Aly Alibhai’s job as a lawyer helps keep a roof over his family’s head, but his volunteer work pays a different kind of bill.

“I really view this work as the rent I pay for living on this planet,” Alibhai says. “I’m a really big believer in a concept that has existed for a long time, which is the notion of the citizenship role of a lawyer.”

Alibhai, a 45-year-old senior lawyer with the Department of Justice’s international program, has been named the recipient of this year’s Lincoln Alexander Award by the Law Society of Upper Canada. The award, which honours an Ontario lawyer committed to community service, recognizes Alibhai’s volunteer work with more than a dozen organizations.

There’s another reason why Alibhai’s achievement is notable: he is the first non-Torontonian to receive the Lincoln Alexander since the award was created in 2002.

Born in Kenya, raised in Vancouver and a resident of Ottawa since 1993, Alibhai says he’s particularly happy to help the legal community in Canada’s capital get some recognition.

“I’m not one of those people who hate Toronto. I love it,” he says. “But I think, like a lot of other things, the legal profession can be a little too Toronto-centric.”

Alibhai speaks from experience — he began his legal career in Toronto as a civil litigator with a major Bay Street law firm. But he quickly realized private practice wasn’t his calling and moved to Ottawa to take his first public-sector position as a senior policy advisor to Herb Gray, who was solicitor general at the time.

Gray, who was the longest serving MP in Canada’s history, says he remembers Alibhai as a bright and promising employee.

“I found him a very efficient and effective assistant,” he says. “I’m not surprised that he’s earned this award.”

Alibhai’s zeal for public service has always extended beyond his job.

One summer while he was in law school, he worked for a camp in Haliburton for children with learning disabilities. He enjoyed it so much that he was inspired to do more community service.

Today, the list of organizations he has volunteered, fundraised or served on boards of directors for includes Legal Aid Ontario, the Aga Khan Foundation of Canada and the John Howard Society of Ottawa.

Melanie Adams, executive director of the Queensway Carleton Hospital Foundation, has worked with Alibhai during his term on the institution’s board of directors. She says he’s especially good at using his contacts to find and organize support.

“He brings a level of professionalism and expertise from his own profession,” she says. “He’ll have different insights from what other people would have when we’re having discussions.”

Alibhai’s volunteer interests are broad, spanning from libraries and children’s choirs to prisoner’s rights. He says the only common thread is a desire to focus his attention where he can make the most difference.

“If there is a connection, I think it’s really helping where I can help those who need it most,” he says.

But balancing a legal career with a heavy load of community service comes at a price. His workday can go late into the evening and his volunteer work can go even later — sometimes as late as 2 a.m. especially when preparing for a board meeting.

Alibhai’s wife also has a busy professional career as a family doctor and they have daughters in Grades 2 and 6.

“You make sacrifices,” he says. “My family doesn’t necessarily see me as often as they’d like and I’d like.”

But family, tradition and faith are major reasons why Alibhai endures the long hours. He was raised an Ismaili Muslim and the importance of volunteerism is one of the major teachings of the religion’s spiritual leader, the Aga Khan.

Alibhai says his parents, who immigrated to Canada when he was 61?2, are proud of how he’s worked their traditional values into his life.

“I think they’re genuinely proud that I’ve chosen a career where I’ve found happiness, where I feel like I’m fulfilled and self-actualized and making a meaningful contribution.”

Source: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/life/
Helping+those+need+most/3133879/story.html#ixzz0v4JVx5cA

The Donor: Gulnar Carlisle

The Gift: $52,000 and climbing

The Cause: The Aga Khan Foundation

The Reason: To support development projects in Kenya

When Gulnar Carlisle was 21 years old her parents made a fateful decision.

It was 1977 and Ms. Carlisle and her family were living in Kenya. Neighbouring Uganda was in turmoil at the time because of the brutal dictatorship of Idi Amin. Fearing the trouble might spread across the border, Ms. Carlisle’s parents sent her to Vancouver to live with an uncle.

Over the next 30 years, Ms. Carlisle built a new life, family and career in Canada, never returning to her native country. That changed in 2008 with news that a global Ismaili sports festival, sponsored by the Aga Khan, was going to be held in Nairobi. Ms. Carlisle jumped at the chance to visit Kenya and entered the tennis competition, winning a place on the Canadian team.

Before she went to the games she decided to raise some money for Kenyan development projects run by the Aga Khan Foundation. “When I had the opportunity to go there I knew I had to make some difference in the level of poverty in Kenya because I had seen that first hand,” she recalled.

Ms. Carlisle raised $17,000, which was used to build a water reservoir and a school in a remote village called Chanzou. During her trip to Nairobi for the competition, Ms. Carlisle and her husband, Jack, visited the village to see the projects. “I was actually blown away by how these villagers had become completely self-sufficient on such little money from the Aga Khan Foundation,” she said.

After returning home to Vancouver, Ms. Carlisle started raising more money for the foundation. She raised $35,000 last year and hopes to raise $25,000 this year at the upcoming World Partnership Walk, which takes place on May 30 in several Canadian cities.

Ms. Carlisle, a financial planner with Investors Group, said the trip to Kenya left a deep impression. “It was unbelievable how poverty had just taken over the country,” she said. “When we went to these really, really remote villages that’s when it hit me. They live on less than $2 a day. It really inspired me that I have to do something to make a difference for these people.”

Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/
giving-back/homage-to-the-villagers-of-kenya/article1577741/

Zainab Khuwaja might be young but the Houston-based artist has a clear vision for future—using her art to reflect her own identity as an American-Muslim. “Through my style and form of art I believe I have been able portray a greater appreciation of Islamic art and Arabic calligraphy from a historical as well as a modern aspect,” she explains.

In her work, Zainab takes inspiration from Arabic Calligraphy and Islamic art and architecture, such as the historical mosques of Turkey, Spain, and Cairo. She uses traditional elements in her work like ceramic tiles, mirror and glass––materials that were used in the architecture and décor in the Fatimid era as well as in the time periods of Mughal and Ottoman Dynasties. “Developing a unique pattern and style which is uncommon within the art world is a success in its own way,” notes the proud artist.

“I feel that by adapting and practicing my art I have not only been able to expand my skills as an artist but also been able to gain a better understanding of the concepts of my faith, societal beliefs, and extremism of politics in the world.”

Her style does manage to set her pieces apart. Take for instance her breathtaking olive Faiths Girdle piece on canvas that draws you in toward a single focal point with the word “Allah” in the center, encircled by colored mirror pieces or Luminous Glow which almost sails afloat the name of the Creator in a fiery orange. Dragon’s Eye is a slightly different but bolder piece that is done in a haunting palette—the bright reds and the eager greens combined with the subtle blues to soften the overall effect. The elements in that composition show a budding artist wanting to break forth and establish her mark on the art world.

Dragons Eye – Acrylic on Canvas

Faiths Girdle – Glass and Mirror work on Canvas

Luminous Glow – Acrylic on Canvas

Zainab’s creative journey began at the age of three, when she first started dabbling with watercolor and pottery. Over the years, that passion continued but she found herself also getting very interested in politics and law. Zainab, who is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in political science and art from Houston Baptist University, is inspired by some of Houston’s most renowned artists such as Michael Collins and Virgil Grotfield. “At school, I am the only artist generating Middle Eastern concepts and designs of calligraphy in general within the art department,” says Zainab. “By viewing my work, some of my fellow student artists and professors have been able to develop a better understanding and appreciation for Muslim art and architecture in general.”

Zainab’s art has been acquired by many private collections. “I do hope in the near future to showcase my work on greater spectrum,” says the hopeful young artist and we wish her the very best in her journey.

Links to the artist
Contact link to purchase: Galerie.Khuwaja@gmail.com

Source: http://hyphenatedspirit.blogspot.com/2009/06/zainab-khuwaja-american-muslim-with.html