Profile of GN President

“I want to uplift the poor and less educated, especially young girls and women.” These words capture the life mission of Mr. Budh Singh Dhahan. He is the inspirational founder and president of Guru Nanak Mission Medical & Educational Trust, Punjab, India and he is also one of the founders of Canada-India Education Society, Vancouver. Through his leadership these charitable organizations have a long established partnership of working together creatively to promote social development in rural Punjab through community-based health care, education and job creation.

After nearly two decades of distinguished service in community development as a social and political activist in Punjab, India , Mr. Budh Singh Dhahan came to Canada in 1959 and settled in the vibrant lumber town of Port Alberni, British Columbia. In the summer of 1967 his wife and four of his children also arrived from India. In the 1960s Mr. Dhahan worked in the lumber industry and later in the 1970s, he established a successful construction enterprise in Vancouver. In these years Mr. Dhahan was active in local community causes and at one time served as the general secretary of Khalsa Diwan Society, Vancouver, the oldest and largest Sikh organization in Canada. Under his leadership new initiatives such as ESL classes for new immigrants and programs to help strengthen the relationships between the Indo-Canadian community with the larger community were launched. During these years he was inspired by the work of Canadian charities and volunteers. Education for girls and gender equality issues remained close to Mr. Dhahan’s heart and he continued to dream of returning to his homeland to help the poor and less educated.

In 1984 Mr. Dhahan’s dream came true. With the help of family and friends in Vancouver and the people and councils of Dhahan and Kaleran villages, he opened a 40 bed hospital in the Nawanshahar District region of Punjab.

In 1987 an elementary and secondary school was started. The Guru Nanak College of Nursing was opened in 1993 with a diploma program in nursing and in 1998 a baccalaureate degree program in nursing began with an intake of 50 students. A collaboration with the University of British Columbia (UBC) School of Nuring is now underway involving faculty and student exchange and development of nursing curriculum.

Facilities and Programs at Dhahan-Kaleran:

• Hospital with 200 + bed capacity
• School of Nursing - Three Year Diploma Program - 50 students per year
• Guru Nanak College of Nursing - Four Year BSN Program - 50 students per year
• Alcohol and Drug Rehabilitation Center (in partnership with Punjab Red Cross)
• Elementary and Secondary School for approximately 1100 students
• UBC Canada House - Residential Hosting Facility for Visiting Volunteers
• Mobile Medical and Health Clinics
• Health promotion work in sixty villages
  
  

Location

Guru Nanak Mission Medical and Educational Trust is located in Dhahan-Kaleran in Punjab state. The facilities operated by GN Trust serve a rural population living in small villages within a 25 k. radius of Dhahan-Kaleran. The complex is situated on the main road between Phagwara and Nawanshahar, north of Ludhiana, in the district of Nawanshahar.