Dr. Virginia Shrivastava is living proof of what dedication to a cause can do. Shrivastava, ArtSci ’63 and a 2005 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee, travelled from India to accept the Alumni Achievement Award from the Kingston Branch of the Queen’s University Alumni Association on Oct. 24.
At the award ceremony, Shrivastava spoke about her poverty relief work in Rajasthan, India, and what Queen’s students can do to work against poverty and oppression worldwide.
Shrivastava is the program coordinator of Astha Sansthan, a non-governmental organization (NGO) whose name means “deep faith” or “conviction” in Hindi. She told the audience it indicates a deep faith in the strength and ability of the common man and woman and relates to the NGO’s philosophy that organization equals strength and knowledge equals power.
“We feel our role is to empower and organize people to work on the problems of their society by accessing and making use of the social laws that already exist,” Shrivastava told the Journal after her talk.
Astha Sansthan helps people living in the southern tribal belt in Rajasthan to gain control over livelihood resources. The organization facilitates ways to work against expropriation of land and the exploitation of resources, and helps local people get the help they need to create change in wages.
Shrivastava’s nomination for the award pertained specifically to her community development work with the women of Rajasthan. By informing them of their rights and implementing empowering social programs, Shrivastava said, the organization helps give these women a voice in India’s traditionally patriarchal society.
Shrivastava said it allows women to begin leading liberated lives, take on central roles within the community, and often gain new respect from their husbands.
“[Their husbands] often go from being oppressive in the beginning to being ive of their wives,” she told the group.
The Alumni Achievement Award is presented annually to the alumna or alumnus who has demonstrated the high ideals imparted by a Queen’s University education through significant contribution to the arts or sciences, public service, leadership in business, industry or a profession or to the community, charitable or volunteer work.
Shrivastava was nominated by alumna Moira Hutchinson, ArtSci ’64, and her husband, Roger Hutchinson.
Shrivastava has a long history of participating in social causes. Her involvement in Queen’s life led her to win the Tricolour Award, the University’s highest honour for non-athletic extra-curricular activities, at her graduation.
She said current students should seek to learn the same vision during their studies.
“Queen’s students should perceive themselves as preparing themselves for the world,” she told the Journal.
Shrivastava said that most importantly, students must create a focus for their lives.
“In order to make a change, you have to work with a team in one place and hang in there until you make a difference,” she said, using her life as an example of longtime dedication to one cause. “[You] have to decide for whom you want to use your education, throw your skills and abilities to the side of the poor and you will see change happen.”
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