Nazira Tareen
Early Childhood Educator (Retired)
Early Childhood Education – Class of 1973
To someone as dedicated to community service as Nazira Tareen, not even the coronavirus pandemic can hinder her work for people in need.
“A lot of changes are taking place,” Tareen says. “The Ottawa Muslim Women’s Organization (OMWO) had to cancel its annual fundraising dinner this year. We’ve cancelled a lot of meetings and activities. We are still doing our work, but doing it differently.”
The OMWO used to donate money and supply Halal meat to three community food banks for years. Due to COVID-19, it now directs the money to the Ottawa Food Bank so it can acquire the food and supply it to the food banks.
OMWO completed a fundraising campaign in May for the Multi-faith Housing Initiative (MHI) to buy affordable housing for low-income families, and surpassed its annual goal despite the cancellation of the MHI Tulipathon Annual Charity Walk typically held in May at Dow’s Lake.
“We can’t meet in person anymore, so we meet on Zoom,” Tareen says. “We reach out to people on email. There is always a way.”
Growing up in Bangalore, India, young Nazira watched as her mother devoted herself to helping people less fortunate. India, like Canada, is a multi-ethnic, multi-faith country, and her mother would help anyone and everyone who was in need. “Muslim, Hindu, anyone,” Tareen says. “My parents were helpful to everyone.”
Tareen came to Ottawa with her husband, Dr. Farook Tareen, in 1968 and soon became involved in the work of the Ottawa Muslim Women’s Auxiliary of the Ottawa Mosque, eventually serving three terms as its president. The years that followed her arrival saw the Muslim community in Ottawa grow steadily from about 500 people in the late ’60s to over 100,000 today. There was work to be done, she says, to integrate newcomers and help those with limited means or special needs.
It was in this period that Tareen began studying at Algonquin College in the Early Childhood Education program in 1969. Her studies were interrupted when her two children were born in 1971-72 but she was able to finish by taking evening classes and graduated with the Class of 1973.
She would go on to teach Sunday school in the Ottawa Mosque for 17 years. In addition to providing her with teaching skills, Tareen says, her education gave her a deeper understanding of the needs of poor children and single mothers in the Ottawa area. “I learned a lot about poverty, and it reinforced my determination to be of help any way I could.”
The Auxiliary was disbanded in the late ’90s but many members wanted to continue in another form. Tareen led informal meetings toward that end through much of 2001 in her home. Plans were being made – then, she says, 9/11 happened. “On September 30, we launched the Ottawa Muslim Women’s Organization. There was work to be done.”
The OMWO, of which Tareen was founder and first president, drew an international group of accomplished women into its ranks, including members originally from Albania, India, Iran, Ghana, Guyana, Bosnia, Yemen, Tunisia, Pakistan, Uganda, Somalia, Egypt, Afghanistan, Indonesia and Turkey as well as Canada.
The multi-national, multi-cultural board of directors dedicated itself to a variety of good causes and fundraising events. They helped ease the resettlement of waves of refugees and stepped in to aid individuals requiring urgent help.
At 81, Tareen can look back on an exceptional record of action. Among the major organizations she has worked for are the Kidney Foundation, the Museum of Civilization, the Brownies and Girl Guides of Canada, and Ottawa Carleton Immigrant Services. She has been an invited speaker on Islam at many churches, schools, universities, the National Press Club, and on TV and radio.
She has been a member of the Spiritual Care Advisory Committee at the Queensway-Carleton Hospital, St. Vincent Hospital, Elisabeth Bruyere Hospital and a spiritual volunteer. Amid all this activity, she has never forgotten her roots: she has donated to schools in India for many years, including a $25,000 donation to the Crescent High School in Bangalore on the occasion of her silver wedding anniversary in 1992.
Among her many awards, Tareen received the 2000 YMCA/YWCA Women of Distinction Award for Community Volunteer, the Order of Ottawa in 2012, and in 2013 an award for Outstanding Services to Canada and the Canadian People given by the Ottawa Muslim Association and the Muslim Coordinating Council of the National Capital Region.
“This work involves helping people on the spot in any way you can,” Tareen says. “I am 81, you know, so it has become more difficult for me but I love to help. Volunteering is in my bones.”