About me
Put simply, I am an idealist who believes that simple acts can bring about great change and that communication in any of its dynamic forms is the starting point to taking action because its foundation is built upon the desire to share knowledge.

This is my story in a nutshell:

I was born to a Filipina mother and a Tamil father from Sri Lanka, and we moved to Toronto from Nigeria when I was three years old with my older sister. While I identify as Canadian, this is usually a contested identity and has led me to become very critical and interested in the politics of identity and ethnic discrimination – issues that weighed heavily on me particularly throughout my university “career”.

I attended York University and have an HonsBA specializing in Anthropology and a Masters degree in Development. Both degrees were the result of my curiosity about how people around the world live and ultimately led me to travel to Nepal, my second home, in 2009 and again in 2011, when I pursued my Masters research. Integrating my curiosities about discrimination and my interest in working with youth, I focused on youth experiences of caste discrimination in Kathmandu.

In the process of learning about caste discrimination, the enthusiasm expressed by the youth in communicating their thoughts via drawings, story-telling and journal writing, inspired me to think about ways that youth can fully engage and feel self-expressed in settings outside of the classroom. I became curious about ideas of learning and the concept of education, and wondered about opportunities that may be available to youth to help them fully engage with issues and ideas that they are so eager to share, but may not be able to through conventional means. This is precisely what gravitated me towards TIG.

In addition to my love of learning, I love to travel and balance myself through hiking, painting, writing, and spending time with my friends and family – especially over a good cup of tea :) Put simply, I am an idealist who believes that simple acts can bring about great change and that communication in any of its dynamic forms is the starting point to taking action because its foundation is built upon the desire to share knowledge.... (more)