living
# YQLNEIGHBOURS
KYLE DE GROOT
PHOTOGRAPHY : JEN ALSTON , MPA ; IMAJEN PHOTOGRAPHY
Meet SURYA ACHARYA , current president of the Southern Alberta Ethnic Association ( SAEA ). Here , he provides us with updates from the SAEA , and how it ’ s changed over the years .
What is your favourite part of living in Lethbridge ? Being in Lethbridge , we have an opportunity to celebrate diversity and use it as a strength . I always say that if you put time into the community , the community will respond . That is the biggest positive thing I see about this community .
How do you feel the SAEA promotes a feeling of neighbourhood ? We have some very small groups that have recently joined us . They are only made up of about two families , but they have the same say in how the SAEA runs as all of the larger groups . That is our main mission : To provide inclusiveness to every group . Recently , we have been doing a Latin-Fest , which we didn ’ t do in the past . Now that we are doing those types of events , they have been very successful .
How did you become involved with the SAEA ? Do you remember what it was like ? For some reason , whatever I ’ m involved with , I usually become either the president or executive director . I was vice-president for about eight years before I became president of the SAEA . [ The organization ] used to be quite small with very few member groups . When I took over as president , I made the new building ( multicultural centre ) my main goal . I realized that was one thing that we were really missing .
If you could give advice to your 16-year-old self , what would it be ? Get involved in your community . Don ’ t just expect the community to give you everything . That ’ s what I ’ ve been telling our members at our Annual General Meetings . I now realize that our older generational members did not encourage their youngsters to participate in cultural activities . Some of that cultural heritage is being restored with a few groups , but I ’ ve noticed that if you don ’ t allow youth to become involved , you will not have their support in the future .
14 LETHBRIDGELIVING . COM NOV-DEC 2017