Rani Suleman, 20 Watch her video! Are you interested in acting up too? Click here to get started! Check out the next Youth Acting UP! Profile

Student. Entrepreneur. Activist. Sometimes help can come in the most unusual ways. For one group of women in Kenya, it came in the form of yoghurt. Last summer, 20-year-old Rani Suleman, a Richard Ivey School of Business student at the University of Western Ontario, was selected by a faculty member and Western Heads East to travel to Kenya. Western Heads East is a campus program established in 2004, by visionary Robert Gough, that engages staff, students, faculty and the broader community in teaching, research and service targeting the African HIV/AIDS crisis. Their goal is raise awareness and funds to support the exchange of learning experiences, while making a difference on the African continent.

Rani arrived in the town of Oyugis, Kenya, on June 17th, her birthday. While there, she and two fellow students, Jen Eldridge and Amanda Armstrong, were there to establish a very special project. They were helping local women set up a probiotic yoghurt business. They brought equipment and the ingredients, and demonstrated how it all worked. But it was a lot more that just physical necessities.  They also guided the women (affectionately known as the Yoghurt Mamas) in gaining the knowledge and skills to run a successful business, as well as a sense of pride and accomplishment. But the project did more than just help the Yoghurt Mamas. It was also helping people living with HIV/AIDS. The probiotic yoghurt technology is used in nutrition programs developed at Western by Drs. Gregor Reid and Sharareh Hekmat. It has proven to improve immune system and has shown to possibly reduce the risk of HIV infection in women, and lower mortality and morbidity due to diarrhea in children and patients with AIDS. Many men, women and children, especially those living with HIV/AIDS are stronger, healthier, and more confident allowing them to continue to work and provide for their families while living a healthier life. While in Kenya, Rani did more than just teach. She also learned a lot about the rich culture and heritage, while enjoying the lively and colourful market, skipping and playing soccer with local children, and meeting new people. Currently in her final year of business school, Rani is working towards her CA designation and plans to work for an international not-for-profit organization after that. Travel is nothing new to Rani. She was born in Dubai, U.A.E., At the age of 10, she and her family moved to Dallas, Texas, before settling in Mississauga, Ontario in 2003.

 


OCIC's IDW 2010 Program is undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada provided through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).