Meet our Team: Hiwot Belai

Who are you? 

I was born and raised in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and I moved to Canada at the age of 11 with my mother and my sister. For a while, my mother worked two jobs to support us, work that did not even utilise her two degrees. No, instead, she travelled an hour and a half each morning to get to job one, working some arbitrary job before clocking out and travelling a further hour and half to get to the next. In all this time, she never shirked a single one of her responsibilities; she took financial care of both my family here and back home, did her work very well and, most importantly, she was a great mom. She taught me about hard work, responsibility and humility, the core values that guide my life.

Now, I am a third-year student at the University of Toronto, studying Health and Disease with a focus on Anthropology and Immunology. I love what I am learning, and I am eager to see how my education will shape my professional career. Outside of school, I am an engaged grassroots leader in my community. My pride and joy is a youth organization aptly named the Association of Committed and Engaged Youth (ACEY), which I co-founded in the 10th grade and currently co-chair. In this capacity, I find that I can work to bring targeted and effective resolutions to community-level issues. However, I am growing older and may not fit into the descriptor ‘youth’ for much longer so I look forward to taking on larger challenges on both the national and global scale.

Other than that, I have various, sometimes fleeting, interests. I particularly like learning about niche topics and am currently studying the work of Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí. 

You’re studying both health and disease and anthropology. What is it about these two topics that appeals to you?

My love for biology, in general, is quite an unremarkable story. As I imagine most life science enthusiasts feel, my first science lesson about the miracle of life was transformative. I was fascinated by the complex machine that is the human body and inspired by the sheer amount of knowledge humanity had collected on the topic in even pre-industrial times. Thus, when I was applying to my university program, there wasn’t much to mull over.

My love for anthropology, on the other hand, is a little more grim. I gravitated toward discipline after watching the TV show ‘Bones’ and, although I had deemed it impossible, I became even more obsessed with our life form. I was amazed by how the body could retain such distinctive traces of one’s lifestyle even after death. For a brief moment, I even wanted to become a forensic anthropologist and unfortunately, I let myself be talked out of what could have been a promising career. However, I secretly took Anthropology classes in my first year and found that the applications of the study were more expansive and interesting than I had ever imagined. I stuck with it and it helped me to evolve my vision of my future career. Rather than the obvious path to medical doctor-hood that I planned, I realized that I could combine my passion for science and my aptitude in social relations and policy reform to pursue a fulfilling career in global healthcare provision and research.

Why do you think diversity in sustainability is important?

Diversity seems like an intuitive concept to me - if everyone is included and given a seat at the table, then everyone can contribute. Individuals from all walks of life can share their unique lived experiences and perspectives to achieve holistic approaches to problem-solving. Thus, if one can understand that racial inequities exist, then one must be dedicated to actions promoting inclusion in order to have 'all hands on deck'. It's almost ironic that the lack of diversity in the sustainability sector is a source of waste and inefficiency. That's why I work on promoting diversity and inclusion in civic engagement projects within my community - it is not just a moral compass that pushes me to do this work, but a dedication to pragmatism.

Hiwot is recognized for her service to the community.

You created a group called the Association of Committed and Engaged Youth. Tell us more about that.

My journey to becoming a grassroots leader did not stem from any particular passion. All I remember was wanting to get a headstart on my high school volunteer hours the summer before Grade 9 and checking in with the Volunteer Toronto website weekly to find out how I could get involved. Then, by some chance, I found myself organizing a youth camp conference and spent a weekend talking to students from my area about the problems they struggled with on a daily basis. While some could not afford to take public transit to school everyday, others had a troubled relationship with the local police and would forgo using community centres for fear of being profiled. While the list of problems was extensive and varied, the reason for the persistence of these issues in the community was largely singular: the exclusion of the affected populations in informing policy. Youth were not consulted about the implementation of community programs and understandably, they were either inaccessible or failed at addressing the concerns they were designed to solve. That is when my friends and I decided to create the Association of Committed and Engaged Youth (ACEY). While our name is a mouthful, our mandate is simple: to put youth at the forefront of sustainable policy and community changes that directly affect them. This necessitated a thorough understanding of and dedication to diversity in all its forms to ensure that no one was left out and it is this diversity that is instrumental to our success. This opportunity has encouraged me to push inclusion in both my educational journey and professional career because understanding the importance of diversity is the first step to being a globally-minded citizen.

You mentioned eventually going back to Ethiopia to apply some of your knowledge back home. What do you envision your role being?

Although I do not have all the technical details planned out, my mission is very clear: to take the knowledge and professional experience I have accumulated as a student in North America and use it to improve the living conditions and prospects of Ethiopians and Eritreans. I anticipate that my work will look something like bringing access to healthcare, treatments, contraceptive programs and family planning to the countryside.

I am especially motivated when I recall my jarring transition to Canadian life. I vividly remember being positively shocked at the number of books that were in my sixth-grade classroom, and how they easily shamed the inventory in my school’s library back home. I think of all the opportunities that are afforded to me by living where I do and growing up how I did and I think that it is only fair that I take some of those blessings and use them for the advancement of my home nation.

Do you have a mentor? How have they helped you in your career or personal growth?

Not at the moment, although I am always looking. I have, however, had many mentors in the past. One person that has helped me tremendously is Lisa, an alumnus from the University of Toronto. Like me, she started out studying the life sciences and somewhere along the way, she had a crisis about what her future looks like, as I do quite frequently. In her search for answers, she shared with me the truth that she discovered, which is that our paths, whether they be professional, educational or personal, are non-linear. There is no clear-cut prescription on what to do and when to become successful. In fact, our journeys may not even be consistently directional, as obstacles make us reconsider our priorities, our abilities and our current goals. This revelation helps me stay grounded when I fixate on setbacks or feel overwhelmed and directionless. Now, I find that I can pursue work opportunities that are not strictly healthcare-related because, while they may not be contributing to work experience for my degree, I am doing work I am passionate about and that freedom is exhilarating. 

Is there a quote or mantra that you most live by, and why?

“A lo hecho, pecho.” - Unknown

I happened upon this Spanish idiom not too long ago, but we have all heard some iteration of this at some point in our lives. It directly translates to ‘Concerning what is done, chest’, basically meaning ‘What’s done is done’. It encourages me to understand that the past is beyond my control and all I can do at any point in time is use the present to my advantage. It centres me when I dwell on a moment missed or an opportunity wasted and helps me refocus on what’s important: the future.

What issues in sustainability are you most concerned about?

Although I cannot identify why I have become so radicalized, I am very concerned about the strain of overpopulation on our planet’s welfare. I think of the fact that, despite our overconsumption and overtaxation of Earth’s resources, we still cannot manage to feed every person. With a global population that is fast-approaching our planet’s limits, we must act expeditiously. It is especially upsetting because the ramifications of this unsustainable growth, like many other things, are not distributed evenly across the globe and are especially harmful to poorer nations.

I recently watched a documentary called ‘Mother’ that concisely explains a potential solution to many of the existential issues facing our planet: the education of women all over the world. Although the main evil the film discussed was climate change, the education of women can have massive effects on population management; the opportunity costs of motherhood for an educated woman are much higher than those of a woman who does not have formal education. To me, this seems like a clear-cut solution to this sustainability issue that has no drawbacks, and one that I advocate for wherever I can.

What would you like to do next?

My goal right now is to do some coursework abroad and work with global organizations like UNICEF on policies that promote equitable access to healthcare and medication in countries stricken by natural disasters. More generally, however, I am just focused on building up a base of international knowledge through travel and exchanges to foster a global perspective.

Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future, and why?

Although it reads to others as optimism, I have a very realistic approach to expectations about the future. The expansion of knowledge and technology, coupled with globalization, means that our globe will be better off than most people predict. What’s more is that global attitudes about education are shifting; information, while still a prized commodity, is becoming more and more available to the masses, giving way to two major outcomes. First, people become impassioned and empowered to act on the issues that really matter. For some people, seeing is believing and videos on the internet, research from leading experts as well as testimonials from people living through these experiences give us the incontrovertible proof we need to know that change is necessary.

Secondly, we are given the opportunity to arm ourselves with knowledge, with community and purpose. Going back to the interconnectedness of the world, it is clear that it has never been easier to relate to a person that is completely removed from your situation. For example, I can understand the context of someone living in British Columbia, although I have never been there before. From news and other media, I can imagine the horror of having your home burn down and as the unfolding scene pushes me to action, I can subsequently look online for ways to help. I can join environmental groups to create change, donate time or money to help the cause or even do the bare minimum of consciously altering my lifestyle to do my part in preventing such disasters.

I see this passion and proactivity in most people, but especially within my generation. So, realistically, our planet is in good hands.