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FEATURE
Rana Bokhari was born and raised in Anola, Manitoba,
where her Pakistani immigrant parents operated
the largest poultry farm in the province. Everyone in
the family had to help out—even Rana at age five
was pulling her weight for two hours each morning,
gathering eggs for market.
Unfortunately, the farming venture ended abruptly.
“We had to sell out in 2000,” says Rana. “We were
forced out, so it wasn’t our choice.” The family returned
to Pakistan in 2002, not returning to Canada until
2006. Those years in Pakistan were to forever alter
Rana’s view of the world and her role in it.
To say that Pakistan was a ‘culture shock’ borders
on understatement. Besides the family’s coping not
only with their father’s poor health due to a series
of strokes, but also financial issues that called on all
family members to contribute however they could, it
was the stark reality of daily life in Pakistan that left an
indelible memory.
“In Pakistan you pay for everything, including
medical costs and education. I couldn’t go to school
there because it was too expensive. There’s no help
through grants or student loans. I wanted to help
my family; we were in a tough situation. Before I
left, I was working retail because I have a passion
for clothes. The only things I knew at that time were
clothes and farming.”
Rather than being a source of discouragement
to Rana, her family’s series of calamities had the
opposite effect. It fueled her zeal for taking concrete
action and set in motion her fundraising abilities,
which have been recognized not only within
Winnipeg, but also at a national level.
To date, Rana has raised funds for the flood in
Pakistan in 2010, the Haitian earthquake in 2009,
the East Africa Famine, as well as local causes such
as the Victoria Hospital, Winnipeg Harvest, and Pro
Bono Students Canada.
“As I recall, in my first year of law school, there was one
fundraiser each week for a different cause.”
“When I started law school in 2009,
there was so much going on in the
world and I had just come from a
place of extreme poverty. When
you’re on that side of the world, those
things affect you so much more.
You see the devastation first hand.
It changed my life and made me see
that our issues here in Canada are so
small by comparison.”
“I feel privileged to be able to contribute. It was as if
someone handed me a golden platter; I felt I had to
do something with this opportunity.”
For Rana, it is really about making others aware.
“It’s not about me or even the money we raise,” she
says. “Our $10,000 isn’t going to make much of a
difference. It’s when I see a group of students in
the dead of winter outside tending a barbecue, or
2,000 people out at Assiniboine Park thinking about
how other people are living, that’s when I feel good
that everyone has opened their eyes about what’s
happening in other parts of the world.”
So it all came down to a pivotal moment in
2009 when Rana decided that she was either
going to sit back and watch, or step up and
lead. Fortunately for the roster of charitable
organizations that have benefited from her
remarkable efforts, she decided to lead.
“When I was doing the Benefit Concert for East
Africa at Assiniboine Park, people from Toronto and
Vancouver were calling me. I know I can persuade
people, and I think that will help me to be a good
lawyer. People know I’m genuine.”
UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA, FACULTY OF LAW robsonhall.ca 58