Viloshna Sonoo : Global recognition for her citizen engagement

A rising star and a beautiful and ever smiling lady, Viloshna must be applauded for her initiatives, hard work for the community and her achievements in Africa and Middle East. With her audacious attitude and derring-do approach, she is all set to achieve her dreams. 

26-year old Viloshna Sonoo works for a card processing company which manages card and electronic payments. After achieving success in her studies and professional career, she wanted to grow personally and contribute to the community. Therefore, she joined JCI Curepipe in 2013. She immediately fell in love with this organisation and there was no turning back. After serving as Vice-President in 2015, she took the challenge of leading JCI Curepipe as President last year. This year, she is guiding the local board as Immediate Past President. She has been recently awarded as JCI Most Outstanding Local President for Africa and Middle East awarded in Sousse, Tunisia.

“Given the tough competition, I was pleasantly surprised to win this award but also happy that my hard work has been recognised. Hearing your name being announced in front of 400 people in a foreign land is an amazing feeling that cannot be described with words. Moreover, it was an immense sense of pride to display our Mauritian flag on the podium and to represent our country in front of the audience, among our global JCI network,” she reveals with much excitement.  During her presidency, she has developed her skills, expanded her experiences and made so many friends all over the world. “JCI has enabled me to be better both in my personal and professional life. I have coordinated and worked on several projects including community projects, fundraisings, Gala dinners and skill development programmes.”

One of her biggest achievements is the organization of the 2015 edition of the JCI Mauritius Creative Young Entrepreneur Award. “We had only five months to execute this competition which aims at recognising young and innovative entrepreneurs. And due to lack of financial sponsorship (we had only sponsorship in kind), we had a very limited budget. However, with the hard work of my team, we managed to complete the project and the project even won a local award and was nominated at International level.”

In May 2016, she attended the JCI Active Citizenship Academy which was held in Johannesburg. The academy is a three-day intensive training encompassing modules like project planning, effective leadership, accountability and time management and with the objective of preparing the youth to be more efficient leaders. “I successfully completed the training and I had the opportunity to share my knowledge with local JCI members as head trainer during an effective training. In August 2016, I was chosen to represent Mauritius for the first ever JCI African Youth Development Summit in Nairobi, Kenya. The purpose of the summit, which was held in collaboration with the Sixth Tokyo International Conference of African Development (TICAD VI), was to provide a platform for young leaders of the region to develop a vision for a better Africa as outlined in Agenda 2063 and clearly defining the role of young people in advancing this vision. The Summit concluded with the creation of the 2016 JCI African Youth Development Summit Declaration, which were presented at the TICAD VI conference.”

Active engagement in community projects

There are no stopping ends for the young lady. She has been actively involved in a countless number of projects. “The very first community and most fulfilling project I worked on after JCI was the JCI Port-Louis Poverty Alleviation Project. I volunteered as an IT trainer to teach basic IT skills to housewives and teenagers at Bois Marchand on Saturday mornings.”

She was also the project director of the JCI Curepipe health campaign and coordinated several cancer screening and awareness sessions throughout the island in collaboration with the NGO Link to Life. “I have also organised vaccination session against cervical cancer for young girls aged 11 to 17. Throughout the campaign against cancer, more than 100 women were reached and around 50 girls received free vaccination. Last year, JCI Curepipe launched the first ever non-profit local crowdfunding platform, the Raise Hope Today. Raise Hope today is a platform for the needy to make their voices heard. Since its launch we have fundraised for seven causes, mainly people who need funds for medical interventions.”

Her aspirations

She has always aspired to go on trips around the world, to explore and discover new cultures, cuisines and people. “I believe that the richness of the world is in its diversity and that travelling is a unique experience to learn. My role model has always been my mother. To me, she is the symbol of perseverance and tenacity. Life was not easy but she has always been strong and has dedicated all her might to give me the best life possible and pushed me to give the best of myself. She is truly an inspiration.” She encourages women to dare to fight for their rights, dare to take up leadership positions, dare to dream and work hard to achieve those dreams.

Awards received

December 2014 – JCI Most Outstanding New Member of Mauritius

May 2015 - JCI Most Outstanding New Member for Africa and the Middle East region awarded in Accra, Ghana

May 2016 – One of her projects, The Creative Young Entrepreneur Award was nominated among the three best in the Best National Flagship Project at the Africa and Middle East conference held in Johannesburg, South Africa

December 2016 – JCI Most Outstanding Local President of Mauritius. During the same awards ceremony, her local organisation, JCI Curepipe won the Most Outstanding Local Organisation in Mauritius.

May 2017 - JCI Most outstanding Local President for Africa and Middle East awarded in Sousse, Tunisia.

Upcoming projects

Viloshna reveals that JCI Mauritius has been entrusted to organise the JCI Africa and Middle East conference in 2019. “We are talking about hosting around 400 international delegates from not only Africa but from all around the world. This is an opportunity to showcase our country to the world and position Mauritius as the gateway to Africa which will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the local economy.”