As a marine scientist in his native Eritrea, a country of four million on the northeast coast of Africa, Amanuel Melles carried out diving expeditions in the Red Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean.
Now he's a different kind of diver, immersed in helping immigrants from war-torn countries make a peaceful transition to Toronto.
Mr. Melles's community work since 1993 has made him one of two winners of this year's Jane Jacobs Prize. The other honoree is Mel Greif, whose contributions cut across three distinct, but connected, areas: teaching, neighbourhood activism and volunteer work for his local credit union. They will receive their awards tonight.
The prize, named for the influential urban thinker who chose Toronto as her home, was established in 1997 to "discover and celebrate Toronto's unsung heroes." The $15,000 prize for each winner is financed by Avana Capital Corp.
This year's recipients share a passion for forging community connections.
Mr. Melles says his work echoes his old life as an ocean researcher.
"When you dive, you are nothing but a small fish or a component of that blue expanse," the 38-year-old father of three said. "When you dive into social work and social justice issues, you are a dot. . . . What I have learned is that it is not about me; it is about others.
"For me, community exists to improve the quality of life of individuals."
At Lawrence Heights Community Health Centre, where he worked until recently, Mr. Melles trained families from Eritrea, Ethiopia and other war-ravaged countries to put aside their conflicts from home and work together on such matters as housing, education and jobs.
"They are in a new environment and face common challenges . . . It's logical for us to express the potential of bringing them together," said Mr. Melles, a member of several local and national peace organizations.
Now manager of community action for the Family Service Association, a local counselling agency, Mr. Melles is fascinated by Toronto's "civic space" that allows different groups to live in relative harmony.
"I think there is something here that needs to be discovered about Toronto," he said, praising the city's "neutrality and objectivity."
The other award winner, Mel Greif, left his native Czechoslovakia at age 2 and spent four years in refugee camps in Holland and Germany before coming to Canada as a six-year-old. His wife, Carmen, is also a Czechoslovak refugee who came to Canada as a small child.
Their early dislocations made them resolve, as a married couple, to put down roots in their Annex neighbourhood.
"If you decide to do that, you don't pick up and leave," said Mr. Greif, 55. "You stay there and you fight for it or you improve on it. If there are deficiencies you do something. It makes you kind of combative and feisty."
That attitude shaped his activism on several fronts. Since 1966, he has been a leader in his local Czechoslovak credit union. As a member of Grassroots Albany, he and other Annex neighbours banded together several years ago to improve the urban environment.
At Humberside Collegiate Institute, where he has taught history and geography for 32 years, Mr. Greif blurs the line between school and community.
As part of their schoolwork, his history students assist the West Toronto and Junction Historical Society with an inventory of local houses. Since 1988, he has spearheaded efforts to restore a 1927 mural commissioned by Humberside students and painted by Group of Seven artist Arthur Lismer. For these efforts, not to mention his witty presence in the classroom, Mr. Greif last year won the Governor-General's Award for Excellence in Teaching Canadian History.
Mr. Greif, now working with school and community groups to raise $50,000 for the restoration of the last piece of the mural, sees the Lismer campaign as a means to an end: strengthening the school's place in the community.
"My goal was to maintain a proper and prideful place where kids can learn," he said.
Jennifer Lewington