Virsa: Giving New Meaning To Grass-Roots Activism

By: Amrit Dhatt

The eruption of gang violence within the Indo-Canadian community has been of huge concern to many individuals, from within as well as outside the community. The difference between those who express concern and those who transform that concern into action is exemplified by Virsa. After researching Virsa, spending time with volunteers and executives, and sitting down with the founder, the only way I can express the organization’s culture is through a Margaret Mead quote: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Virsa is the Sikh Alliance Against Youth Violence; it was formed in 2002 by concerned members of the Sikh community. It is a community-based, non-profit organization governed by a volunteer Board of Directors. It is now supported by more than 100 volunteers, and is registered as a society under the BC Societies Act. The organization has admirable goals, with a focus on building self esteem, pride, leadership, and good citizenship among Indo-Canadian youth and families. Through education in life skills, ethical values and heritage, the organization’s main goals are to provide youth with opportunities. They also provide support to families in the hopes of preventing and remedying the issues that are plaguing our community. Virsa outlines many factors that they believe are the root cause of the escalation of gang violence- the lack of connection between children and parents, the focus of immigrant groups on accumulation of wealth, and cultural notions of male bravado. Because of the government’s lack of ability, or initiative, to provide cultural sensitive social services, Virsa seems to have taken matters into their own hands.

Witnessing the emergence and success of a community based, not-for-profit organization within the South Asian community is remarkable, in a sense. Harbans S. Kandola, the president and founder of the organization, speaks of the suspicion within our community that is often accompanied with those activities that are not centered on financial gain. This tradition of suspicion, Mr. Kandola insists, is one that must be broken if initiatives like Virsa are to both exist and make a difference. Virsa is a pioneer organization. With the case of Virsa, it is being established that when larger bodies of government are not providing a much needed service, citizens can and will help their communities.

Something else that struck me as fascinating while I was spending time with members of Virsa is their devotion to ethical values and instilling a strong sense of a shared cultural heritage amongst youth. One major initiative of First Nations leaders while trying to prevent risky behaviour amongst their youth was a focus on cultural heritage. With Virsa, a similar strategy is being discussed and seemingly implemented; it is a unique, effective way to create a sense of belonging, pride and self worth for those who are truly in need of it. I sat down with Mr. Kandola in order to get a more holistic perspective on Virsa. An intellectual and a concerned citizen, Mr. Kandola had some intriguing revelations to share with us:

1. What does Virsa mean?

Mr. Kandola: Virsa is the Punjabi word for heritage- who you are, where you come from. When we started, we thought it was very important for us and for our kids to understand who we are, where we come from, and what our value system is. We are going to carry that forward. That’s our foundation and we build upon that foundation. It’s a word to which we have attachment.

2. How important is spirituality and heritage and what role do they play in Virsa’s mandate?

Mr. Kandola: First of all, we do not teach spirituality in the traditional sense when we go to a school, as some kids are Sikhs, some are Hindus, etc. But, what is spirituality? Being honest, treating people with respect and love, working hard, not stealing, obeying laws, and helping the needy-that’s all spirituality. If you teach the kids those values, spirituality is extremely important. It is not about teaching kids that your values are better than other groups or communities. Spirituality is about creating your own value system and from that angle, spirituality is extremely important.

With regards to heritage, you get your pride from who you are. If you want to enjoy your freedom, you have to understand the history of our forefathers and their sacrifices. If I know that, then I will know how hard earned this liberty is and I will not want to lose it.

3. What are Virsa’s biggest challenges?

Mr. Kandola: If you look at when we started, our biggest challenge was, and still continues to be, credibility and acceptance within the community. To build credibility as an organization that will actually do something rather than come and go is not an easy task. Resources are another challenge-funding. We had to build programs from scratch and gain acceptance by the schools, parents, and youth. Also, to get parents to participate-this is still a challenge (to have our parents come out and make use of the information we are giving). This is one reason why we started our radio program; they don’t come to you so we go to them. Lastly, building a network of volunteers-to keep the motivated and working for free is a challenge.

4. Apart from cultural factors, what else is contributing towards violence amongst youth?

Mr. Kandola: Apart from cultural conflicts, as parents, we have a value system that comes from an older culture and we are the products of that. Our children are the products of another culture and when we force that culture upon them, we run into problems. Also, dysfunctional family life plays a huge role. When there are conflicts in the family, it impacts the kids in a huge way. Family problems are a big issue in our community. If you look at the boys who have been killed in gangs, a lot of them come from dysfunctional families. We have not done this research but if you look at the facts, it is true. And drinking is a huge problem in our community; psychological well being is devoid in these types of families.

Lack of time and parenting skills is another huge issue. Every expert will tell you that it is the role of the parents to guide their kids and that takes a lot of time. You give lots of time to your kids and out of that, some time will be quality time. That is the only way you can know your kids. Because our priority, unconsciously, is making money, the way that South Asian parents typically show love is through working 16 hours and giving their children things. They don’t need that. They need guidance and love; especially living in a different culture, we need skills. Parenting is the most difficult job on earth. Parents need training in order to be effective.

Other factors include the lack of culturally sensitive services that are to be provided by the government and peer pressure. Money, status, and power are huge things for our kids in order to be accepted. When they don’t have a belonging at home, they want to belong somewhere. They want to be accepted somewhere.

5. Some of the challenges that the Indo-Canadian immigrant community faces are the same as other immigrant groups. What is Virsa’s stance on collaboration with other immigrant groups who are working on similar initiatives? How important is it to Virsa to integrate youth with other members of Canadian society?

Mr. Kandola: We have an initiative underway that requires us to work in collaboration to address the challenges that we talked about before. However, any program or service has to be culturally sensitive and developed by the community that is going to use it. Also, the programs have to be delivered by an organization that the community will trust. Any organization, to be successful, has to have those criteria.

6. The cultural conflict or culture clash model seems to be a running theme in literature about immigrant groups. Can Indian culture compete with Western culture when it comes to raising youth? What does it take to create a healthy balance between the two?

Mr. Kandola: It is not a question of competition. Both cultures have good things and bad things. For example, joint families and respect for elders are good things. Gender inequality, on the other hand, is not. The same applies for Western culture. We have a wonderful situation where we can keep the best from each culture. We cannot avoid one culture or the other. We cannot just have our culture forced on our children so why not make the best of both worlds, as both cultures have good values.