of students involved in the programme has grown exponentially to the extent that we needed two rounds. Close to 300 students participated — one of the highest numbers from all countries involved in the competition."

Empowers communities

Anirudh's initiative remains a touch different from others, as it academically empowers communities rather than providing aid or charity. His work targets school students, and assists them in discovering their true passions.

"This event forces you to do what you're good at, and more — it broadens your horizons. I personally studied economics for the first time as part of the curriculum, and fell in love with the subject."

Although Anirudh heads off to university after the summer, he hopes to continue spreading knowledge through these competitions.

- Anirudh Sivaram, Dubai

Education: From Dubai to Costa Rica

Most teenagers would complain about having to go to school every day. Nicholas Burden, however, understands the value of education and has taken it upon himself to assist in building a school in the jungles of Costa Rica.

Originally from New Zealand, the 17-year old from Jumeirah College spent his childhood growing up in his home country, Saudi Arabia, China, and now Dubai. No stranger to community work, Nicholas has been doing his bit to help others since grade eight.

"My first initiative was visiting and supporting various events at an elderly home and a special needs facility. It was then that I realised how truly pleasurable it was to give something back to the community."

After moving to Dubai, Nicholas decided to further his involvement in charitable work.

As one of his first initiatives here, Nicholas helped organise and orchestrate a charity lunch for flood victims in Pakistan.

More recently, he assisted in organising a ‘Japan Charity Week' at his school in support of the country's recent devastation due to natural disasters. "In addition to raising money for relief efforts, we made 1,000 origami cranes as a gesture of solidarity for those affected by the disaster.

The cranes are a great symbolic gesture in Japan— the legend is that if you are given 1,000 cranes you will be granted your dearest wish."

Boldest adventure

Nicholas's boldest venture yet, will take place this July. Along with friend Cyrus Afkhami, he will be spending five weeks assisting in building a school in the jungles of Costa Rica.

"For this trip, I needed to hold numerous fundraisers in order to pay for supplies and get assistance from skilled builders. As part of the fundraisers we held, I decided to shave my prized long curly hair and raise money for the cause. Eventually, we were able to raise Dh10,000, and are now ready to go."

With having done so much for the community already, Nicholas plans to continue his efforts into the future.

"The feeling that you get after doing something for others is something quite extraordinary that cannot be matched by anything else."

- Nicholas Burden, Dubai

Community care: Exposure to diversity is key

Helping others has always been a part of 18-year-old Indian Vedika Luharuwalla's nature. After spending her childhood moving between six countries, she believes her exposure to diversity is a key reason for her desire to offer aid whenever possible.

Vedika's initiatives encompass a diverse range of causes, and she has been involved in issues relating to animal conservation, the environment and child education. As the president of her school's Conservation Club, her team strives to create and increase awareness about Earth's rapidly deteriorating wildlife and environment.

Organising events

"The club generates funds by organising events, and donates them to foundations that aid in the protection of endangered and abused animal species around the world."

Under her leadership, the club has adopted an orangutan named Ceria at the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre in Malaysia, and supported pandas through the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). "We've raised approximately Dh25,000 during my time as president, and we plan to use these funds to support tigers in India, Russia and Kenya."

Additionally, she spearheaded a recycling initiative as a part of the club, and the school now recycles most of its paper waste due to her efforts. Beyond her conservation efforts, Vedika has also ‘adopted' a Bangladeshi girl and pays for her education.

"Having lived in Bangladesh and witnessed the scarcity of resources for myself, I felt compelled to aid the underprivileged children there. I have been sponsoring a child named Mehrun at the ABC School Bangladesh for the last three years, using the money I earned through tutoring students after school.

"I also conducted fundraisers with my school's writing centre, and we raised $2,000 (Dh7,340) to provide a new roof and clean drinking water for children at the school."

Vedika recently graduated from Dubai American Academy, but hopes to continue her community efforts once she joins university this fall. "It does not take that much to make a difference in somebody's life, and as long as I have the ability to do my part, I shall continue to help others and the environment."

- Vedika Luharuwalla, Dubai

Clean water for the people

Frustrated students often find themselves asking a timeless question: when will we ever need so much information? Indrajit Viswanath asked himself the same question, but decided he could apply what he had learnt in a classroom to rehabilitate a small village in rural India.

The grade 12 student from Dubai Modern High School has been working with the Development of Humane Action (DHAN) Foundation, a non-government organisation, to rebuild an oorani (water body) in Kazhugumalai, Tamil Nadu.

Viswanath believes water is a fast depleting resource and requires more to be done for its conservation.

He said: “After learning about the significance of water in Environmental Science classes, I wanted to do something to take care of this precious resource.”

Viswanath discussed the issue with his teachers and decided to focus his efforts on rehabilitating a rainwater harvesting structure in a village in southern India. He believed this simple initiative could eventually have a sustainable impact on bettering the villagers’ lives.

He said: “India is an agricultural nation, where most farmers depend solely on rain water collected in tanks for their crop. Many villages have such tanks or ponds, but they are poorly maintained and contain impurities. Hence, farmers have to travel long distances to obtain water. However, an efficient water storage system would make their lives easier and reduce the risk of waterborne diseases.”

After conducting numerous fundraisers for the cause, Viswanath gathered three other students from his school (Shreyes Shekhar, Anant Goel and Mayank Mathur), and travelled to Tamil Nadu in March, 2011.

The team set out to clean Ambal Oorani to provide potable water for the village’s 500 inhabitants.

The group also carried out water literacy campaigns, which educated the villagers on basic sanitation and efficient water usage.

With the first chapter’s success, Viswanath anticipates further involvement.

After carefully splitting the project into various phases, he hopes to broaden this ongoing effort with other similar initiatives.

He said: “This is just the start of what we intend to do. We will be revisiting the place for the next phase of the rehabilitation project soon, and also plan on adopting another village in the locality in the future.” 

- Indrajit Viswanath, Dubai