Shakeel Bharmal had a simple request for crowd of local entrepreneurs and businesspeople gathered in Gatineau, Quebec.
To clap, all together — just once.
Shakeel counted down from three and, just like the Kenyan students who taught him this engaging gesture, the group of grown-ups gave one thunderous clap that ricocheted off the walls of the conference room at the Best Western Plus.
Shakeel, the Chief Operating Officer of Aga Khan Foundation Canada, was inspired by his recent trip to Kenya. He sat in on a class at the local primary school, taught by a teacher who received hands-on educator training thanks to the support of the Foundation’s World Partnership Walk.
It was in this classroom that Shakeel witnessed the concept of one powerful clap from peers. Students would give their thoughts, or answers, on a particular question, and if their peers agreed with them the teacher would lead the class in one simultaneous clap to applaud the student’s efforts.
The impact felt in that classroom, and in the carpeted event room in Gatineau, showed attendees how powerful a community can be when they work together.
“Being a part of this initiative makes me so proud to be a Canadian,” says Shakeel. “Proud to be in a country where people like you and me help people you’ll never meet. For people to actually look at what they see in the world, maybe its poverty or a lack of education, and say ‘No, there’s something I can do about it.’ That is an amazing thing to be a part of.”
This was one of the many stories Shakeel shared with attendees at Beyond Networking’s Casino Royale night.
Beyond Networking is an Ottawa-based networking group focused on creating fun and interactive networking experiences.
In partnership with World Partnership Walk, the Casino Royale event saw over 70 businesspeople across a variety of industries in Ottawa come together to raise funds, register teams, and learn about the impact World Partnership Walk has had around the world.
“As I started to learn more and more about the Walk, I became more interested in figuring out a way I could help,” says Sarwar Qureshi, founder of Beyond Networking. “That’s sort of when a few of us came together and came up with the casino night idea. A classier night centred around fun games with an opportunity for our network to get involved with the Walk.”
As Ottawa prepared for its Walk (that happened on June 3), events like Beyond Networking’s Casino Royale night helped bring awareness to the life-changing global projects supported by people like you.
The World Partnership Walk raises funds for programs to alleviate poverty, improve education and healthcare, and build healthy, sustainable communities for the less fortunate in areas of Asia and Africa.
“We build societies. We build communities. And the way to do that is with people,” says Shakeel. “Get involved in any way you can and together we can make a difference.”
