Sidakers at Frontline of Covid-19

As we continue to navigate social distancing together, we want to engage the community in conversation with the frontline workers. Discussing how Sikhi has informed their lives and practice, what the community can do to support them, and their everyday realities, we welcomed Sidakers at the front-line of Covid-19. We as a community are connected with a genuine bond that is rooted in Sabad that social distancing cannot break. Live webchat with Birinder Singh, Manjot Kaur, and Sharandeep Singh. #Vaisakhi2020 #ConnectWithSabad #Khalsa ~~ Dr. Birinder Singh is a Family Physician working in Vancouver, British Columbia. He currently serves as the Vice-Chair of the Burnaby Divisions of Family Practice and is a Clinical Instructor with the Department of Family Practice at the University of British Columbia. He practices in community health, urgent care, and long term care medicine. He works with vulnerable populations, including those with addiction, mental health concerns, transgender patients and in refugee health. His work is informed by his relationship with Sikhi, and he has been a consumer and volunteer of SikhRI for over a decade now, including attending Sidak in 2016. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, he has been actively involved in front line care and strategic planning for a primary care response in Vancouver and Burnaby. Additionally he has been volunteering with the North American Sikh Medical and Dental Association and the “Virtual Vaisakhi” initiative in Vancouver, to directly help those who have been significantly affected by the Pandemic. Dr. Manjot Kaur is an Emergency Medicine physician in the last months of her residency at Louisiana State University. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she has been a frontline responder in New Orleans. She completed both undergraduate studies and medical school at Howard University, during which she also completed a Fulbright research fellowship in Panjab, India. Her areas of interest include health inequities among marginalized populations, health education as prevention, and integrated medical care. Manjot attended Sidak in the early 2000s during her formative years. Her Gurmat education via family, sangat and programs such as Sidak inspired activism and recognition of the human condition. Dr. Sharandeep Singh is an activist, educator, and philanthropist residing in Scotland, UK. He completed his MBBS degree, summa cum laude, from the University of Dundee and is working as an anaesthesiology/ICU resident in Scotland. Since attending Sidak in 2011, he has been inspired by the values of Ik-Oankar leading innovations in Gurmat education amongst Scottish Sikh youth. His voluntary work spans from transforming activities in Gurduaras, fundraising for international aid charities specializing in educating Sikligar and Vanjara youth and building national advocacy organizations for Sikhs and ethnic minorities. In response to the coronavirus pandemic, he co-founded The Sikh Food Bank in March 2020 to serve those in need.