Cindy Boustani
Cindy Boustani, an MPNL student, is the inaugural recipient of the “Benevolence Award for MPNL.”
“It was overwhelming to get the acceptance and to get the award, too,” Boustani says. “Even before I got accepted in the MPNL program, I worried about how I would finance the degree. I was financially unstable. I had moved from Lebanon to Montreal, and arrived here with nearly nothing. I feel like this program is my calling, and I’m grateful for being here, for being accepted, for receiving the award, for having this chance.”
The “Benevolence Award for MPNL” was established by Alizeh Jaffrey Zaidi, a 2022 MPNL graduate, in honour of Hasan ibn Ali, a seventh-century philanthropist and spiritual leader known for his grantmaking and teachings about philanthropy. Today, Jaffrey’s work in the philanthropic sector is inspired by his teachings and example.
Boustani decided to work in the nonprofit and philanthropic sector, starting with the MPNL program, after working for the Lebanese Red Cross. She has a Master’s degree in Architecture and worked as an Emergency Medical Technician and a trainer for the Lebanese Red Cross for more than seven years.
“In Lebanon, it’s very hard to build a career in the nonprofit sector, because it’s already a drained country, so the nonprofit sector is really suffering, so my work with the Lebanese Red Cross was always on the side,” Boustani says.
“One tenet that I love is: “A truly generous person gives before being asked for help.” In other words, when seeing signs of need, you don’t wait to reach the point where someone has to ask for help.” –Alizeh Jaffrey Zaidi, who established the “Benevolence Award for MPNL”
“When I moved to Canada, I worked as an architect, and continued working in the nonprofit sector on the side, but it was difficult to do both,” she adds. “In 2022, I returned to Lebanon to visit my family for a wedding, and it was heartbreaking seeing the country. It was mentally and emotionally tormenting to see the state in which my people were living, in which my family were living — to see my parents living in such conditions. I decided that, as I live in Canada, I have the resources to study, and I have everything I need in Canada to make nonprofit work a full-time career.”
Boustani worked in a primary school in Tanzania.
She also volunteered in Tanzania, where she got the good news that the MPNL program had accepted her application and offered the Benevolence Award as well.
“I eventually want to make a change in my own country,” she says. “I would love to have experience in Canada. I’m learning a lot from my peers and professors. I’m passionate about making changes in post-conflict regions, because these are the regions most affected, the regions that struggle the most in terms of intergenerational trauma.”
Wednesday, October 25, 2023 in Awards, News, Students 2023
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