Volunteer Service Award winner makes huge impact on Caribbean Canadian community

Volunteer service to Caribbean community in Ontario

Sookram’s work building community in Ontario, both since the start of the pandemic and since he came to Canada as a teenager in 1993, have earned him the 2023 Volunteer Service Award from Athabasca University (AU). This award recognizes a graduate who has demonstrated a spirit of volunteering and community service through active, unpaid involvement in and contributions to their community. 

Since coming to Canada in 1993, there are countless ways Sookram has sought to give of himself to support those in his community through his volunteer efforts, including many inspired by his own experience as a Caribbean Canadian immigrant. These include starting the popular Caribbean Dreams concerts and hosting the long-running Caribbean Spice radio show, which features Caribbean music and discussion of Caribbean issues. 

“Volunteering is important to me because I always put people before profit, and volunteerism allows me to do just that,” he said. “At the end of it all, I get great satisfaction.” 

Athabasca University graduate’s early inspiration to volunteer

Sookram was born and raised in Berbice, Guyana, where his family ran a prosperous cake shop. It was through active participation in his community, including the Krishna Mandir (a Hindu temple) where he served as an assistant priest when he was just 14 years old. 

By engaging with the local church in his village, he said he learned the value of giving back. Through this work, he was inspired to do more to help his neighbours and community members and empower them to, in turn, help others. 

One notable accomplishment in this time is that he founded a youth group, called the Youth Cultural Group Organization. 

“The idea was to bring the youths together to empower them to maximize their potential and to be contributors to society in whatever ways they saw fit,” Sookram said. 

When he came to Canada, he brought with him that spirit of volunteerism and continued his efforts in his new home. 

Challenges as an immigrant inspired AU grad to help others

Sookram was the youngest in his family, and when they came to Canada he was still in school. He completed high school in Ontario, but he struggled as he was also working at the same time. 

“What made it challenging was that I was going to school during the day and then going to work at midnight for a full shift,” he said. “I did it for a year, but I was visualizing the big picture.” 

While support services for new immigrants would certainly have been available during that time in the 1990s, he said that he came from a culture where pride was a big factor, meaning he probably would not have felt comfortable accepting free services even if he had known about them. 

But it was through his own experience struggling to adapt to a new country and to find meaningful work that inspired him to ultimately pursue a career in social work and counselling. 

“I ended up working in social services because it gave me the opportunity to help people in a variety of areas, including with their employment needs,” he said. 

Promoting Caribbean Canadian culture

In 2002, Sookram founded the Caribbean Dreams Concert, an annual event that features musical talent from all over the Caribbean, including his home country of Guyana. 

Rather than trying to make money as a concert promoter, however, he was simply trying to improve the lives of others in his community by highlighting the rich arts and culture from that region. 

“I wanted to promote the rich culture of the Caribbean under one roof, where people can come and have a good time and at the same time learn a thing or two from a different culture,” he said. 

This passion for promoting Caribbean culture continued in 2003, when Sookram launched the Caribbean Spice radio show, which he has hosted and produced for two decades. 

He said he saw the need to promote West Indian and Caribbean music, giving artists an opportunity to hear themselves on the radio and for listeners to hear songs that might not get played on mainstream radio. 

He contacted several radio stations in the Kitchener-Waterloo region of Ontario, and found one that gave him the opportunity. This show has won several awards over the years, and Sookram has become a prominent member of the community with a large audience. 

“Over the years, I have invited and interviewed local citizens and some big names as well, including the former president and current vice-president of Guyana, Bharat Jagdeo,” he said. 

He also launched another video talk show called Let’s Chit Chat with Narine Dat, which was also a hit and provided a venue to discuss social issues and promote talent from around the world. 

First in family to graduate university

Sookram said he is the first in his family to graduate with a university degree, but he didn’t stop with just one. In addition to his AU undergraduate degree, he has completed several college diplomas including one in the social services field along with bachelor’s degrees in adult education and social work. 

He has also completed a master of social work from Brescia University and expects to complete a doctor of social work from Capella College in 2024. 

“I have dedicated many years to pursuing higher education because I was looking at the big picture. I know that I’ll have great opportunities and freedom to do things that are important to me,” he said. 

But working in a mental health field hasn’t always been his priority. In fact, he said he specifically avoided that type of work in doing his various social work degrees. 

Supporting mental health

It was Sookram’s experience working as an employment counsellor that helped him see first-hand the need for, and benefit of, mental health counselling and treatment. 

“At the end of the day, I realize that I have to be the change I would like to see, and the rest is history,” he said. 

Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, Sookram has done counselling work related to mental health both professionally and as a volunteer doing social work with vulnerable populations. 

“My contribution as a social worker has impacted many lives, particularly those of the vulnerable population,” he said. “I always put people before profit, so when I saw the need to help people, I didn’t shy away but put my best foot forward.” 

AU grad continues to make an impact

In addition to being a passionate volunteer, Sookram is a strong advocate for policy change to support vulnerable communities. 

His thesis topic for his doctoral work revolves around making improvements in the hiring processes at social services agencies for minority groups, including women, people of colour, people with disabilities, Indigenous Peoples, and the 2SLGBTQIA+ communities. And following the completion of his doctoral degree, he said he looks forward to bringing these kinds of issues to light. 

Although he has proven that promoting change and improving the lives of those around him doesn’t require university education, his university degree provide another tool in his tool belt to help him transform lives and transform communities. 

“I have dedicated many years to pursuing higher education because I was looking at the big picture. I know that I’ll have great opportunities and freedom to do things that are important to me,” Sookram said. “In fact, I have had great opportunities, and I think the best is yet to come.”

Since receiving this award, Sookram has completed a doctor of social work degree from Capella University.