Desi News Corp - Index

Desi News Corp - Desi News - June 2009 - Index

CAREERS CAREERS START START
@ Centennial Centennial College College
Human rights advocate
finds peace and stability
Aathavan Selvarajah
counsels his two daughters
not to get caught up
in the rhetoric within the Sri
Lankan community and outside
of it about the present turmoil
in his homeland.
“I tell them not to listen to
the extreme arguments, and
instead concentrate on their
studies and focus on our new
life here in Canada,” Selvarajah
says with conviction. “Then you
can contribute to your
community.”
As a former human rights
worker in Sri Lanka, he toiled
in the fractious country for 10
years, informing teachers,
health workers and others
about their basic human rights
and how to report transgressions
to the authorities or, failing
that, to the non-profit organiza-
tions (NGOs) that operated in
the country.
“It was totally exhausting
work,” he acknowledges, in a
nation that has been waging war,
off and on, for almost three
decades.
From 1983 until last month,
the civil war raged predominantly
between the government
and the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a separatist
organization that fought to
create an independent state in
the north and eastern portion
of the island. In May, the
government declared an uneasy
victory over the separatists.
NARI MAVALWALLA /DESI NEWS
AATHAVAN SELVARAJAH
WILL GRADUATE FROM
THE MECHANICAL
ENGINEERING
TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM
AT CENTENNIAL
COLLEGE THIS MONTH
Born in Jaffna, Selvarajah
had earned admission to the
university there, keen to study
physical sciences with a double
major in mathematics and
physics. He was on campus only
six months before his family
relocated to the largest city,
Colombo.
Unfortunately, he was not
able to transfer admission to
the University of Colombo, so
Selvarajah capitalized on his
political interest and became a
human rights worker, documenting
violations on behalf
of the NGOs that were working
in the region.
With his skilful command of
Tamil and English, he got a
chance to work in a training
program to teach people about
their human rights. It was rewarding
work, but as the violence
wore on, Selvarajah’s wife
was wary of raising her family
in such a perilous environment.
“My wife wanted us to leave
Sri Lanka. She didn’t want our
two daughters to experience the
things she had,” says Selvarajah.
The young family applied to
emigrate to Canada in 2004,
during a time of heightened
violence.
Their paperwork was approved
with surprising speed.
“We were lucky to get that chance,”
Selvarajah acknowledges.
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The family flew to Toronto
and settled near his sister’s
home in Mississauga. Like
many new Canadians, Selvarajah
immediately set off to
find work to support his family.
He found a job at an auto-parts
plant that, while it was not
intellectually stimulating, paid a
living wage, if barely.
“My wife got a part-time job
at Scotiabank. She used to work
for the British Council in Sri
Lanka as a project coordinator,
so she was somewhat qualified,”
says Selvarajah. Her job necessitated
a family move to Scarborough
to be closer to work.
At that point Selvarajah began
contemplating a wholesale
change in his life’s trajectory.
“I started thinking that it’s
better to sacrifice a little and go
to school to better myself. My
friends and family tried to talk
me out of it, saying it was better
to work in a factory, but I felt I
had some technical knowledge
and mathematics skills I could
make better use of.”
He considered both university
and college programs, but
quickly came to the conclusion
that university was too expensive.
“I thought college was a
better choice for me.”
While Selvarajah compared
several college programs in
applied electrical or mechanical
engineering technology, his
search ended when he visited a
Centennial College campus one
frigid day in January.
“I felt very welcomed at
Centennial – even the kind lady
working at the Tim Horton’s on
campus was nice. That day changed
my life,” he recalls fondly.
He chose to study mechanical
engineering technology
WORLD OF
FENG SHUI
VAUGHAN • TORONTO