A Blog from DMU Student Harpreet Kaur and her Internship with South Asian Heritage Trust

Hi, my name is Harpreet Kaur, and I’ve been spending my summer as an intern with South Asian Heritage Trust (SAHT). Here’s a bit about my incredible journey and what I’ve learned.

My experience with South Asian Heritage Month (SAHM) has been truly incredible. From having an exceptional boss to connecting with inspiring and accomplished individuals, and attending exciting opportunities like Westminster Parliament, every moment has been valuable. My supervisor, Harvinder Poonian, has been consistently warm, kind, patient, supportive, and truly a superb mentor. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Harvinder and the entire SAHM team. It has been a lot of fun organizing the podcasts in partnership with Anand Dattani and our four guest speakers for the Roots to Routes theme, and I’ve also taken part in helping with other projects like creating event listings, editing newsletters, and producing social media posts, all of which I was genuinely proud of. One thing I can say with confidence about the SAHM team is that they are incredibly helpful, friendly, and genuinely wonderful to work with. It’s a truly great work environment. Through this experience, I’ve also learned a lot and further developed my skills, gaining a firsthand understanding of the intricate processes within charities, including the genuine challenges of getting responses and the persistence required in outreach.

I have attended some really cool and awesome events such as the South Asian Creative’s event, being on site at a live podcast recording and the Parliament event. Attending the Parliament event at the Speaker’s House was an utterly incredible opportunity and such a privilege. I was initially a bit worried but very excited; however, when I got there it all came very naturally to me. I spoke to many people, saw the Speaker’s bedroom, and watched a dance performance. I heard many moving speeches, but one that truly stood out to me was by Preet Chandi. Her speech truly inspired me through her complete bravery and persistence to trek the South Pole, gaining Guinness World Records; it gave me hope for bigger dreams and the motivation to see them through. Meeting such amazing people at these events, who have done such great things for the community and are so accomplished themselves has truly opened my eyes. It showed me that you can accomplish anything you want to accomplish, and to actually meet people who have achieved their dreams makes possibilities seem endless and even bigger. I believe there’s so much I can do, and I look forward to being accomplished and doing great things for the community, just like the people I have met.

I want to finish off by saying I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work for SAHM and to have done the things I have done; I truly feel blessed. I want to say a special thanks to the one and only Harvinder Poonian and the entire SAHM team!