The Late Dr. Roshan Hirji Thomas
Hon. Mobina S. B. Jaffer: Honourable senators, I rise today to pay tribute to a great friend and a great Canadian, Dr. Roshan Hirji Thomas of Vancouver. We both came here from Uganda. Roshan was one of two Canadians, along with Zeenab Kassam of Calgary, killed in Afghanistan.
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Roshan was an optometrist, and with her ophthalmologist husband, Rahim Thomas, dedicated themselves for more than three decades to serving marginalized populations in Canada and around the world, including Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Roshan’s interest in education stemmed first from her own role as a mother and her desire for her children to have better opportunities than she did. Through her work, she realized that this same hope united all mothers and fathers, irrespective of their apparent external differences.
In 2003, Roshan travelled to Afghanistan and opened an Early Childhood Development Centre in Kabul: The Sparks Academy. The program has grown to encompass six centres, with 900 boys and girls currently enrolled.
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