While Ms Shah holds a record of community involvement, she couldn’t comprehend receiving such an award when all had been completed under one premise: to help herself.
In creating the Human Book Club and digital series Human Chapter, Ms Shah gave herself permission to ask the questions she’d been taught to shy away from.
But in doing so, she also gave people from all walks of life the chance to have a voice.
“At the core of all of this, it’s always been for me first, as something that I want to do and about what I’m seeing,” she said.
“Thinking of my mum and my grandma, they were in a generation of silence of sorts; we think of culture and traditions where so many things were left unsaid, suppressed.
“I wanted to give them a voice, to ask why and be able to explore issues by opening the dialogue, and discussing those hard topics.
“Because no-one’s immune to anything but if we’re able to at least acknowledge it and have that dialogue, that would be great.”
Since 2018, the Human Book Club has formed a safe space for human narrative stories to be shared, heard and discussed, for people to talk openly about themes they may otherwise struggle to voice.
In partnership with Goulburn Valley Libraries, the book club meets monthly to share personal connections on the chosen topic of the session.
“We have so many people that are close to us that we can form a connection and draw inspiration from, we’re just surrounded by so much without even realising it,” she said.
Having been raised in Kenya before moving to Australia in pursuit of studying speech and language pathology, Ms Shah travelled the nation working for years before landing in the Goulburn Valley.
“Shepparton has offered me many opportunities to learn and identify parts of myself,” she said.
“I didn’t realise the disconnect I had with more than two different countries; growing up in Kenya but having Indian roots, to then being in Australia in my young adulthood — I’d been carrying that for years.”
Incorporating her personal and professional experiences, Ms Shah founded the St Paul’s African House program Communicate with Confidence.
Working with culturally and linguistically diverse attendees over eight weeks, they explored ways to build confidence while prioritising cultural identity.
“That was really special, it wasn’t to change anything but more so to give and discuss information; again, it was hopefully just something people could resonate with,” she said.
Ms Shah said she had always intended to bring her roots into the Human Book Club, and vice versa.
In an annual trip to Nairobi, Kenya, in 2019 Ms Shah hosted her first international Human Book Club to an audience of family, friends and strangers.
“So many of these topics are considered taboo, we had stories on child loss, rape, mental health, but these wonderful people were able to share these stories so openly,” she said.
“We had people of all different genders, ages and ethnicities; my grandma who is turning 90 attended and even she said, ‘this is fantastic’.
“For her to say that, at that age and being an Indian woman, I thought, well, there’s clearly something in this, since then, the conversations have changed.”
Leaving the sessions, Ms Shah always felt she had an endless stream of questions and so evolved the digital in-conversation series, Human Chapters.
Conversations have delved into topics such as living with the effects of sexual assault, transformative experiences and ultimately exploring the nuance of the human experience.
“What I found so fascinating is that it’s one chapter of their life, but it has such deep connections to the past and the future and usually, that’s how the conversations unfold,” she said.
“When you get to know these people you haven’t even met physically, you form connection points and it shows there’s nothing wrong in just asking the questions.
“At the end of the day, we’ve all got different experiences but we’re all worthy of that story, no matter what.”
The Human Book Club and Human Chapters can be found on Facebook and Instagram, with in-conversations also on streaming services.
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