Dacia Douhaibi, aged 24, Canada

I am from Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. I recently graduated from university and moved to a small northern community where the winters are long and cold, and the skies are perpetually a crisp clear blue.

I currently work for an aboriginal run non-profit organization as a Youth and Family Program Coordinator. During these winter months I have to bundle up in a wool parka and mukluks for my walk to work through temperatures plunging to -45 degrees celsius.

When I arrive at work I complete reports and paperwork, and in the afternoons I spend time with a group of about twenty aboriginal youth, many of which have had troubled lives. They come into the youth center where I work to use computers, play a game of pool, or visit with their friends. I hope to find a way to positively touch their lives in the time that I share with them each day.

Indeed, Canada is included in the group of independent states that create this entity known as the Commonwealth, but I had to take some time to think about what that really meant to me.

The term ‘Commonwealth’ brings to mind thoughts of Canada’s history; roots of a colonial past and ties to the Crown that seem so distant now. The few evident reminders that we see to remind us of our connection to the UK are the coins that we use everyday that bear The Queen’s image and the Commonwealth Games that we all so enjoy watching.

When I reflect further on the reasons why the Commonwealth came to be, the values that the Commonwealth represents come to mind – ideals such as democracy, human rights and peace. The Commonwealth is also something that I see as differentiating us from the United States, something to define Canada as having a unique and distinct history.