Special Women’s Day award for Amy Nelson

If she is not at home or doing volunteer work in a Third World country, you would find Amy Nelson ambling around the new Jamaican Canadian Centre (JCA) doing anything that is necessary to make an event flow.

She runs the JCA Seniors program that she set up, ensuring that all participants are actively involved in either arts and crafts projects or a game of dominoes every Tuesday and Thursday. On other occasions, she has cooked, cleaned, raised funds, sold in food stalls, did coat checks and recruited members for the organization.

For most of her life, Nelson has given of her time freely in an attempt to help the less fortunate.

In recognition of her volunteer work, Nelson was presented with the Women’s Intercultural Network (WIN) International Women’s Day award last Thursday.

“It’s nice to be recognized, but I don’t necessarily crave for awards,” said the modest Nelson. “I would much prefer to go out and help others in my own little quiet way without much fuss.”

A surgical nurse by training, Nelson migrated to Canada from Jamaica in 1958 to work at the then Toronto General Hospital in the ophthalmology department. She was the only Black surgical nurse in the hospital at the time.

Although she did not encounter overt racism in her job, she became sensitive to the experiences of other Jamaican women disadvantaged by racial bias. This drove her efforts to help build the JCA, which she envisioned would serve as a meeting place for newly arrived West Indians.

As a founding member of the JCA which emerged in September 1962, Nelson helped draft a constitution and arrange a community meeting at the then Central YMCA on College St. (Toronto Police headquarters now sits on the site) where the constitution was accepted.

She also founded the Caribbean Seniors Association and represented a senior citizens group to lobby politicians in Ottawa on health care.

The WIN also honoured school principal and volunteer Barbara Siddiqui with the Dr. Vara Singh award.

The late humanitarian Dr. Vara Singh founded the WIN in 1985. The organization promotes recognition of the contributions to Canadian society by women of diverse cultures whose efforts enhance the quality of life for other women.

Previous award winners include MP Jean Augustine, Dr. Roberta Bondar, Joan Grant-Cummings, Dr. Karen Mock and Sandra Carnegie-Douglas.

TV news anchor Indira Naidoc-Harris, the keynote speaker, paid sterling tribute to this year’s recipients.

“We are recognizing two very special women who have made a lifetime of working hard for the good of others,” said Naidoc-Harris.

While praising the award winners, she chastised segments of the global community that continue to oppress women.

She expressed disgust at the recent caning of a 17-year-old Nigerian girl who was convicted of having pre-marital sex and becoming pregnant (the girl claimed she was raped), and the murder of a Toronto woman who was accused of having an affair.

“These stories show the harsh realities of life that some women still endure in the 21st century,” Naidoc-Harris pointed out. “…We have to stand up for each other and speak out when we see someone suffering. We must make sure our voices are heard so that our daughters and their daughters are not subjected to this kind of terror.”

The United Nations formally declared March 8 as International Women’s Day in 1975, some 65 years after an International Women’s Conference in Denmark proposed that a day be set aside each year to focus on women’s issues.