My volunteer work has centred around creating spaces and platforms for people from diverse backgrounds to share their experiences, thoughts, and opinions, as well as amplifying the voices of lived experience in an ethical manner.
Dua Alkassar is a UTS student studying a Bachelor in Communications and Law. She has been a dedicated community volunteer since high school and logged more than 700 volunteer hours with the SOUL program.
For the last three years, Dua has been volunteering with UTS student society Students for Humanity, a group that aims to create a space for grassroots human rights activism on campus. They have run campaigns and events addressing the spike in racism experienced by South Asian people throughout the pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement and the experiences of young people living in the diaspora.
Dua has also volunteered with Our Race to facilitate conversations about ethical storytelling for minorities. One of Our Race's programs, Chai and Chat, an informal online discussion group for people of diverse backgrounds, was particularly impactful during the lockdown to help foster connections between people from marginalised backgrounds who were experiencing the worst effects of the pandemic.
SOUL recently nominated Dua for the 2022 NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards to recognise her commitment and dedication to solving complex social issues.
Volunteering can be life-changing. If you are a UTS student and are interested in finding out more about the UTS SOUL Award, visit our webpage.