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Oc tober-November 2008 • Volume 1 • I ssue 12-13 • w w w.thevoiceindiaspora .com • 905.521.2875

“Using the power of the pen to facilitate smooth integration for immigrants into the Canadian society.”

U N I T Y I N D I V E R S I T Y

∞ continued on page 13



Have you wondered how some people in positions of authority and power abuse their privileges by oppressing those under them? Every society is replete with incom-

petent power hungry oppressors who, through sheer luck and connections attain the status and positions they are in today, but forgot why they are placed there in the

first place. Being power drunk is a human weakness that transcends all cultures. It is not a black or white thing. It

He attends to his customers with such friendliness and openness that one could not help but notice Azim. Though his life is one of loneliness, frustrations, and un-

fulfilled dreams, these are never apparent to those not close enough to him to know. He hides his pain very well. Azim is not his real name, but one that would suit him for

this article. When there are no more cus-tomers inside his store, Azim comes out to the corner of the variety store he

One knows it is pay day by the line-ups inside the cash stores around the city. The story is the same; one works very hard, and then rushes down to the cash store to

send the hard-earned money to relatives back home. The money earned has hardly had time to cool off before it is sent off to an remote destination. Those familiar

with this trend know too well the unspo-ken hardship some of these immigrants go through to send money home to their

You Are Fired!‘Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely’

Who Will Help Azim?Who is denying Azim this fundamental right to freedom?

Money RemittanceEvery Immigrant’s Heartache

We are the Product of our EnvironmentWhen The Voice in Diaspora asked a group that had gathered outside

a downtown night club why there were so many problems being an im-migrant youth, one of the youth who was ... Page 2

World Kindness Day®The date decreed for World Kindness Day is 13th November. This was

the opening day of the first World Kindness Movement® conference held at Tokyo in 1998 ... Page14

SISO 15th AnniversaryA Journey to Success ... Page 9

Woman Alive! Page 8

African Canadian Workers Project7

A Day of Remembrance, November 11 Page 15

O c t - N o v 2 0 0 8 • Vo l 1 - 2 • I s s u e 1 2 - 1 32 w w w. t h e v o i ce i n d i a s p o ra . co m

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This November marks The Voice in Diaspora’s first year of existence. This newspaper is one of a kind, and we embrace this opportunity to thank God almighty for his mercies; and for our numerous supporters for all their endeavours to see that we are not extinct. The pa-per started from the vision of empowering our ethnic/cultural populations in Hamilton and environs with in-formation that would ease their transition in this new place they call home. We started with a mere 2,000 cop-ies and a big ambition to increase our readership and partnership with important stakeholders in our com-munity. We have achieved excellence in such a short time by increasing our circulation from 2,000 to 10,000 copies, and that is ever increasing. We have partnered with a super organization SISO that shares our vision and dream for a better co-existence of immigrants with the mainstream society. Our dream is to make The Voice in Diaspora a household name in Hamilton and be-yond, and judging by the popularity of our newspaper amongst our numerous readers, that feat would eas-ily be achieved. We implore other organizations serv-ing immigrants in our city to embrace our vision and see us as partners and not competitors. We need your advertisements to keep this newspaper alive. More so, we need your opinions on how to improve this publica-tion. Though opinion is the most abundant commodity on earth, sometimes people hoard it and that makes it hard to measure and evaluate an outcome. Yes we need your feedbacks; invitations to your events; and ar-ticles that match our mission. On this note I end with an adage that has kept me going when all circumstances around me seemed negative. “A quitter never wins; and a winner never quits”

HAPPY ONE YEAR TO THE VOICE IN DIASPORA!

Thanks

Veronica Chris-Ike (Publisher/Editor)

✎

EDIT

ORI

AL

When The Voice in Diaspora asked a group that had gathered outside a downtown night club why there were so many problems being an immigrant youth, one of the youth who was more vocal than the others ventured some an-swers to the above question by stating that the youth have lost confidence in the school system, police force, their par-ents, and the society at large. One of his friends echoed his disappointment in the society by referring to the indifference of his teachers at school. He opined that the teachers at his high school do not have the interest and welfare of the stu-dents at heart. An example he gave was that some of the teachers have removed themselves emotionally from the stu-dent’s welfare and future advancement through education. This he said was ap-parent in the career and educational di-rection some of the students had been encouraged to pursue by some of the teachers, one that would never uplift them from the shackles of poverty. This group of immigrant youth believed that the teachers just wanted them to leave the school system, whether or not they covered the school curriculum.

The youth blamed the police for always targeting them while they go about their legitimate business. When asked how often this happened and why they felt that they were targeted by the police, the group replied that they were fre-quently being questioned and asked to disperse from their gatherings whenever the police saw them. Also, they believed they were being targeted because they looked different, and dressed differently.

The Voice wanted to find out from these

immigrant youth why they were fed up with their parents. They all raised their voices, answering at the same time. It was as if their frustrations were more from the home front than the two above mentioned. Their answers came from voices of repressed and misunderstood kids. The anger and emotion in their ex-pressions left much to be interpreted by any child psychologist as to where our youth’s problems emanated from. Some were of the view that their parents, espe-cially their fathers, were not there in the picture. They saw their fathers once in a while when he came back from wherever he went for some cheap labour. Others complained of a lack of role models, and the cumbersome adult roles they were made to carry as the male representatives of their families. Many were sad of being burdened at this age to interpret adult medical problems to their mothers during visits to the doctor. For others, it was that their

families failed to provide necessities that would help them measure up to their peers. Some others blamed their parents for not believing their stories whenever they were in trouble with the school or the law. Most thought they were con-stantly being nagged at home by their families. All these complaints were well noted by The Voice. But there remains the final complaint, namely, their dissat-isfaction with the society, which would form a good topic for discussion in the near future.

■ By Nica Brown

3O c t - N o v 2 0 0 8 • Vo l 1 - 2 • I s s u e 1 2 - 1 3w w w. t h e v o i ce i n d i a s p o ra . co m

The International Day for Tolerance is an annual observance declared by UNESCO in 1995 to generate public awareness of the dangers of intolerance. It is observed on November 16. The United Nations Charter states: 'We, the peoples of the United Na-tions determined to save succeeding gen-erations from the scourge of war, ... to reaf-firm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human per-son, ... and for these ends to practise toler-ance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours',

What is tolerance? UNESCO's Declaration of Principles on Tolerance defines toler-ance as "respect, acceptance and apprecia-tion of the rich diversity of our world's cul-tures, our forms of expression and ways of being human. It is fostered by knowledge, openness, communication, and freedom of thought, conscience and belief. Toler-

ance is harmony in difference."

To celebrate a day of tolerance calls for a lot of soul-searching. People living togeth-er bring issues of strife, suspicion, jealousy, and hatred. Accepting our differences is the only way to strengthen and build a strong humanity. It is believed that the ap-preciation of diversity, the ability to enjoy one’s rights and freedom without infring-ing on those of others, has always been considered a moral virtue; and so this day was designated to be a reminder.

As John F. Kennedy rightly stated “World peace, like community peace, does not re-quire that each man love his neighbour -- it requires only that they live together with mutual tolerance, submitting their dis-putes to a just and peaceful settlement."

■ From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia/ http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/tolerance

Many immigrants come to Canada with the expectation of freedom and oppor-tunity only to face significant challenges upon their arrival including poverty, dis-crimination and lack of employment.

A made-in-Hamilton immigration strat-egy is part of our planning process for future growth, but we must also focus on creating a welcoming and sustainable community.

Various sectors of the Hamilton economy are beginning to experience skills short-ages but thanks to the level of high quality immigrant skills in our community, the city is well poised to meet the challenges.

All stakeholders must work together to bring about change and to provide the necessary support to build upon the strengths and skills immigrants bring to the community to enhance their employ-ability. Employers have a prime opportuni-ty to make a shift in the way they perceive and think about immigrant skills, and the broader community must work together to promote openness to cultural diversity.

I am pleased that the City of Hamilton and its partners are in the process of establish-ing a 15-person Immigration Partnership Council (“Council”) and developing an im-migration strategy that will deliver signifi-cant benefits to our city and help meet our current challenges.

The Council will be a dynamic collabo-

ration of community leaders from many sectors including the immigrant service provider community, private and pub-lic sector employers, youth, community based organizations, health, governments, and educational institutions.

An immigration strategy will improve ac-cess to and coordination of effective servic-es that facilitate immigrant settlement and integration; improve access to the labour market for immigrants; and strengthen lo-cal and regional awareness and capacity to integrate immigrants.

I look forward to working with each and every one of you in helping our commu-nity develop sustainable solutions that will enhance the vibrant and resourceful com-munity within the City of Hamilton.

■ By Fred Eisenberger who is Mayor of the City of Hamilton

International Day for Tolerance – November 16

We are the Product of our Environment

Hamilton and its economy need immigrant skills

today, in future

The Voice in DiasporaP.O. Box 417 Hamilton, Ontario

Tel: 905.521.2875 - Fax: 905.385.8085www.thevoiceindiaspora.com

Our MissionUsing the power of the pen to facilitate smooth inte-

gration for immigrants into the Canadian society.

Publisher/EditorVeronica Chris-Ike

[email protected]

Art & Creative DesignJihan C. Aydin

www . A4AMEDIA . com

Advertising & MarketingShelley Prince905.521.2875

[email protected]

ContributorsNica Brown, Blessing Tokis

Veronica Chris-Ike, Kristin Ciupa, Hussein Hamdani, Ann Stanziani

SISO (Settlement And Integration Services Organization)

The Voice in Diaspora Newspaper is free of charge. Publication will be done Bi-monthly till March 2009. 10,000 copies will be printed and distributed as fol-lows: 1000 copies mailed to stake holders, 6,000 copies dropped into personal mail boxes; 3000 copies will be distributed to businesses, shopping malls, churches, Non-profit organizations, adult learning Centres, etc, in Hamilton and environs.

The views expressed by writers do not necessarily re-flect the opinion of this newspaper. All rights reserved. The Voice in Diaspora is not responsible for accuracy of information provided by advertisers and contributors.

Reproduction in whole or in part without prior per-mission is prohibited.

Money Remittance...Continued from page 1

relatives. Their anxious but well-con-tained facial expressions while waiting in line for their turn to move up to the cashier to transfer the money back home speak of immeasurable hardship and sacrifice.

The amounts of money remitted to the developing countries through the sweat of these workers have done more than any foreign aid to eradicate global poverty. This fact came from a recent study which shows that “About 150 million migrant workers sent more than $300bn (£147.3bn) home in 2006, (International Fund for Agricul-tural Development) (IFAD). That compared with $104bn in aid from donor nations and direct foreign investment of $167bn. Asia led the remittance table, receiving $114bn, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean. The report, compiled in col-laboration with the Inter-American Devel-opment Bank (IDB), based its findings on official data from governments, banks and money transfer operators” (SOURCE: IFAD & IDB report, figures for 2006)

A look at statistical evidence of the posi-tive effect of money remittance is impres-sive. This correlates to the fact that what most people, recipients, World Bank, IMF and governmental agencies see is the pos-itive effect but never the negative effect on the one who sacrifices his money. The struggles to make ends meet after remit-ting half of one’s wage home have been a huge sacrifice that Diaspora workers have had to live with.

Stories abound of couples disagreeing on how much and to whose family the re-mittance should go. Many loving homes have disintegrated into chaos as a result of lack of mutual agreement between the husband and wife as to how the remitted funds should be shared amongst relatives. Many migrant workers had to work more than three jobs to be able to support fami-lies back home. Many are suffering from ill health as a result of pressure and stress of meeting mountains of family needs. Many migrant workers have developed early morning phone calls ‘phobias’, as the call might be coming from a distant far away relative unaware of time differ-ences between here and the home coun-try; phoning to demand more funds at the wee hours of the morning. Some brave

migrants have disconnected their phone lines or changed phone numbers to keep unwanted calls from their ever pestering family members.

Below are some of the excerpts from people who shared their experiences with The Voice in Diaspora about money remit-tance.

Rosemary (Ghana)

Leaving my native country Ghana to be-gin my new life in Canada proved to be

both challenging and rewarding. Grow-ing up, I was taught at a very young age that money and resources should not be kept to just one individual, but shared within the family. Collectively, sharing as-sets not only broadens opportunities for all members of the family, but in essence it is a demonstration of love, commitment and respect. The concept of sharing one’s wealth and prosperity with their family is a strong cultural value and is deeply instilled into each family member.

As I moved away from my family and established myself in Canada, this core belief remained deeply engrained in my value system. Remaining committed to my African roots, I married a Ghanaian who shared in my values, culture and be-lief system. Together we struggle with the daily stresses of making our own financial ends meet, while balancing our core belief that we must financially assist our families in Ghana.

I often joke with my co-workers that our families must have a “magic mirror”, as we literally begin receiving phone calls at 1:00 am on the eve of our pay periods. I sup-pose this humour is my attempt to stifle the frustration I feel trying to support my family in Canada while meeting the finan-cial expectations of my family in Ghana.

Annually, my husband and I send approxi-mately 10% of our earnings to various fam-ily members. We are currently paying for both my husband’s nephew and my broth-er to attend college. We send over $1,200 at the beginning of each semester to cover their books, tuition, pocket money and ac-commodations. Aside from this long-term financial contribution, we receive constant phone calls for assistance with medical bills, funeral costs, legal assistance, births, etc. The calls really are endless and the re-quests are various.

Trying to meet the financial demands has been exceedingly difficult. I work two jobs and my husband works a lot of overtime. As a family we rarely see each other and the stress of trying to meet the demands of our cultural expectations seeps into our marriage and into our home.

My friends in Canada try to provide us with emotional support and advice; often their advice is to ignore phone calls or set limits. Though their solutions sound easy, the guilt we would feel for ignoring the needs of our families back home super-sedes any discomfort we may be feeling

as a family trying to establish ourselves in Canada.

It is very difficult to meet the cultural ex-pectation that has been so deeply instilled into our value system; however, ignoring the financial needs and requests of our families feels impossible. So we continue to struggle… we continue to try to find a balance between one’s values and one’s means… we continue to raise our families in Canada, while supporting our families in Ghana.

Felix (Honduras)

Felix lives with his wife and two stepsons in a tiny two room high-rise apartment on the east end of Hamilton. He works in a meat shop as butcher. Although he enjoys his work, he feels frustrated all the time because his pay cheque does not meet his needs. Felix migrated to Canada from Hon-duras in the late 1990’s and is the first of four brothers and a younger sister whose

marriage ended before it really started, and left her with two children that depend on her family to raise them. Felix’s mother has been a widow for many years now and does petty trading to bolster what little money comes in each month from Felix to help the extended family. Life has not been easy for Felix, both growing up as a child and now as an adult male. The effects of the financial burden Felix faces daily has started to dampen the once romantic relationship he shares with his wife of six years. Felix met Arma his wife at the meat shop where he works. She was a regular customer and liked to carry a long conver-sation. Arma’s high spirit and cheerfulness was an instant attraction. Arma does not have much education and had worked as a seamstress in one of the old coat facto-ries in downtown Hamilton. She was mar-ried before to a man with whom she had her two little boys. Her ex-husband was a dead-beat who could not hold down a job and was always getting into a fight af-ter being drunk. Arma reported that her ex. has not been in the children’s life since their divorce 7 years ago and had disap-peared completely from the picture with-out a trace. Arma felt blessed to have Felix in her life as he is providing the father fig-ure her two young sons desperately want-ed. She and Felix could not have children together, and both have accepted that fact and are contended raising the two boys Arma brought into the marriage. Their home had always been filled with love and laughter until lately when arguments over money and blame on how the money Felix sends home to his family is diminishing the family’s income. At the beginning of their relationship, Arma fully provided support to Felix to support his family back in Hon-duras through his bi-weekly stipends to his family. However, having done this over the years and seeing the constant request for more money from Felix’s family, Arma’s support has turned sour, and now she pleads with Felix to stop; but Felix sees his support for his family as an obligation and loyalty that transcends his present rela-tionship with Arma. The constant accusa-tion and blame about how much is spent and how much is sent home are negatively impacting their marriage.

Felix’s story is the same as that of many immigrants who shared their experiences of how they struggle year after year to sup-port their families back in the old country. Though these individuals are shouldering many responsibilities for their families,

none ever regrets doing what they are doing. The general opinion was that they feel privileged to help their families, see-ing that they were fortunate amongst their siblings to migrate to Canada. However, the impact in terms of family breakdown and dissolution of marriage caused by dif-fering opinions on money repatriation to families and relatives by immigrants in de-veloped world could not be quantified.

Elizabeth (Nicaragua)

I migrated from Nicaragua ten years ago with my daughter, who is now a teenager. I am the only child of my mother, and have been supporting her financially ever since I came to Canada. Being a single mother is not easy, and having a parent living very far away whom you never see from year to year is equally difficult, Elizabeth stated. I send an average of $300 USD monthly to my mother in Nicaragua. I have to buy American dollars because the Canadian dollar is not accepted in Nicaragua. I had to add an extra $17 USD to the cost of sending the $300 USD to my mother every month. I am a single mother and having a daughter who would soon go to college or university, it is natural to worry how my income would provide for her education. I even have to maintain mortgage pay-ments, a much better choice than renting. This is not an easy challenge!

Recalling memories of trying to bring my mother to visit Canada brings frustration and anger in me. At times, I feel the system needs to be more humane. Considering that I work very hard to contribute mean-ingfully to the society through the taxes I pay, it was shocking to me for the Cana-dian embassy to deny my mother a visa to visit me here. My mother has never had the opportunity to visit this great coun-try where I have chosen to live. Presently, she has poor health, and it is too late for her to even consider plans of travelling to Canada to visit. What I am left with now is to continue sending money home to my mother. I am left at the mercy of the cash stores who charge exorbitant money transfer fees and make people like me who have relatives and families to support back home spend through the roof.

I would like to see some changes in the system; some support from the govern-ment in terms of regulations that would protect consumers from paying high mon-ey transaction fees. Remember, without the immigrant workers labouring to send these monies home, those companies would not be in business.

Finally, the millions of immigrant work-ers who work tirelessly to support families back home are true ambassadors of their countries.

■ Blessing Tokis


Immigrants face challenges

(2007 General Social Survey Report ‘The retirement plans and expectations of older worker’)

Immigrants to Canada, particularly those who arrive as adults, may face unique challenges preparing for retirement. Their career and earning trajectories are often disrupted, reducing their financial capac-ity to save. Furthermore, the length of time

they reside in Canada has implications for Old Age Security eligibility and the con-tributions they are able to make to public and private pensions. A growing body of research also shows that immigrants who arrived during the 1990s have fared worse in the labour market than immigrants who arrived during the 1970s and 1980s.

The retirement outlooks of immigrants are indeed different from those of persons born in Canada. For example, near-retirees who immigrated since 1990 are far less likely than the Canadian-born to express certainty regarding their retirement plans (44% and 64%), to have confidence in their retirement savings (50% and 71%), and to expect to retire before age 60 (9% and 32%).

Immigrants who arrived during the 1980s have less favourable retirement outlooks than the Canadian born as well. Much of this difference is attributable to the em-ployment and financial characteristics of immigrants. Yet even when these factors are taken into account, immigrants are still less likely than their Canadian-born coun-terparts to expect their retirement income to be adequate—7 percentage points less

for those who arrived in the 1990s and 8 percentage points less for immigrants who arrived between 1975 and 1989.

■ (Grant Schellenberg is a senior analyst and Yuri Ostrovsky is an analyst in Busi-

ness and Labour Market Analysis Division, Statistics Canada).

St Joseph Immigrant Women's Centre is a pioneer when it comes to empowering im-migrant women, no wonder they are the first organization in Hamilton to initiate a common forum for immigrant women to market their wares. The International Mar-ket Place event is heading into its 4th year.

The many vendors and customers that attend St. Joseph Immigrant Women's In-ternational Market place event each year are gearing towards another top sell this November. This year's event would be different, in the sense that the proceeds realized would be donated to both KIVA (International Micro lending) organization, and Refugee Relief (to support Somalia refugees in Kenyan camps to get their DNA tested to facilitate family reunification).

The Voice in Diaspora made a courtesy visit to Ines, Executive Director of St. Jo-seph Immigrant Women's Centre recently to find out the objective (s) behind the International Market project. Ines ex-plained that International Market started four years ago in order to provide oppor-tunities to immigrant women with small home-based businesses an avenue to ex-pose and market their merchandises. She also stated that the women use whatever profit they make from selling their wares to supplement their family incomes. Ines was of the opinion that since a majority of these vendors are stay-at-home mothers, the International market place exhibition help connects these women to the rest of the society. Ines maintained that the success of the International Market place event is tremendous; seen in the number of past participants in the event who have gone on to participate in bigger exhibi-tions around the province. “Helping oth-ers through the funds raised at this year’s market place event would make many of us feel less guilty of the privileges we en-joy living in a country like Canada” Ines explained.

Ines is imploring immigrant women ven-dors to embrace this opportunity to mar-ket their talents, showcase their products,

and share their country’s heritage with the rest of Hamilton. St. Joseph Immigrant Women's would help in providing train-ing opportunities in merchandise pricing; packaging, and other incentives.

St. Joseph Immigrant Women's Centre hire four people each year under the job creation program to help with the Inter-national market place event. Those hired for this event are people receiving un-employment benefits. The experience of participating in a program like the market place event helps most of them become work ready, and most find quality employ-ment afterwards. St. Joseph Immigrant Women's Centre proudly supports women who go through their programs with child care minding, and have helped countless immigrant women succeed in fields they thought were impossible.

Interview of two vendors who partici-pates in the yearly International Market Place event:

Maria Isabel (From Columbia)She is a gifted artist that needs no formal

training to create wonderful hand made crafts, jewelleries, paintings, and bags she markets all over Hamilton. Maria’s designs are unique, neatly made, and show the

mind of a young woman so gifted that it is hard to believe. Maria came to Canada four years ago and now has three small chil-dren. Her insightfulness into arts and craft came from watching her mother when she was growing up. Having children, and not able to participate in the job market, Maria decided to tap into her gifts, and that start-ed her sojourn into the world of beautiful artistic creations. Maria’s first opportunity as a vendor came through the Internation-al Market Place event organized by St. Jo-seph Immigrant Women's Centre. She en-joyed the event which she took as a hobby; sold many of her wares to customers who could not get enough of her creativity; and now takes this hobby seriously. Maria has since moved on to market her work in so many market events, and the success from those events is engineering her to greater achievements in her new-found career. Maria told the Voice in Diaspora that she can now stay home comfortably to raise her children, while at the same time make a living from her talents. In November, She will join a group of artist to rent a John Street building to sell her designs to more customers. This has been Maria’s dream for a long time, and It is finally happen-ing. She plans to help other struggling artist like her to live their dreams. Maria

explained that she uses her artistic expres-sions to promote her Columbia roots. To her Columbian culture is warm, colourful, creative and full of passion. All these Maria says she is sharing with her Canadian cus-tomers through her arts.

Najama (from Pakistan)The Voice in Diaspora spoke to Najama

during a visit to St Joseph Immigrant Wom-en's Centre to meet with some of this year’s vendors to find out how the yearly Inter-national Market Place event had enriched their lives. “I have benefitted a lot from the market place event since I started partici-pating in it two years ago” , stated Najama. She migrated from Pakistan in early 2006. Najama went on to explain that she has been looking forward to this yearly event and cannot wait to display all the unique items she had brought from her home country Pakistan. Najama is a thirty-six year old stay-at-home mother, who takes English lessons to improve her marketabil-ity in the Canadian economy. She started displaying her merchandise at the market events organized by St. Joseph Immigrant Women's Centre after she was introduced to it by one of her friends. Though she sold many of the items she displayed during last years event, her profit did not add up to the amount of money and effort she put into it. For this year, Najama has brought in many colourful scarves, sandals, clothes, and jewelleries to sell. She is looking and sounding prepared and confident. Her main concern is the pricing aspect of her business which she planned to learn from the staff of St. Joseph Immigrant Women's Centre in order to remain competitive and profitable. Najama believes what she of-fers to her customers are unique, and is convinced Canadians appreciate her na-tive arts and are eager to buy from her. She plans to continue marketing her products whenever opportunity calls, and to look for more avenues to expand her business.

■ By Veronica Chris-Ike

St. Joseph Immigrant Women's CentreEmpowering Immigrant Women


St. Joseph Immigrant Women’s CentreCall for Applications

Board Members (Volunteer Position)

Background: Sharing in the movement towards empowerment and independence, sjIWC is committed to enabling immigrant women to discover and build their new futures. Role of the Board of Directors: Responsible for providing leadership and guidance to the agency’s over-all direction through governance activities. The board meets on the 4th Thursday of each month. Qualifications:

Interest in settlement and integration of immigrant women and their families ➤Desire to contribute to the activities of the centre throughout the Hamilton area ➤Ability to contribute skills and expertise in at least one of the following areas; ➤

Financing/accounting » Marketing/community development/public relations » Other business/community exposure »

Volunteer board experience is an asset. ➤The board is committed to adding members that reflect the diversity of Hamilton. Applicants can contact the chair via e-mail with questions or provide an letter of interest and resume:

Kathryn LickleyPresident, Board of DirectorsSt. Joseph Immigrant Women’s CentreE-mail: [email protected]


Mr. Jagtar Singh Chahal (Chairman & CEO Hamilton Cab)

An interview with Jagtar at his Cannon Street office recently revealed a man well versed in many aspects of life. He comes across as un-assuming and welcoming; a man deep-rooted in native wisdom and in-telligence and these values have propelled him to the height of success he presently enjoys. Jagtar is the CEO of the popular 777 7777 Taxi company in Hamilton. Life has not always been this bed of roses for him. A little bit of focus, tenacious ambi-tion, and un-wavering in maintaining his chosen goals in life, saw him to this posi-tion.

Jagtar Singh Chahal first came to Canada almost 20 years ago from Punjab India. He had BSC in Chemistry and Masters in English Language. His dream of securing a job immediately on arrival in his field was dashed, and instead of staying idle and complain about the system, he found vari-ous mean-paying jobs in the nursery and

meat shops, to mention but a few. His per-formance in those industries he worked for was very impressive. His diligence and hard work paid off in one of the companies when he increased sale to up to 20% in less than four months and was promoted from mere production worker to a foreman and subsequently to a senior foreman. Doing the low-paying jobs did not stop Jagtar from dreaming of a better life; thus he ap-plied to further his studies at various uni-versities. He got admissions quite alright into a few, but the courses he was offered were different from his choices. At that point, he resolved to focus more on busi-ness instead of going yet to another uni-versity; after all, he reasoned that school at that age would leave him with a mountain of debts. His hunches were right. Jagtar also believed a bird in hand is worth more than ten in the bush.

Jagtar's quick fortune in the factory would come to an abrupt end in 1989, when he quit that industry to go into cab

driving. He was forced to switch jobs due to per-sistent ill health in the cold e nv i r o n m e n t where he was working. That job change propelled him to his destiny. Jagtar came into the cab industry with the mind set to succeed. He did his calculation of how he was going to use the cab driving business to free himself from the shackles of poverty. He reasoned that if he drive cab for three years, he should be able to buy his first house, and that he did. In May 1990, Mr. Jagtar leased his first plate from Yellow Cab, and subsequently went to Blue Line in 1993, where he helped design the driver’s manual. In 1996, he bought his first plate and second plate in 1998. Mr. Jagtar went on to become the secretary of the Hamilton Co-op Association in 2000. It was the same year that a lot of changes and reforms relating to the taxi industry were introduced by the City of Hamilton. Jagtar contributed ideas and opinions that helped to bring workable solutions to an-ticipated problems in the taxi industry in Hamilton. Eventually in 2002, Jagtar start-ed what was Co-op Taxi with only two cars. In October 2003, Co-op Taxi merged with Veterans Taxi to form what we now know as Hamilton Cab, they bought the famous 7777777 number for $20,000 and the rest is now history. His company is the fastest growing company in the taxi industry and is only 5 years old.

His company bought the Yellow cabs in 2006, moved from the old company ad-dress in Charlton Street to its present loca-tion on Cannon Street in 2007. The com-

pany updated to new technology of a fully computerized GPS system, and could boast of over 400 drivers who provide quality services to their numerous customers.

Jagtar loves the city of Hamilton. He stat-ed that ‘Hamilton is a very good city for new comers to Canada to settle in; houses are easily affordable; it is a multicultural city; you can find your ethnicity here; the city can boast of good schools, colleges, a university and good hospitals; your neighbours are friendly; I have all kinds of people living on my street and we love one another'.

His advice to new comers to Hamilton are “do not be double minded about staying here or going back to your home country; Canada is the best country to live in; you just have to work hard to achieve your goals; if you are indecisive, you will not make it here. I know a lot of people who went back home to stay after they migrated to Canada, now they are back on Canadian soil because they could not make it down there. If you are a new comer, find a job, any job to help pay your expenses; learn more skills and keep looking for some-thing better; have big dreams and you will make it. Do not get off on the first station or get off on the first platform, keep riding, you will get a better one” says Jagtar.


An Interview With Jagtar"Do not be double-minded about staying here or going back to your home country; Canada is the best country to live in..."

The number of students gradu-ating from Canadian universities with a doctorate has remained stable since the mid 1990s, but there are signs that this may change.

Canadian universities awarded PhDs to about 4,000 students in the 2004/2005 ac-ademic year, according to new data from the Survey of Earned Doctorates.

Over three-quarters of these graduates completed their studies in a science or en-gineering field; the most popular was bio-logical sciences.

Although the number of graduates in recent years has not varied substantially, enrolment in doctoral programs has in-creased.

Between 2000 and 2004, enrolment grew at an average rate of almost 7% a year. In 2004/2005, more than 34,000 students were enrolled in all years of doctoral pro-grams. This suggests there should soon be a commensurate increase in the number of earned doctorates.

The Association of Universities and Col-leges of Canada attributes the growth in enrolment to two factors. The first is an increase in the number of faculty at Cana-dian institutions, which has increased the institutional capacity for training graduate students.

The second is an increase in the level of funding for graduate students through student financial assistance and research grants from both governments and uni-versities.

Although PhD graduates accounted for roughly 0.4% of the population, Canada lags behind many other Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development countries in this regard. The proportion in the United States was 0.7%.

Survey data also showed there was a more equitable distribution between the sexes among doctoral grads in 2004/2005.

About 46% of graduates were women, up from 43% in the previous year.

The survey was administered to all stu-dents graduating from a doctoral program at a Canadian university. The 2004/2005 survey was the second edition.

Field of study: One-fifth enrolled in bio-logical sciences

About one-fifth of the 2004/2005 gradu-ates (21%) were enrolled in biological sci-ences. Engineering and humanities each accounted for over 10% of graduates.

As was the case in 2003/2004, about 9% graduated from both psychology and edu-cation, and 8% from social sciences.

Physical sciences, life sciences, social sci-ences, and engineering, which together constitute the broad category of "science and engineering," accounted for over 75% of Canadian doctoral graduates. In the United States, this category accounted for 68%.

Even though female graduates neared parity with men, there were wide gaps between the sexes within certain fields of study.

Engineering remained the most male-dominated field, while psychology became the most female-dominated. Women rep-resented less than one-fifth of graduates

in engineering, but nearly four out of every five in psychology in 2004/2005.

Some of the gains made by women came in traditionally male dominated fields. In computer and information sciences and mathematics, as well as in physical sci-ences, the numbers of female graduates grew much faster than the number of male graduates.

Between the 2003/2004 and the 2004/2005 academic years, the proportion of women graduating from computer and information sciences and mathematics in-creased from 20% to 30%.

Profile of new graduates: Nearly one-quarter planned on living outside Canada

On average, doctoral graduates were 36 years old in 2004/2005. They took an aver-age of 5 years 9 months to complete their doctorate.

The international mobility of graduates is important because of the international na-ture of academic research. Nearly 23% of doctoral graduates in 2004/2005 planned to live outside of Canada on completing their degree, slightly higher than the pro-portion of 21% in the previous year.

Almost 6 out of every 10 (59%) students graduated without any debt related to their graduate studies. The proportion of students without any debt from either

their graduate or undergraduate studies also improved from the previous year; 50% of graduates were debt-free in 2004/2005 compared with 46% in 2003/2004. About 65% of students said they received a fel-lowship or scholarship through their uni-versity, 63% reported receiving a teaching assistantship, and 32% reported receiving a research assistantship.

Almost three-quarters of doctoral gradu-ates had firm plans for their future when they graduated. Graduates of social sci-ences and life sciences were the most like-ly to have established plans.

The majority of doctoral graduates found employment in research and develop-ment, or teaching. Almost 38% of gradu-ates intended to work in research and de-velopment, while 33% planned to teach.

Participation in doctoral education has been encouraged by the availability of fi-nancial support and by strong income ex-pectations.

Nearly two-thirds (64%) expected to earn more than $55,000, up from 60% in 2003/2004.

Furthermore, for graduates who were continuing their studies, most chose post-doctoral programs with a focus on research and development.

Canada continued to be a desired desti-nation for foreign doctoral students. Near-ly 23% of doctorate earners were foreign or visa students, and a majority of these students planned to remain in Canada. Over 42% of engineering graduates were foreign or visa students.

The report "Doctoral Graduates in Can-ada: Findings from the Survey of Earned Doctorates, 2004/2005" is now available as part of the Culture, Tourism and the Centre for Education Statistics: Research Papers (81-595-MIE2008065, free). From the Pub-lications module of our website, choose Free Internet publications, then Education, training and learning.

■

1865 to 1935 is a very significant era for immigration to Canada, with 5.7 million immigrants landing on Ca-nadian shores. Approximately 11.6 million present-day Canadians (1 of every 3) have ancestors who arrived during this time.

Ancestry.ca, Canada’s leading fam-ily history website has now made it easier for Canadians to trace their

roots and learn about the immigra-tion process of their ancestors. The website has launched the Canadian Passenger’s Lists of more than 4,000 ships that docked in Canadian ports during that time period. The collec-tion is indexed by name, month, year, ship, and port of origin and arrival. It also includes images of over 310,000 pages of historical records. Individual

passenger records also include infor-mation about birth year, occupation, other family members listed, and final destination in Canada.

Most immigrants arriving at this time were British, Irish, Ukrainian, Russian, German, Chinese, and Polish.

“This is the first time that these im-portant records have been brought together in one place online, making them accessible to so many; they will be of significance to literally millions of Canadians who want to know when their ancestors first came to Canada and how far they came,” stated Josh Hanna of Ancestry International.

■ http://www.canadavisa.com/official-records-canadian-immigrants-

available-online-080922.html

Survey of Earned Doctorates2004 /2005

Official records of Canadian immigrants from 1865-1935 now available online


“I am writing to let you know what an ex-treme life lifting experience it has been. My only regret is that I didn’t find out about the program until two and a half years into my depression.”

So begins the impassioned letter of thanks written by Bev, a participant in the Woman Alive! program, a free physical ac-tivity program for women facing multiple barriers to accessing physical activity in the city of Hamilton.

Woman Alive! provides an oth-erwise unaffordable opportunity for women struggling to make ends meet or those new to Can-ada and facing barriers of lan-guage and culture.

Through aqua fit, aerobics, yoga, guided walks and health discussions, the women are able to learn healthier lifestyle behav-iours, decrease their risk of heart disease, diabetes and other chronic diseases, form friendships, and become the most positive of role models for their children.

Strong community partnerships have made it possible to work towards a com-mon goal: accessible, affordable physical activity provided in a supportive environ-

ment. Bev goes on to write: “The program offered more than exercise, with bus tick-ets, running shoes, babysitting, prizes, light snacks and information classes – it was no financial burden and everything needed was made available.”

In 2007, with support from the Commu-nities in Action Fund, two of the Woman Alive! series were tailored to the needs of

women from the Chinese and South Asian communities in Hamilton. Translated materials, interpretation, and on-site lan-guage support from the Women’s Health Educators of Public Health Services, were successful in helping women from diverse ethno-cultural communities to become more physically active.

Over the past year, with funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, some Wom-an Alive! participants have been complet-ing a group fitness leadership certifica-tion program. This exciting opportunity means that women who have enjoyed the program as participants may soon be able to instruct in the program as well, or use their new skills to develop a career in fit-ness leadership outside of the program.

Support from Zonta Club of Hamilton 1 has provided unique opportunities for participants to take part in the Around the Bay Road Race (at which over 300 pairs of gently used running shoes were col-lected for Woman Alive!), and to tour the YWCA Hamilton Beautiful Women Art Ex-hibit with the artist Cheryl-Ann Webster. These were opportunities for the women to get to know their city, to share in new experiences and to hear the resounding message that all women are beautiful and valued in our community.

As well as funding support, others provide

health information and product donations such as the Community Food Advisor Pro-gram, North Hamilton Community Health Centre, the Around the Bay Road Race and Chatelaine magazine.

With increasing support, this free pro-gram has grown from one location to 5 and from approximately 40 participants in a year, to 565 with many being newcomers to Canada.

Participants of Woman Alive! join for many reasons: to be healthier, more physi-cally active, learn new information, meet new people, and to have fun. The results for many of the women is life-altering, as Bev states in her letter: “I am now actively looking for work, have made friends, feel more confident, and love life more than I have in three years. I recommend the pro-gram to anyone who needs to feel alive again.”

Public Health Services, in partnership with YWCA Hamilton, the City of Hamil-ton Recreation Department, Ontario Early Years Centres (Kiwanis Boys’ & Girls’ Club and Today’s Family) and Hamilton East Kiwanis Boys’ & Girls’ Club now offer the program at 5 Hamilton locations: YWCA Hamilton, Kiwanis Boys’ & Girls’ Club, Hill Park Recreation Centre, Sir Wilfrid Laurier Recreation Centre and Dominic Agostino Riverdale Community Centre.

Funding for the program is provided by: Healthy Living Hamilton, Ontario Trillium Foundation, the Ministry of Health Promo-tion, United Way of Burlington & Greater Hamilton, Funding Research Excellence Development (FRED) through the PPADEC (Promoting Physical Activity Among Di-verse Ethno-Cultural Communities) proj-ect of McMaster University School of Nurs-ing, and Zonta Club of Hamilton 1. As well, each community partner contributes time, space, energy, resources and materials, ac-companied by hefty portions of compas-sion, empathy and commitment to the program.

For more information and on-line registra-tion for the Woman Alive! program, please visit the Healthy Living Hamilton website: www.doitwell.ca or call 905 546 3540.

■ By Ann Stanziani, Public Health NurseThe City of Hamilton, Public Health Services,

Healthy Living Division

Woman Alive!Creating Access to Physical Activity Through Community Partnerships


SISO 15th Anniversary A Journey to Success


On November 28th SISO will celebrate its 15th Anniversary with a fabulous fundrais-ing dinner to mark 15 years of success for the organization, its clients and our com-munity.

The journey which was started on Janu-ary 4, 1993 has proven to be one full of successful contributions to the mandate of meaningful integration and participa-tion of newcomers in our community and economic development and growth.

Looking back on its accomplishments, the organization acknowledges that its success belongs to thousands of volun-teers who believed in SISO’s vision and served it well. It belongs to its dedicated and creative staff and to hundreds of vol-unteer Board Members who provided strategic vision and leadership. It equally belongs to SISO’s clients, partners, funders and donors.

SISO was born after an increasing recogni-tion by government funders and commu-nity activists of the growing importance of Hamilton’s immigrant population, and the inadequacy of the social service sys-tem to meet the needs of many members of the community’s diverse population. Two community-based research projects played critical roles in the initial develop-ment of SISO. From 1989 to 1990, Gloria DeSantis of the Hamilton Social Planning and Research Council (SPRC) conducted research funded by the Hamilton-Went-worth regional government, to uncover the barriers to people of diverse communi-ties in accessing social services. Represen-tatives of Employment and Immigration Canada, the Ontario Ministry of Citizen-ship, and the Department of the Secretary of State, impressed by the involvement of a large number of immigrants and refu-gees in DeSantis’ research, asked DeSantis and SPRC to conduct a community-based needs assessment to develop a model for the delivery of settlement and integration services in the Hamilton area. The research process was guided by an advisory com-

mittee of active community members from diverse ethnocultural communities. A wide section of the population partici-pated in the research, recommending the development of a “one-stop” agency that would serve the needs of people of all eth-nocultural communities, and be led by a Board that was representative of the diver-sity of the community.

The initial team included an Executive Director and five dedicated Settlement Counsellors who were committed to as-sisting newcomers to integrate into all as-pects of life in the local community. SISO’s first team was located in a converted house at 183 James St. South, which would soon become a focal point for immigrants and refugees in the community. The organiza-tion quickly built support by developing a strong network of volunteers to help ad-dress the great needs in the community.

An acute lack of funding in the early years was one of the greatest challenges, as the organization had funds to run programs, but not for the initial start-up costs for the organization. SISO’s team struggled in the first years to create positive relationships with the established community organiza-tions, many of which expressed interest in improving services for immigrants and ref-ugees, but expressed doubt about SISO’s capacity to succeed as a fledgling orga-nization run by refugees, immigrants and visible minorities. This scepticism about SISO’s approach and further funding cuts for social services in the mid nineties di-rectly affected the organization’s capacity for service delivery in the early years. But it never affected its determination to create a world-class, model organization.

The new year of 1998 brought major changes for SISO. The organization ex-panded physically into a new location at 135 Rebecca Street. In a less obvious change in leadership in 1999, SISO’s Board began to function under a policy gover-nance model. The Board focused on pro-viding strategic planning and direction for

the rapidly growing organization. In the fiscal year of 1998-1999, SISO more than doubled its total number of clients served, while improving coordination of service with mainstream organizations.

In developing stronger partnerships with mainstream organizations, SISO main-tained its consistent commitment to ad-vocacy. SISO’s Board has addressed, on an ongoing basis, the need for adequate funding for English as a Second Language classes. In response to a recommendation of the 1997 Regional Forum, SISO facilitat-ed the development of an advocacy body composed of representatives of diverse immigrant and refugee communities, the Community Coalition.

1999 was a turning point in the organiza-tion’s history, demonstrating the capacity of the organization to pro-actively address sensitive challenges and to mobilize vol-unteers and the larger community. Follow-ing a well-thought out-settlement plan, SISO’s staff and volunteers assisted the settlement of 750 refugees from Kosovo, through the summer of 1999. The Kosovar resettlement effort demonstrated SISO’s impressive capacity and preceded major expansions in the following years, in addi-tion to positioning Hamilton as a re-settle-ment community for the federal govern-ment’s international commitment to assist war-torn countries.

Through 1999-2000, the Board conduct-ed a thorough review of the organization’s programs and revised the mission state-ment, mandate, values and beliefs, vision statement and by-laws, as part of an effort to clarify the organization’s priorities in an-ticipation of major growth.

Additional developments followed quick-ly. Employment Services has been one of the major areas of expansion since 1999, with SISO taking the initiative to develop strategic partnerships with the local busi-ness community. Cultural Interpretation and Translation Services have also ex-panded dramatically, as SISO has helped

community institutions to recognize their responsibility to make services accessible to all clients. The HOST Program, drawing on a wide base of volunteers, expanded to include specialized programs to address the needs of foreign-trained professionals and to offer support for victims of torture. SWISH (Settlement Workers in Schools-Hamilton), was an innovative partnership with the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB), the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board (HWCDSB) and Citizenship and Immigra-tion Canada (CIC).

As SISO has increasingly become a focal point for the immigrant and refugee com-munity in Hamilton, SISO’s team has made deliberate efforts to support the develop-ment and growth of community organi-zations independent of SISO, including a large number of cultural associations, in addition to sponsorship and assistance provided for the development of the Ham-ilton International Health Professionals (HIHP), the Immigrant Culture and Art As-sociation (ICAA) and the Hamilton’s Centre for Civic Inclusion.

In April 2001, after dramatic expansion in SISO’s programs and staff, the organiza-tion was able to move to a much-needed larger office space. SISO’s current location in Liuna Station is symbolically appropri-ate, as the former railway station was a ma-jor arrival site for newcomers to Hamilton, particularly in the 1940s and 1950s. At the May 2001 Open House to celebrate SISO’s relocation to Liuna Station, it was clear that SISO had successfully moved from the margin to the mainstream of Hamilton, while retaining core values of accessibil-ity and anti-racism. Elizabeth Gryte, CIC’s then Director of Settlement Programs for Ontario, described SISO as a “world-class organization” while former clients shared gifts and speeches with SISO, to express their gratitude. In October 2001, following a nomination by Hamilton City Councillor Andrea Horwath and Hamilton West MPP David Christopherson, SISO received a Ci-tation of Citizenship Award from CIC, as one of twenty nation-wide recipients.

SISO has grown dramatically since 1993, building upon strong roots in the com-munity, to create positive relationships and initiatives for the future. SISO’s man-agement has shaped an organizational culture of flexibility and openness to risk, motivated by a commitment to improve service delivery, advance the interests of immigrants and refugees and contribute to community and economic growth.

2008 marks the addition of 2 more offices (the Business Hub and the Globe) along with a Mo-bile office and the expansion and specialization of all programs and services delivered currently through 105 staff and in over 60 languages.

Looking to the future, it is clear that newcom-ers will continue to play an important role in shaping the face of Hamilton, as it holds its po-sition as the city with the third highest percent-age of foreign-born residents in Canada. SISO will assist by sharing its vision that “settlement is about facilitating conditions and creating a good host community”.

In the words of one volunteer, “SISO does not belong to anybody–it belongs to everyone.”

■ By Aurelia Tokaci

Diwali Festival of LightsThe days shorten in October. There is chill in

the air and nature starts exhibiting its splen-dor of colors in the foliage, heralding the on-set of fall, hinting at the approaching winter. Warm and cheerful summer days seem to come to an end. Is everything really that dull and morose? No! That is a biased view as the positive energy that we get from the tradition and festivities celebrated in October and the colours that we see all around us: crimson, or-ange, yellow, amber and purple fill our lives with warmth and hope. This is the time when people express gratitude to nature or the di-vine powers for the bountiful harvests that they reap at the end of summer. The luminous colors of nature remind us that we can con-tinue to hope.

In Canada Thanksgiving Day has been cel-ebrated for hundreds of years. Families get together to feast and celebrate. In the same season, people in Indiaand people of Indian origin throughout the world celebrate Diwali – the festival of lights with gusto. Diwali may fall in October or November depending upon the night of the new moon in the month of Kartika in the Hindu calendar. It is the perfect dark moonless night to celebrate with lights and fireworks. Diwali is undoubtedly the most celebrated festival of India.

The word Diwali is derived from a Sanskrit word – Deepawali meaning ‘a row of lights’. There are varied origins attributed to Diwali. Some celebrate it as the auspicious day when Lord Ram returned home aftern14 years of ex-ile. Others believe Sri Krishna killed the demon Narakasura on this day. In Bengal it is the day to worship the Goddess Kali. Hindus devote this day to prayers to the Goddess of wealth –Laxmi. Sikhs all over the world celebrate it as the day their sixth Guru with fifty two prisoners was released from the Gwaliorfort. The Guru and prisoners were liberated from

tyranny and cruelty. The Harimandir Sahib, in AmritsarIndia, the holiest temple of the Sikhs is lit up with lights and fireworks in celebra-tion. The underlying importance in all these is to signify the victory of good over evil, light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance as well as love and goodwill towards everyone.

Hindu businessmen start their new account books on this day and pray for a prosperous new financial year. The day is marked by family get together, prayers, wearing of new clothes, distributing sweets and lighting lamps, can-dles and fireworks at night. It is a joyous occa-sion thanking the Almighty for the bountiful harvest. The atmosphere is filled with joy, love, happiness, hope and goodwill. On the surface level the ritual of cleaning the house, wearing new clothes and lighting the lamps marks the joy and happiness experienced by everyone. However, at a deeper level the rituals actually mark the commitment one makes to cleanse one of evils and make a new beginning.

Whether it is Diwali or Thanksgiving Day it is the opportune time for farmers as they have harvested and gathered their produce and this calls for the whole family with oth-ers to rejoice. The two festivities in fall are a great unifying force. It is the time when wor-ries and enmity are forgotten and people em-brace each other with forgiveness and love. It is an occasion to renew our faith in goodness, brotherhood and sharing the joys of life. It is the time when we shed the old and evil to start anew and fresh. It is the time when we illume the heart and soul within us to be good and virtuous. The universal message of peace and love is reiterated.

On this auspicious day the staff at SISO wish all who celebrate Diwali a happy and prosper-ous New Year. May the coming year be full of love and wealth. It is our sincere hope that the lamp you light may light your inner souls and enkindle your heart with the eternal light.

■ By Kamal Grewal

Host Program This was a busy month for the Host De-

partment at SISO! There was a fresh new set of programming brought to the Host Calendar this fall season; from English Conversation Circles to Cooking and Craft Sessions. Sewing Clubs for Women and a delicious Ramadan Eftar (dinner) were held at the Riverdale Community Centre. Finally, the Host Program welcomed many new Canadian families from all over the world at our Welcome Circles and we look forward to their attendance at our month-ly, information sessions.

New & Improved Programming

As the Host Team is now present in SISO’s two new locations - Hamilton East End and Mountain Office - new Host program activities were initiated and are now well

underway. On the Mountain, SISO has es-tablished a partnership with St. Charles Adult and Continuing Education Center where our traditional English Conversa-

tion Circles began this September. At St. Charles, English Conversation Circles run every Monday, from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. Also the Eng-lish Conversation Circle at Terryberry Library resumed the first week of Octo-ber and meets every Thursday, from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. There was an overwhelming response to our first few Conversation Circles and we look for-ward to seeing new faces each week.

On Thursday October the 9thnewcomer women from around the world partici-pated in a cooking session organized by the Host Program and Philpott Memorial Church. The children were engaged in fun, organized activities while the moms were busy cooking away. The theme of this event was cooking with apples. Together, participants made different dishes from apples such as apple sauce, apple crum-ble, baked apples and salads. The whole process of cooking with apples was very fascinating for the participants. It was a new experience as many of them had nev-er cooked with apples before. In addition to the many recipes, volunteers, from Phil-pott Church, showed participants different varieties of apples and how to use them to make quick, healthy snacks.

At Jamesville Community Center, the Host Sewing Club for Women has started

once again. The ses-sions are well attended and run by our very experienced volun-teers. The Sewing Club runs from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. every Satur-day morning. Also, this month, a craft night for newcomer women will be held on Thursday October 23rd, 5:00-7:30 p.m.Craft activities in-clude beading, knitting and crocheting. By attending group activities, newcom-ers have the opportunity to socialize and build new friendships, learn about Canada – our culture and customs, improve their spoken English skills and build their social network.

Ramadan Eftar (Dinner)

On September 26th, a big event took place for Ramadan Eftar at Riverdale Com-munity Centre. The event began with an Eid Bazaar at 5:30 p.m.where participant had

the opportunity to purchase handmade crafts, jewelry and traditional clothes. The artistic skills of Henna Tattoo artists were available and in high de-mand from many women and children. At 7:00 p.m. it was time to break the fast – food was heated and shared with all the guests. There a lovely of food from all parts of the world, with over forty different dishes ranging salads to deserts.

Thanks to a newly established partnership with Lightway

Church and its volunteers, the Host Pro-gram was able to make this event a huge success. And of course, a great thanks to all the women who cooked the delicious food. What would Ramadan Eftar be with-out you!

Welcome Circles & Information Ses-sions

In the month of September, we were de-lighted – along with SISO staff and com-munity members - to welcome over fifteen new Canadian families to Hamilton. This

month, Hamilton’s newest families came from many different countries, including Colombia, Somalia, The Democratic Re-public of Congo, Liberia, Burma, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. At the Host Program, we look forward to seeing these newcomer families again at one of our monthly Host Information Sessions.

This month, the Host Program will be holding three information sessions for newcomer families. These information ses-sions provide an excellent opportunity for families to find out more about our Host Program, our activities and family match-ing program. Through these sessions, it is our goal to help newcomer families con-nect with programs and activities that will help build friendships and gain the sup-port they are looking for.

Are you interested in making new friends while improving your English or French Skills? Are you interested in sharing your Canadian experience and helping some-one else settle in Canada? To get involved call SISO at 905-667-7476 and ask for the Host Program or email [email protected].

■



Over 100 adult English language learn-ers gathered at the Hamilton Conven-tion Centre for the second annual LINC Learners’ Conference. This learner cen-tred event is provided by SISO through funding from Citizenship and Immigra-tion Canada.

LINC language learners from schools throughout Hamilton came together for this one day event. They had the oppor-tunity to expand on their language learn-ing experience through participation in interactive workshops. Participants were engaged in topics such as how to im-prove language skills using the internet, using and interpreting body language for effective communication and devel-oping parenting skills.

In addition to a wide variety of work-shops, there was a small ‘market place’. Learners were able to obtain information

from community agencies such as SISO, the Francophone Health Centre and To-day’s Family to name a few. Participants enjoyed a tai chi demonstration by the Seniors Tai Chi Association. 15 seniors showed grace, beauty and artistry in movement.

At the end of a very full day, learners went away with new insights on master-ing their language learning experience. All had very positive things to say about their conference experience and some are looking forward to next year’s event.

If you or someone you know would like to participate in this event next year, call the SISO Language Assessment Centre to find out about a LINC program in your area. (905) 667-7476.

■ By Charmaine Routery

The process of adjusting to a new life in Canada is very difficult for young newcom-ers. If they are not supported and cared for adequately young newcomers will not become well adjusted adults who can contribute effectively to Canadian society. It is society’s duty to ensure that they are well adjusted because young, energetic, innovative, diverse, newcomers are neces-sary for a strong economy. We aim to serve thousands of new youth and help them get through the difficulties of adjusting to life in Canada.

The Globe is the first and only youth centre in Canada dedicated to serving newcomer youth. The staff at The Globe is dedicated to creating the conditions nec-essary for youth to successfully integrate into society.

We have highlighted a few of our services below however; we have many additional programs and services.

1. Educational Programming

1.1 English Conversation Circle

We offer English conversation circles to all levels of English speakers. It is truly vali-dating when youth improved their English language skills during English Conversa-tion Circle and when they overcame their language and cultural barriers and make friends.

1.2 Homework Club

The Globe homework club is a volunteer program that offers newcomer youth ad-ditional coaching and tutoring with their homework assignments. It is also an op-portunity for students to get ahead aca-demically, increase their self-confidence while interacting, socializing and sharing

experiences with other youth. The pro-gram also focuses on individual and group work to enhance the students’ literacy and creativity. The program involves a dedi-cated group of University and College stu-dents. Homework Club currently runs out of two locations and we will be adding a third location in the east end of Hamilton. The east end Homework Club will begin before the end of November.

Homework Club will meet three times a week:

Tuesdays 3.30pm-5.30pm Jamesville Community Center

Wednesdays 3.30pm-5.30pm The Globe

Thursdays 3.30pm-5.30pm The Globe

For more information on the homework club please contact Amal Osman, or Rabe at (905) 527-2049 or email at [email protected] or [email protected]

1.3 Education, Training and Employment Centre

The Globe’s education and employment centre enhances newcomer youths’ self-reliance and leadership potential through Education and Employment Support Ser-vices.

This program provides:

A fully equipped resource centre

Introduction to job search process and techniques

Resume and cover letter writing informa-tion and assistance

Accreditation and licensing information and assistance

College and University information and application assistance

One-on-one educational and career plan-ning counselling

Workshops on computer fundamentals, career and educational planning

2. Sports and Recreation

The sports and recreational programs provides youth with a safe and fun environ-ment in which they can enjoy their spare time and explore all the options available in their community.

The sports and recreational program is continuously expanding as we develop new partnerships and receive input from the youth. Some of our most popular pro-grams include:

Indoor soccer during winter

Outdoor soccer during summer

Basketball

Volleyball

2.1 Field Trips

We offer several field trips throughout the course of the year. The field trips acquaint the youth with different sites of interest in Hamilton. We take trolley rides along the Bayfront, visit the Gage Park Greenhouse,

the Museum of Art, Waterfalls of Hamilton and much more. During the summer we visit Marine Land, Canada’s Wonderland, Niagara Falls and the Butterfly Conserva-tory.

2.2 Relaxing at the Youth Centre

The Globe has an amazing games room that is equipped with two pool tables, an air hockey table, a ping pong table and tables for board games. We also have a re-freshing juice and espresso bar.

3. Youth Empowerment and Leader-ship

We aim to empower youth and assist them in attaining the skills necessary to empower other youth. It is also important to assist youth to contribute to the com-munity. We are fortunate to have a part-nership with the YMCA, Soccerworld and the City of Hamilton. Through these part-nerships we are able to provide volunteer opportunities for youth.

We offer ongoing workshops, motiva-tional speakers, poets and arts and many other experts from the community that can assist youth to reach their leadership potential. These workshops take place dur-ing a time called Empower Hour.

Empower Hour

Wednesdays 4:00pm - 5:30pm

■

LINC Learners’ Conference

Celebrating the Opening of The GlobeWe aim to empower youth and assist them in attaining the necessary skills

AGH Blurb!Latin American Contemporary Dance

Presented by The Art Gallery of Hamil-ton (AGH) in association with Settlement and Integration Services Organization on Friday, November 14, 2008 at 8:00 pm at AGH

Tickets: AGH Members $10 / Students & Seniors $11 / General Admission $12

An exciting evening of fourcontempo-rary dances by Latin American choreog-raphers and dancers originally from Co-lumbia, Brazil, Mexico and Guatemala, currently living in Canada. They include Norma Araiza, Heryka Miranda, and Olga Barrios. The original dance works are in-spired by family, displacement, joy of life, migration, love, bicultural identity, death, and passion.

■


The first 35 graduates of the Business Start-Up Program at the Business Hub in Hamilton were presented with their Cer-tificates on September 30, 2008.

The graduates are immigrants to Canada who bring an entrepreneurial, professional or business management background and are seriously considering starting a new business in Canada or re-locating here a business they already run in their home country.

The business ideas they bring include a variety of areas, from retail to trade and production. Some of them have already started to market their business and reach-out to potential clients, while others are in the process of pursuing investment opportunities.

On behalf of SISO, we congratulate all

of them for the work and tenacity displayed during the program and wish them the best of luck in pursu-ing their dreams. We are confident that we’ll see many of them at the top in the years to come!

Program Details:

Staff: Chouki Ouhib, Business Development Advisor

Partners: Mohawk Col-lege, Hamilton Cham-ber of Commerce,

Canada Revenue Agency, Dan Lawry Insur-ance, Scotiabank, Development Bank of Canada, Canada Border Services Agency, Ministry of Revenue.

13 Business Development Seminars

Additional Training

Legal aspects of business start-up/man-agement

Sales & Marketing

Assistance

Business start-up requirements and path-way

Market research, development of busi-ness plan, access to investment, loans, in-centives or subsidies

Benefits:

Access to business start-up information

and resources

Networking opportunities with estab-lished businesses

Business Mentoring

Reduced Membership Rates with Hamil-ton Chamber of Commerce

Who Qualifies?

Newcomers with:

business/investment, entrepreneurial or professional background

strong entrepreneurial spirit

motivation and interest in opening a business in the Hamilton area

Sound language and communication skills (French and/or English)

What is the Business Hub?

The Business Hub is a Global Business In-novation Centre which assists the start-up of new and emerging businesses by immi-grants, through the provision of advisory services, business links and connections, physical facilities, training, assistance, and access to resources. Our program partici-pants and graduates will commercialize innovative products and services, create jobs, pay taxes and strengthen the Hamil-ton economy.

The services available through the Busi-ness Hub aim at assisting prospective entrepreneurs establish new businesses in Canada; develop business and man-agement skills; facilitate the settlement and integration of business immigrants into the economy; and connect Canadian

companies with markets overseas.

The Business Hub provides a space for organizations and services already avail-able in Hamilton to: connect with business immigrants and new Canadians; deliver programs and services that assist the busi-ness start-up process; provide information and support to assist new Canadian entre-preneurs. In addition, the centre connects business immigrants and entrepreneurs with services and assistance essential in their settlement process.

■ For more information or to register call: (905) 385-6192 x 406

Business Hub Graduation

Understanding Canadian Business Law

We will write a series of articles every month exploring various legal issues that the business person will encounter when starting and running a business in Canada. This month, we will provide some intro-ductory information on how the law func-tions in Canada and how the law applies to the business person.

Law is a set of rules that can be enforced by the courts or by other government agencies. With the exception of Quebec, the provinces and territories have adopted a common law legal system, which con-sists of common law developed by deci-

sions of courts and statutes enacted by Parliament. When a decision is made by a court, that decision becomes common law. All lower courts are then bound by that de-cision when they are faced with a similar case. For example, all provincial courts are bound by decisions made by the Supreme Court of Canada. Statutes or legislation are created by Parliament and consist of rules that take precedence over court-made law. For the business person, statutes set out specific rules which govern business activities. Although court-made law forms the basis of our legal system, it is statutes that control and restrict what we can do and determine what we must do to carry on business in Canada.

In Canada, the power to create law is di-vided between the central Canadian Par-liament and the provincial and territorial legislative assemblies. The Constitution Act (1867) assigns the power to create and enforce certain areas of law to the federal government under s. 91, and assigns prov-inces the power to create and enforce the law in different areas under s. 92. For busi-ness persons, it is important to remember that each province has the power to es-

tablish rules in the areas over which it has jurisdiction. As a consequence, businesses operating within and between provinces must comply with federal, provincial and municipal regulations.

Under s. 91, the federal government has power over matters such as banking, cur-rency, the postal service and criminal law (although not its enforcement). The federal government also passes legislation affect-ing the regulation of import and export activities, taxation, environmental con-cerns, money and banking, intraprovin-cial and international transportation and intellectual property. The provinces have jurisdiction over such matters as hospitals, education, the administration of courts and commercial activities carried on at the provincial level.

Most business activities that are carried on within a province are governed by provincial legislation or municipal bylaw, including issues such as the sale of goods, consumer protection, employment, se-cured transactions, incorporation, real es-tate and licensing. For industries that fall under federal jurisdiction, such as banking

and railways, there are corresponding fed-eral statutes which govern these issues.

Thus federal and provincial legislation contain the rules that must be followed to successfully start and run a business in Canada. When starting a business or carry-ing on activities as a business, it is impor-tant to consider whether your business falls under federal or provincial jurisdic-tion, or whether it may fall under multiple provincial jurisdictions if you are conduct-ing business in more than one province.

In the following issues we will talk about the different methods of carrying on a business: sole proprietorship, partnership and incorporation; financing business and funding alternatives; real estate consider-ations; and estate planning for a business venture.

■ Hussein Hamdani is a lawyer at Simp-sonWigle Law LLP where he practices in

the area of corporate/commercial and real estate law. Kristin Ciupa is a student-at-law at SimpsonWigle Law LLP, practicing in the areas of corporate/commercial, real estate

and wills and estates.

Who Will Help Azim?...Continued from page 1

helps manage to smoke a cigarette, deep in thought, and gaze fixed on no particular object. He is merely thinking.

Azim’s story is hard to believe. He came to Canada many years ago as a political refugee from one of the Middle Eastern countries. Everything was going well for him until Immigration Canada deemed him a terrorist; and since then, his life has nose-dived into one of confusion, stagna-tion and limbo. Azim fought for his coun-try’s liberation movement back in the 80’s. His coming to Canada was to escape being perpetually entangled in a political move-ment that has resulted in the indiscrimi-nate massacre of innocent civilians. And having realized the futility of fighting for a cause that has wiped out what is left of civilization in that region, and coming of

age to understand the political brainwash-ing tinged with spiritual blindness, Azim was ready to move far away from his coun-try into a new place that offers peace and freedom. Hence, his coming to Canada.

Life has never been the same for Azim. He failed his political asylum bid in Cana-da, and he was put on a flight back to his country as a deportee for failed political claims, but was rejected in transit by one country after another because of being labelled a terrorist. Azim’s flight in transit was delayed for many hours on the tarmac under high security, while three foreign countries debated his fate. At the end of their deliberation, Azim was denied entry to his place of birth simply because he was still regarded as a threat to national secu-rity in two foreign countries. Azim’s depor-tation was halted half way through, and he was brought back to Canada with instruc-tions to report to security officers periodi-cally. Azim would have been happy to go back home. Since his asylum application

was rejected, he was not allowed to work or do any meaningful thing with his life. It has been almost 10 years since this inci-dent happened, and still he has not been told what his fate is, and has not been giv-en any reason why he is still kept in Canada without proper identification. He has not seen any of his family members for quite a while, and wishes to go home to see his mother before she dies. Azim has lost all hope of making it back to his country of origin due to the political issues surround-ing his involvement with a freedom fight-ing group.

For the 2 to 3 years that I have known Azim, he is no longer the same. He is grad-ually losing his mind because of too much stress and anxiety. He used to take pride in his physical appearance, but these days, he stares ahead like a lost soul. His smoking has increased enormously, and the smile with which he used to welcome each cus-tomer to his store has started to diminish. He is a man deeply troubled, caught in the

middle of a youthful ideology of fighting for his country’s liberation, and the Cana-dian officials who have blocked his chanc-es of returning to his motherland.

Azim needs help to navigate this political maze he has found himself in. His defence is and has always been, “ I was forced and brainwashed to be a freedom fighter be-fore the rational age of maturity. When I grew up to realize what the issues were, I made an effort to distance myself from it, and I ran away for my life.”

Whether this is true or not, no one knows. What really matters now is that Azim is tired of being a victim all his life. He wants to go back home to see his aged mother, and if need be, settle down there for good. Who is denying Azim this fundamental right to freedom? I DO NOT KNOW!

■ By Blessing Tokis


You Are Fired!...Continued from page 1

is a fact; it is happening as you read this piece.

It is disheartening knowing someone was fired from their job, not because of poor performance, but because of execu-tive abuse of power. Many people at one point or another in their lives have been fired from their jobs. Yours faithfully have had my own share of being fired from jobs I liked so much and did so right, that I was consumed by anger and contempt of whoever got rid of me. Most times, I got fired for no fault of mine, my boss simply felt threatened by my competence and influence, and his or her lacklustre and in-competence. Some people got fired from their jobs because of discrimination, while others got the termination because they spoke up against injustices and oppressive company policies. However you might choose to look at unwarranted job termi-nation, it is a human rights issue.

Having said that, there are many things I would want to become in life that I have not yet been. Each time I got fired, it pro-vided an opportunity to explore those life goals and ambitions I harbour inside of me, which the jobs I did kept me from

pursuing. I see being fired sometimes as a window of opportunity to explore alterna-tives. Some people who have been in the same predicament also share this view. At least, necessity is the mother of invention. Once no job is there to tie me down, I get restless looking for opportunities. That is how “The Voice in Diaspora” was created amongst other ventures I am engaged in presently.

A good question that ought to be asked is ‘Why fire someone who is competent at what he or she does?’ Some bosses fear their incompetence will be more glaring in the face of a more competent employee. Many bosses have surrounded themselves with sycophants who play up to them and feed them with praise and information they would like to hear. As such, they do not know the truth about themselves and how others truly regard them as bosses. These kinds of bosses live in a fool’s para-dise. They are the type who are afraid of intelligent, knowledgeable and ambitious employees, and would employ every strat-egy to fire them.

There are a lot of emotional feelings and distress that come from being fired unnec-essarily from a job. One feels angry, sad, embarrassed, empty, fearful, disappointed, guilty, oppressed, discriminated against, hopeless, and worthless, to mention a

few. All these emotions arise as a result of a lack of control over what is happen-ing around the person being fired. There are many changes and adjustments to be made quickly if that person wants to re-main competitive in the job market. Being fired for no just cause is not the end of the world, and should not be seen that way. It is man’s inhumanity to man; an abuse of executive power; and lack of human em-pathy on the part of the boss. Why fire your employee for no just cause without thinking about the negative impact of that firing?

Having discussed with some folks over the years about the characteristics of bad bosses who fire their employees unneces-sarily, we have realized these bosses share the same, if not similar, qualities. General opinion shows that most of these bad and cowardly bosses feel insecure in their po-sitions and in their private lives. They are cowards who hide behind the legality of some unpopular labour laws to terminate someone’s employment. Other qualities these bosses possess are: bullying, under-achievement, poor performance, power-drunk, jealousy, lack of foresight, and nar-row mindedness. They need you to sing their praises, and you refuse to play the favourite tune, hence you are fired!

Whenever a good employer is fired from

a job, the company loses. Whether that is acknowledged by the boss or not, it is a fact. Also, firing a high performing em-ployee puts the rest of the company’s work force in fear and low spirits. People might not like what happened, but are so fear-ful of losing their own means of livelihood that they keep quite. The gossip mongers go behind the boss and say every negative thing imaginable about the boss. Some companies fire their employees and send email to the rest of the workers claiming that that employee quit the job. They even purchase farewell cards, sign and give to the fired employee to make it look that the person resigned. What a hypocritical, shameless act!

In all, a boss that fires an employee with-out good reason is simply playing God. You are a boss there today, but are not sure what tomorrow holds in store for you. Remember, what goes around comes around. You as the boss should use your good office to affect others positively and not inflict pain and suffering in your em-ployee’s life. You are the boss, the head of your organization, why fear your employee who is below you? Most importantly, why play God? BE CAREFUL!



T he date decreed for World Kindness Day is 13th November. This was the opening day of the first World Kind-

ness Movement® conference held at Tokyo in 1998, and the 35th anniversary of the Small Kindness Movement of Japan, which brought the signatories of the ‘declaration of kindness’ of the World Kindness Move-ment together in 1997.

The purpose of World Kindness Day is to look beyond ourselves, beyond the bound-aries of our country, beyond our culture, our race, our religion; and realise we are citizens of the world. As world citizens we have a commonality, and must realise that if progress is to be made in human rela-tions and endeavours, if we are to achieve the goal of peaceful coexistence, we must focus on what we have in common. When we find likenesses we begin to experi-ence empathy, and in such a state we can fully relate to that person or those people. While we may think of people from other cultures as being ‘different’ when we com-pare them with our own customs and be-liefs, it doesn’t mean that we are any bet-ter than they are. When we become friends

with someone from a different culture we discover that despite some obvious differ-ences, there are many similarities.

Sometimes, knowledge that is passed on to us about different races, different cul-tures, has become distorted, and we build up a false, negative impression of these people. It is only when we get to know such people that we realise it is a lie.

Another form of separation is in those people who fail to let go of transgressions that have occurred in the past. This also applies to some groups, where bitterness from many hundreds of years ago has been passed down though generations, and hatred becomes a normal reaction to thoughts of, or association with, the other group of people. The recent genocide in Europe is a tragic example of this. There is a need to let go of past transgressions if we are to live in peace. While we can-not change the past, we can ensure such things never happen again.

If we were to ask ourselves on a regular basis, "Is what I am involved in at this mo-ment promoting joining or separation?", it would remind us of our commitment to kindness. All it requires is remembering. If our memory is not the best, small signs can be created and posted about the home and work environment. Simple solutions are workable solutions. Simple solutions to promote joining, working away at our goal for world peace with little acts of kindness,

helping to break down the walls that sepa-rate races, religions, cultures. Helping our global brothers and sisters.

During the Great War (1914-18), when the dead were piled high in ‘no man’s land,’ a truce would be declared so the dead could be gathered by the respective sides. When this was completed, the battle would re-sume as if nothing had happened. One moment joining together in a common cause, the next, mortal enemies again. Do you associate this with day to day liv-ing? We have our moments of joining in a common cause – when we pause to be of service, or when we observe Kindness Day, Valentine’s Day, Christmas Day, Anzac Day, Australia Day, Clean Up Australia Day, and so on. But then we go back to the way we were before the truce was declared – we go back to being at war! Not physically at war, but psychologically. At war with the traffic, our boss or a co-worker, the neighbour’s howling dog, rising prices, rude people, the noisy garbage truck, the promotion we didn’t get, unruly children, the com-puter crash, the noisy party, falling share prices, an argument with our partner, the

washing machine breaking down, the late train or bus, the long queue, the parking ticket, the recording that says, "Your call is important to us," the person who didn’t ‘understand.’ It seems as if the whole of humanity is going through some mid-life crisis. All of these stressful incidents in our engagement with the world is creating separation. How can we hope to have a peaceful world when we are incapable of creating peace in our own lives? We give energy to whatever we put our attention on, and how sad that our energy is gener-ally focussed on the negative things (creat-ing stress and hostility), and on the things we don’t have (creating feelings of lack and dissatisfaction). What would it take to focus on the good things about our life, and be thankful for what we have, instead of being resentful or irritated about what we don’t have?

■ www.kindness.com

World Kindness Day®


Every year on November 11, Canadi-ans pause for a moment to remem-ber the men and women who have

served, and continue to serve our country during times of war, conflict and peace.

Why Remember?

We must remember. If we do not, the sac-rifice of those one hundred thousand Ca-nadian lives will be meaningless. They died for us, for their homes and families and friends, for a collection of traditions they cherished and a future they believed in; they died for Canada. The meaning of their sacrifice rests with our collective national consciousness; our future is their monu-ment. To fully appreciate the sacrifices of Canadians that fought in different wars, full disclosure of the human face of war must be shared. There was “loss of com-rades, extreme living conditions, intense training, fear, as well as mental, spiritual and physical hardship; all these illuminate what the individual sailor, soldier and air-man experienced in battle”.

The First World War 1914-1918

In the First World War, the Canadians' first major battle occurred at Ypres, Belgium, on April 22, 1915, where the Germans used poison gas. As approximately 150 tonnes of chlorine gas drifted over the trenches, Canadian troops held their line and stopped the German advance in spite of enormous casualties. Within 48 hours at Ypres and St. Julien, a third of the Canadi-ans were killed.

Using outdated 19th century military strategy, Allied generals believed that sending wave after wave of infantry would eventually overwhelm the enemy. Soaring casualty rates proved that soldiers attack-ing with rifles and bayonets were no match for German machine guns. Each side dug in and soon the Western Front became a patchwork of trenches in France and Bel-gium stretching from Switzerland to the North Sea.

In April 1917, Canadians helped turn the tide of battle when they won a major vic-tory at Vimy Ridge. This triumph came at high cost: more than ten thousand casual-ties in six days. Even with this victory, the war continued for more than a year. Finally, on November 11, 1918, the Armistice was signed and the Canadians took part in the triumphant entry into Mons, Belgium. Throughout this conflict, Canadians proved that they could pull their weight, and by their effort earned for Canada, a new place among the nations of the world.

The Second World War 1939-1945

During the Second World War, Canadians fought valiantly on battlefronts around the world. More than one million men and women enlisted in the navy, the army and the air force. They were prepared to face any ordeal for the sake of freedom. When the war was over, more than 42,000 had given their lives. On the home front as well, Canadians were active as munitions work-ers, as civil defence workers, as members of voluntary service organizations, and as ordinary citizens doing their part for the war effort.

In December 1941, Canadian soldiers were participants in the unsuccessful de-fence of Hong Kong against the Japanese; 493 were wounded and 557 were killed in battle or at the hands of the Japanese as prisoners-of-war (POWs). The situation faced by the Canadian POWs was horrible; they laboured long hours and were given very little to eat. The daily diet was rice - a handful for each prisoner. Occasionally, a concoction of scavenged potato peelings, carrot tops and buttercups was brewed. The effect was obvious:

Sidney Skelton watched the 900-calorie-a-day diet shrink his body from 145 to 89 pounds. And whenever a group of prison-ers could bribe a guard into giving them a piece of bread, they used a ruler to ensure everyone got an equal share.

Canadians played a leading role on the European front. On August 19, 1942, Cana-dians attacked the French port of Dieppe. Canadians made up almost 90 per cent of the assault force. The raid was a disaster. Out of a force of 4,963 Canadians, 3,367 were killed, wounded, or became POWs. Lucien Dumais was there and described the beach upon landing:

The beach was a shambles, and a lot of our men from the second wave were ly-ing there either wounded or dead. Some of the wounded were swimming out to meet our flotilla and the sea was red with their blood. Some sank and disappeared. We stood by as they died, powerless to help; we were there to fight, not to pick up the drowning and the wounded. But the whole operation was beginning to look like a disaster.

Canadians played an essential role as the war continued. They participated in the conquest of Sicily in 1943, and defeated the Nazis in Italy despite fierce resistance especially at Ortona and Rimini. On June 6, 1944, D-Day, Canadians were in the front

lines of the Allied forces who landed on the coast of Normandy. All three Canadian services (Navy, Army, and Air Force) shared in the assault. In Normandy, the fighting was fierce, and the losses were heavy. Ap-proximately 14,000 Canadians landed on Juno Beach and suffered 1,074 casualties (including 359 fatalities).

Canadians encountered fierce resistance from the German occupiers as they fought through Northwest Europe, particularly at Caen and Falaise, France, as well as the for-midable task of clearing the English Chan-nel ports in France and Belgium. They also saved the Allied advance from stalling by defeating the Nazis in the Scheldt estuary of Belgium and Holland - intense fighting over flooded terrain.

In May 1945, victory in Europe became a reality and millions celebrated V-E Day. Still ahead lay the final encounter with Japan. Then, on August 6, 1945, the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiro-shima. Three days later, a second bomb destroyed Nagasaki. On August 14, 1945, the Japanese accepted the Allied terms of unconditional surrender and the Second World War was over.

The Korean War 1950-1953

The hard-fought end to the Second World War did not provide Canadian troops with a long peace. By 1950, Canadian soldiers were mobilized on behalf of the United Na-tions (UN) to defend South Korea against an invasion by North Korea. By 1951, the People's Republic of China had joined North Korea against the UN force. In Korea, the Canadians fought at Kapyong, at Chail-li, in the advance across the Imjin River, and in the patrolling of the Chorwon Plain. When the hostilities ended in 1953, Cana-dians stayed as part of the peacekeeping force.

The conditions in Korea were often dif-

ficult, with harsh weather, rough terrain, and an elusive and skillful enemy. In their own camp, they had to deal with casual-ties, illness and limited medical facilities. The winter of 1951 was especially severe. They were living twenty-four hours a day in trenches, which provided some protec-tion but little comfort. As one soldier re-called, the weather aggravated what was already a demoralizing experience:

Rain was running down my neck, my hands were numb, and I never seemed to be dry. Kneeling in the snow, or advanc-ing in the rain, my knees and the front of my legs became wet. Then the dampness soaked right through and the skin under-neath became tender and raw.

Altogether, 26,791 Canadians served in the Korean War and another 7,000 served between the cease-fire and the end of 1955 when Canadian soldiers were repa-triated home. There were 1,558 casual-ties, 516 fatal. While Canada's contribution formed only a small part of the total Unit-ed Nations effort, on a per-capita basis, it was larger than most of the other nations in the UN force.

"It (Canada's participation in Korea) also marked a new stage in Canada's devel-opment as a nation. Canadian action in Korea was followed by other peacekeep-ing operations which have seen Canadian troops deployed around the world in new efforts to promote international freedom and maintain world peace." From all of these records of warws, the observations of the individuals who took part stand out as reminders of the true nature of conflict. Through knowledge of the realities, we may work more diligently to prevent them from happening again.

■ http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca

A Day of Remembrance

Heavy snoring is associated with plaque build-up or "atherosclerosis" in the carotid arteries in the neck that supply blood to the brain and, therefore, may be a risk fac-tor for stroke, according to findings in the journal Sleep.

"Previous studies have suggested that snoring and obstructive sleep apnea...may be important risk factors for the develop-ment of carotid atherosclerosis and stroke," write Dr. Sharon A. Lee, of Westmead Mil-lennium Institute, NSW, Australia, and col-leagues. However, it was unclear if snoring, in the absence of breathing interruptions (sleep apnea), is also linked to carotid ath-erosclerosis.

Obstructive sleep apnea is a common problem in which soft tissues in the back of throat repeatedly collapse during sleep causing breathing to stop for brief mo-

ments. Snoring as well as excessive day-time sleepiness are common symptoms. The condition can be effectively treated with a small machine that blows air into the throat, preventing the tissues from col-lapsing.

In the current study, the researchers per-formed sleep tests to assess snoring and obstructive sleep apnea in 110 subjects. In addition, the subjects also underwent a special ultrasound test to look for carotid atherosclerosis.

The subjects were categorized into three snoring groups based on the amount of snoring: absent or mild snoring (0 to 25 percent of time), moderate snoring (25 to 50 percent of time), and heavy snoring (more than 50 percent of time).

Overall, 31 percent of subjects had carot-id atherosclerosis. As night time snoring increased, the rate of atherosclerosis rose from 20 to 65 percent. The impact of snor-ing on carotid atherosclerosis was appar-ent even in patients without sleep apnea.

By contrast, snoring was not associated with plaque build-up in the femoral arter-ies, the major vessels that supply blood to the legs.

"The importance of our findings is the im-plication that the risk of developing carot-id atherosclerosis (and potentially stroke) is not confined to the population of pa-tients with established obstructive sleep apnea, but also extends to the population of heavy snorers," Lee's team concludes. "

■ Sleep, September 2008.

Nearly two thirds of patients with chronic hepatitis C infection may have abnormal blood sugar levels, according to a report in the American Journal of Gastroenterol-ogy.

Blood sugar, or "glucose," abnormalities "are common and easily underestimated among patients with chronic hepatitis C in-fection," Dr. Ming-Lung Yu from Kaohsiung Medical University, Taiwan told Reuters Health. Careful evaluation for undetected glucose abnormalities is "essential" in car-ing for chronic hepatitis C patients.

Yu and colleagues compared the preva-lence and characteristics of glucose ab-normalities among 522 chronic hepatitis C patients and a comparison group of 447 without hepatitis C infection ("controls"),

based on the results of an oral glucose tol-erance test.

After excluding the subjects who were known to have diabetes, just over one third of the hepatitis C patients (34.2 percent) had normal results on the oral glucose tol-erance test, the authors report, whereas 42.8 percent had impaired glucose toler-ance and 23.0 percent had undiagnosed diabetes.

In contrast, 64.7 percent of the controls had normal levels of glucose, 32.4 percent had impaired glucose tolerance, and 2.9 percent had diabetes.

A family history of diabetes, male gender, advanced fibrosis stage of hepatitis, and increasing age each increased the risk of having glucose abnormalities, according to additional analyses.

Two consecutive fasting plasma glucose measurements or randomly measured glucose levels greater than 200 milligram per decaliter were not sufficient to confirm glucose abnormalities in the patients with chronic hepatitis C infection, Yu noted.

"Since family history, insulin resistance, age, and obesity are predisposing factors associated with diabetes in chronic hepa-titis C patients, we would recommend an oral glucose tolerance test for chronic hepatitis C patients who are older than 40 years old," have a family history of diabetes or who are overweight, Yu advised.

■ American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Doctors are missing their cues when it comes to opportunities to empathize with the plight of their cancer patients, a new study suggests.

While doctors are able to address such concerns as medication issues, missed ap-pointments, or pain, they tended to skirt "existential" issues, such as questions deal-ing with life and death, which are of para-mount importance to most patients, the study authors said.

"Physicians only responded to 10 percent of empathic opportunities and, when pa-tients raised existential concerns, physi-cians tended to shift more to biomedical responses," said study author Dr. Diane Morse, an assistant professor of medicine and psychiatry at the University of Roch-ester Medical Centre, in New York. "Physi-cians had trouble addressing the bulk of concerns, which were about patient fears, concerns about death or dying, or worsen-ing conditions."

Yet this may be the most important point of intersection between a doctor and his or her patient.

"The relationship between a patient and a physician is more than just the delivery of a diagnosis or a treatment plan," said Dr. Arthur Frankel, a professor of medicine at the Texas A&M Health Science Centre College of Medicine. "Basically, for cancer care, if you're not able to form a close tie with your patient and improve their qual-

ity of life, then there's a real question as to what you are doing.

"We can hopefully, at times, make sug-gestions or do things with patients that may buy some time and, in some cases, long-term remissions. But, by and large, the major job of an oncologist is to bond with the patient and the patient's family and help them with a crisis," added Fran-kel, who's also director of the Cancer Cen-tre, Cancer Research Institute and Division of Hematology/Oncology at Scott & White Hospital in Temple, Texas.

Empathy -- identifying with and under-

standing another person's situation and feelings -- has been linked with improved patient satisfaction, including less anxiety and better compliance with treatment. Physicians, residents and medical students also show evidence of more satisfaction and less burnout if they provide empathy, Morse said.

For the study, she and her colleagues an-alyzed 20 audio-recorded and transcribed interactions between male patients with lung cancer and their thoracic surgeons or oncologists.

The researchers identified 384 "empathic

opportunities," but found that the physi-cians responded empathically to only 39 of them. Each encounter elicited an aver-age of less than two empathic responses from the doctor.

Empathic opportunities included patient statements such as, "This is kind of over-whelming," and "I am fighting it."

When the doctors did show empathy, half the time it was in the last third of the en-counter, even though patients had been raising concerns throughout the session.

"Physicians are more comfortable about things they know what to do about, like 'I ran out of my medicine,' 'I couldn't get ap-pointment,' 'I'm having pain,'" Morse said. "But when the patient asks how much lon-ger do I have to live, it's scary. It's hard to know what to say."

"It would be helpful for physicians to think about having a response ready," Morse added. "The bulk of patients' concerns are existential and physicians don't necessar-ily have to do something to fix it. Just ac-knowledging it, in and of itself, can be very helpful and it doesn't take a lot of time."

Added Frankel: "The most important job of a physician is also the most important job for a minister or for a lawyer or anyone else: To try and help people cope with the uncertainties of life."

■ Archives of Internal Medicine 2008.

Heavy snoring may be stroke risk factor

Hepatitis C patients may have abnormal blood sugar

For Some Doctors, Empathy Is in Short SupplyStudy finds they miss patients' cues about fears of well-being, even death


Hamilton Politicians cutting the tape to declare open SISO Youth Center (The Globe)

Youth Center Staff

Youth Center Staff Invited Guests

Hussein (SISO Board Chair) Andrea Howarth (NDP MPP) Morteza Jafarpour (SISO's Excecutive Director) at the opening ceremony

SISO Youth Center (The Globe) Opening Ceremony October 24th 2008

African Canadian Workers Project


African Canadian Workers Project … and still I rise: African Canadian Workers in Ontario 1900 – Present, held a community feedback meeting on September 25th 2008 at the Stew-art Memorial Church.

Present at the meeting included: Dr. Gary Warner, Deborah Simon, Do-reen Johnson, Evelyn Myrie, Vince Morgan, Kojo Damptey, Joe Rhodes, Angela Dauda, Veronica Chris-Ike (The Voice in Diaspora) and Renee Wetselaar, from Worker Arts and Her-itage Centre.

Meeting Objective was to explore ideas/opportunities for marketing

..."and still I rise" travelling exhibit locally, nationally and internation-ally. Some members volunteered to help do the marketing. Other important issues discussed at the meting included: the final stages of development of the virtual mu-seum and launching in 2009; to find a permanent home for the exhibit; and the need to look at creating a larger plan for a Black Museum for Hamilton, possibly sited at Steward Memorial Church (SMC).

Here are pictures of the attendees at the meeting.

HCCI Francophone CMT Graduates, September 2008

MP Christopherson speak-ing at the event

Madeline Levy and Madina Wasuge (ED HCCI)

Nasir (HCCI staff) at the event with other invited guests

The Graduation cake

Mentors and mentees at SISO Mentorship program event

SISO Mentorship program opening night, Steve Varey Vice President of Scotia Bank Hamilton/Niagara with some mentees

TD Bank Rene and colleagues at the SISO Mentorship program event

More interaction Mentors and mentees at SISO Mentorship program event

Morteza with Banking sector reps at the SISO Mentorship program event

Cross section of participants at the event Participants at theFrancoPhone CMT program Evelyn Myrie (HCCI Board Member), Agnes

Gizard with her daughter Naomi at the event.

The Voice in Diaspora will not be publishing in December 2008. We are using this opportunity to

wish our numerous readers and customers MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY HOLIDAYS


Open House for "The Hub" SISO New Economic Power House

SISO Annual General Meeting 2008

Morteza Executive Director SISO speaking during the opening of

the HUB

SISO Board in attendance at the AGM

Nasir (HCCI) and some guest at SISO AGM

Some guest at SISO AGM 2008

A Church with A Vision!The church of Pentecost in Canada recently grouped their church districts into areas,

headed by area heads. The greater Toronto area is headed by Pastor Alex Agyei-Gyamera who would be assisted by six executive members. The Church of Penticost national head Apostle Anthony Miah was on hand on October 5th for this historic inuaguration.

From Left- Emman-uel Davis; George Asiffo; Joseph Tieko; Pastor Christian Atinka Popo-ola, Pastor Joseph Fynn-Sackey; Pastor Alex Agyei-Gyamera (Area Head); and Lawrence Manu.

Morteza at 2008 SISO AGM

Cross section of invited guests at the opening ceremony of the Hub

Aurelia, Manager for Employment SISO

YWCA Brantford ED in attendance

Some attendees


TVID-OctNovt08-low

Documents

Transcript of TVID-OctNovt08-low