Dima Marachi - Volunteer of the Month for July 2020
Please join us in congratulating Dima Marachi as July’s Volunteer of the Month. Since registering with the volunteer program in 2018, we have been fortunate to have Dima’s support as a workshop volunteer. Sharing her expertise with computers and her talents as a teacher, she has helped our clients improve their skill and confidence with technology. She has led Introduction to Computers workshops for our Seniors Program as well as the Cross-Cultural Adaptation Program (CCAP), teaching these clients the basics of computer literacy. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when technology became even more important to everyday life, Dima was able to transition her workshops for our clients online, helping to keep them connected and adapt to life online. We are so thankful to have volunteers like Dima who have such a big impact on newcomer’s success here in Calgary!
Here is her story:
Growing up with engineer parents, I always had a fascination for how things worked, which is why I decided to pursue my passion for technology through computer science. By 2005, I had received my Bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from Istanbul Kultur University in Turkey.
Upon graduating, my first job was joining Sky Ltd. as a computer programmer, where I was responsible for the maintenance and management of the Critical Windows-based Server Environment, and the fast and accurate troubleshooting of reported faults for 3 years.
After that, I wanted to challenge my skills through pursuing a career in academics, so I joined King Idris School in 2008 as an instructor/administrator where I taught students programming skills using Microsoft Visual Studio with Visual Basic, C#, Logic Design, and provided technical instructions to students pursuing computer programming.
In 2015 I transferred to AlFaezoun School where I managed and directed all aspects of administration, fiscal management, and instruction. I also taught students programming skills using Microsoft Visual Studio and developed the “Student Assistance Model”, a problem-solving team for at-risk students.
In order to further my education, I got a Master's degree in computer engineering from Beykent University, Turkey, in 2017. In February 2018, I was asked to present a lecture on online signature verification systems in the 20th Academic Bilisim Conference which was held in Karabuk University in Turkey.
In the fall of 2018, I returned to Canada, and signed up for computer programming classes at the University of Calgary, while simultaneously joining the EvolveU Program to be a Full-Stack Developer where I worked in analyzing, designing and building new components and methods for various projects. After the EvolveU Program I joined Bow Valley College to be a Software Development instructor.
After working in the academics, I discovered my passion for teaching and shaping the minds of all generations, which is why I volunteered to instruct and facilitate computer classes with ISC upon arriving in Canada.
Our team also had the following to say about Dima:
Dima Marachi has been volunteering with the Community Initiatives for Immigrant Seniors Program (CISP) for over a year and has been leading Basic/Intermediate Computer Classes for seniors. Dima has been involved with creating lesson plans as well as volunteering for this program. She is very disciplined and a humble volunteer that is always willing to provide her help to seniors in these sessions. Through her sincerity and dedication for the CISP, Dima consistently shows her desire to give back and be an active volunteer within this program. Dima especially went above and beyond when she initiated to lead computer classes online for the CISP seniors. This was definitely a difficult task to tackle but Dima has done an exceptional job with these classes. Seniors have really been enjoying these classes online and it is truly amazing to be able to count on such dedicated and generous volunteers during these times. Having Dima as one of our CISP volunteers is a great pleasure and the program is very fortunate to have such dedicated volunteers.
-Parminder Gill
Community Seniors Program Facilitator
Dima Marachi has been a long-time volunteer with the Cross- Cultural Adaptation Program (CCAP) as a computer workshop facilitator and has significantly contributed to the build technical skills of Immigrant Services Calgary’s clients. She has always been enthusiastic and has consistently shown commitment, efficiency, and a positive attitude in her work. She is utmost professional in her work, polite, patient, and pleasant to work with! Dima is a dependable volunteer and puts 100% into every task she is assigned. Being the volunteer of the month is a well- deserved honor for a dedicated person like Dima. I wish her success in all her future endeavors!
-Harvinder Dhillon, MA, MPhil
Settlement / Integration Counselor