UPEI alumnus wins young humanitarian award

UPEI congratulates Bobby Thomas Cameron, BA'09, on receiving the 2010 Canadian Red Cross Young Humanitarian Award for Prince Edward Island for his dedication to literacy promotion, international development, volunteerism, and advocacy.

The award will be presented to the Hampton native on November 3 at the Canadian Red Cross Humanitarian Awards dinner at the Delta Prince Edward hotel, though he won't be able to attend in person as he is in Saudi Arabia teaching ESL.

In addition to his work in Saudi Arabia, Cameron volunteered at a shelter for asylum seekers and refugees in Malta in 2008 as an English language instructor and, up until last month, was an ESL tutor in his home province. Also in 2008, he volunteered with 'Students for Development' as an Intern with a business cooperative in Kenya and was a delegate at the 2009 Global Youth Assembly in Edmonton, an international gathering of youth who are involved in current global issues.

Cameron became involved in several programs and activities to assist newcomers to Canada as well as Aboriginal students while at UPEI. He re-established a program called 'Students for Literacy' to help students improve their English language skills and coordinated a project with Aboriginal students where these students self-identified the challenges they encountered at post-secondary institutions. Cameron also assisted in the development of curriculum for parents and children who speak English as an additional language.

Cameron credits his desire 'to give back' to having been raised in a small Island community where volunteerism is valued highly and was part of the fabric growing up. While he was at UPEI, he impacted the lives of students on campus in many ways, through his friendship, openness, and respect for different cultures. Certainly Cameron continues to apply his leadership skills and exemplary qualities to a number of local, national and international endeavours to this day.

Congratulations, Bobby!