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DISTRICT 10 YOUNG WOMEN IN PUBLIC AFFAIRS AWARD WINNER ANNOUNCED
Al-Virah Kabani has been selected as the 2009 Zonta District 10 YWPA recipient. Congratulations go to Ms. Kabani and the Ft. Worth Club for submitting the winning application. Ms. Kabani's application was among eight reviewed by the Selection Committee chaired by Barbara Halstead, District 10 YWPA Chairman. Al-Virah certainly epitomizes all the YWPA ideals. She is a senior attending Colleyville Heritage High School in Colleyville, Texas and lives in Euless, Texas. Born in the U.S. of Pakistani immigrant parents, Al-Virah plans to get a degree in Business "where my passion for service, my value system and my experiences can be integrated and applied." With a degree in Business she wants to "become part of the effort to help develop and settle struggling financial systems in developing nations." Al-Virah wrote in her application that she has completed over three thousand hours of community service. Along with serving in multiple organizations from the Learning Center for Parent and Child to Treasurer for her school's Class Council and Multicultural Club, to name just a few, Al-Virah is also involved in two service projects in Pakistan. Al-Virah and her family "have been working to develop a textile center named Sahara, meaning support in Udu, in rural villages of Sindh, Pakistan. Additionally, Al-Virah and her family founded "Operation: Village Vision whose goal is to collect glasses and old frames and remake them for the unfortunate people in Southern Pakistan. After three months of collecting, we gathered over 2000 pairs of glasses and over 1,000 pairs of sunglasses." Al-Virah feels that the two largest issues facing women worldwide are domestic violence and the lack of women's education in selected countries. And in Pakistan has certainly seen the effect of the lack of education for women. She writes, "If I could make a change to help women achieve better equality, it would be the establishment of more aid foundations to help women advance in their family, community, and education. With the proper help through training, financial help, and encouragement, women will be able to gain the respect and benefits they deserve." Al-Virah has spent three summers working on these projects in Pakistan. Along with the check for $500 from the Ft. Worth Club, Ms. Kabani will receive a $1000 check from District 10 which was presented to by Governor Danita Utsman at the Ft. Worth Club's May 14 meeting. She will also receive $1000 from The Zonta International Foundation in July which provides an award and certificate to each of the 30 District YWPA recipients. Should Ms. Kabani win one of the five YWPA International Awards she would receive $3000. The International recipients will be announced on July 1. On behalf of District 10, we wish Al-Virah the best of luck as she vies for one of five ZI awards. To view Al-Virah's interesting and impressive answers to the five essay questions from her YWPA Application, click here.
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