1

Message from Our New President

It is my pleasure to extend best wishes to our membership and our community

on behalf of the Saskatchewan Intercultural Association. Our AGM on June 20th

saw a number of changes: I assumed the position of president as Dr. Jay Kalra

moved into the role of past president, replacing Nayyar Javed. SIA expresses its

sincere gratitude to both these individuals. We also saw some board members

depart with our thanks, and welcomed new board members who bring their

individual strengths and enthusiasms to our organization.

Looking forward to the coming months, we face a number of challenges in

terms of advocacy and providing programs promoting our mission to eliminate

racism and discrimination through the promotion of intercultural understand-

ing. SIA is growing, like our city and province, and with

that growth comes new challenges that can only be

met by working together as a board with staff, our

membership, partners and sponsors. We are also

starting to plan for our 50th anniversary in 2014 cele-

brating half a century of service. Please be a part of this

landmark event!

I wish you and yours a safe and most enjoyable sum-

mer.

David M. Parkinson, President

In this Issue

President’s Message P.1

Welcome Board Members P.2

Congratulations to Dr. Kalra P.2

The Mentorship Project: An Inter-nal Success Story P.3

Spend the Summer

with ConnectED P.4

LINC Literacy Graduation P.5

Get to Know Us P. 6

Summer Fun! P.7

Summer 2013 Issue

2

Welcome Board Members We would like to welcome our Board Members, as we are very excited to invite them into our SIA family!

The Saskatchewan Intercultural Association would like

to congratulate Dr. Jawahar (Jay) Kalra, the past Presi-

dent of SIA on winning the 2013 RBC Top 25 Canadian

Immigrant award.

Dr. Kalra is a dedicated physician and man of humility

who believes in the equality of the human spirit re-

gardless of cultural and ethnic background in life. He

has demonstrated exemplary community and volun-

teer services with high ethical and moral standards

and his heart-felt and lifelong commitment is clearly

visible in his over 25 continued years of volunteering in

Saskatchewan.

Dr. Kalra has been very active in promoting the core

values of cross-cultural and youth development, the

promotion of human rights, the support of community

diversity initiatives and the community integration of

new Canadians. Jay has received many community and

provincial awards including The Queen Elizabeth II

Diamond Jubilee Commemorative Medal (2012), Pio-

neer for Advancing Multiculturalism and Diversity in

Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan Equity and Diversity As-

sociation (SEEDA)

Award, (2006); Sas-

katchewan Centen-

nial Leadership

Award for contribu-

tion to Province

(2005); Sask Culture

Volunteer Award

(2003); and The

Queen Elizabeth II

Golden Jubilee

Commemorative

Medal (2002).

Congratulations to Dr. Kalra!

Back (Left to Right): Caroline Cottrell, Pratyush Das, Ron Wheeler, Darron Taylor, Karl Martens, Peter

Grant, Gerlinde Sarkar, Ana Lilia Jurado, Raj Dhir

Front (Left to Right): Daniel Rubiolo, Jay Kalra (Past President), David Parkinson (President),

Tracy Muggli (Vice President), Sam Sambasivam (Secretary)

Missing: Winnie Mutswangwa (Treasurer), Sadeq Rahimi, Carlos A. Guzman Perez

3

The Mentorship

Project: An Internal

Success Story

Hamm notes that “we are very

proud to have Smriti with us

and it is a win-win for the or-

ganization to hire from one of

its programs. We feel it is a

great way to show that we

‘walk the talk’. We don’t just

expect other companies to give

newcomers an opportunity. We

live by it too”. Karki is excited

for her future at SIA and says, “I

look forward to growing with

the organization and enhancing

my skills while contributing to

the community”. SIA is thrilled

to be able to not only support

the programs it runs but also

gain the valuable skills and ex-

perience that these potential

employees bring with them. SIA

is proud to add Karki to the SIA

family and looks forward to

learning from her as she con-

tributes to the future successes

of the organization!

The Mentorship Project is pleased to

report it is running in its 15th year of

existence with the Saskatchewan Inter-

cultural Association (SIA). Over the last

15 years, the Mentorship Project has

been working to create a link for pro-

fessionally trained Newcomers to con-

nect to their specialized field in Saska-

toon. Along the way, this program has

had many successful stories. Jess

Hamm, the Mentorship Project Coordi-

nator reports “those are the best days,

when participants come back to tell me

they ‘got the job!’ and you get to share

in their excitement and be proud of

their hard work.” Hamm’s fellow co-

worker, Haven Seto who is the Work

Placement Coordinator for the Project

believes, “volunteer work experience is

invaluable as it provides the participant

an opportunity to share and gain new

skills along with expanding their pro-

fessional network”. The Mentorship

Team are both in their 5th year of

working at SIA and aside from their

good humored teasing of each other;

they appear to have a great working

relationship that contributes to the

successes of this program.

Since SIA is a smaller organization, it is

rarer for openings in employment, but

3 weeks ago, SIA was pleased to have

the opportunity to provide an example

to other employers by hiring one of the

participants from the Mentorship Pro-

ject. Smriti Karki is one of the newest

staff to join SIA and had participated

in the Mentorship Project back in

February of this year. Karki is origi-

nally from Nepal where she got her

Bachelor of Business Administration.

She moved to Dallas Texas in 2004

where she got her Masters of Busi-

ness Administration and worked as a

Manager in Customer Relations. She

moved to Saskatoon at the beginning

of 2013 where she got admittance

into the Mentorship Project. Karki

says, “the program helped me by

preparing me for the interview pro-

cess and gave me a realistic view of

how to approach the Canadian job

market”. Karki successfully complet-

ed the classroom portion of the pro-

gram and had a short work place-

ment in administration at Tron Pow-

er before applying to SIA’s Office Co-

ordinator position. Karki already re-

flects positively on her first 3 weeks

of working for SIA by saying, “SIA is

already like a family to me and so far

the experience has been wonderful”.

4

Spend the

Summer with

ConnectED!

The ConnectED summer program for

immigrant and refugee teen girls aged

13-18, has been a lot of fun this year!

Combining sports & recreation, arts &

crafts, ESL lessons, and field trips these

girls are given the chance to make new

friends, get to experience all that Sas-

katoon has to offer in the summer, and

start the school year feeling more con-

fident and prepared. This year, the girls

that are registered in our program

come from South Korea, Guatemala,

Iraq, Vietnam, the Ukraine, the Philip-

pines, Pakistan and China.

Since the program started on July 2nd

2013, we have done some great activi-

ties including, two field trips out of

town to Fort Battleford National Histor-

ic Site and the Saskatchewan Science

Centre in Regina; tours of the Universi-

ty of Saskatchewan, Marca College, and

the Frances Morrison Library. The girls

have also participated in a soccer work-

shop, a yoga class, a self-defense class

& have played badminton and basket-

ball at the Shaw Centre. We have even

done some great arts and crafts includ-

ing learning how to draw with pastels

and charcoal and making papier-

mâché animals!

In our upcoming weeks in August, we

have even more exciting events

planned! We will be painting pottery

at the Wet Paint Pottery studio, vis-

iting the Saskatoon Forestry Farm

and Zoo and even touring the City

Park Community Garden and learn-

ing more about CHEP’s community

garden program. We also plan to

play tennis at Riverside Badminton

and Tennis Club, do some volunteer

work around the city in order to give

back to our community, and take an

exciting overnight trip to Pike Lake

Provincial Park!

We are so happy to spend our sum-

mer with these girls and look for-

ward to the rest of the program!

What are you up to this summer?

5

LINC Literacy Graduation!

As the ongoing literacy program is

winding down for its summer break,

we are saddened to be parting, but

excited for two participants who are

graduating from the program! Our cur-

rent participants originate from Mexi-

co, Iraq, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Congo

(D.R.), China, and Moldova! We are so

proud of Guadalupe and Isteevan who

are moving on to LINC 2 and have

made astounding leaps and bounds in

their English proficiency since they first

started! Isteevan first arrived in Canada

in July of 2012, and was assessed at a

Pre-Benchmark level for her CLB before

she began the program in October

2012. Now, a mere 9 months later,

Isteevan is moving on to her level 2!

Though this program runs continuously

throughout the year, we will miss our

participants during the two week break

in the summer. This summer we were

able to do some fun activities including

several educational field trips!

We were able to visit a local bank to

learn how to use ATMs, travelled to

Batoche to learn about Louis Riel

and Canadian history, visited a farm

to learn about agricultural aspects

of Saskatchewan, and engaged in

various fitness activities in several

leisure centers around Saskatoon!

We have also learned about native

Canadian animals by visiting the

Saskatoon Zoo, and even went to

the Saskatoon Public Library to give

participants the opportunity to read

books leisurely and continue to im-

prove their literacy skills. We also

learned how to read recipes by bak-

ing a cake together!

We had an amazing group of partic-

ipants this summer and can not

wait to return in late August! When

we return from our break, we are

excited for new participants to join

us and to continue learning!

A Word From our Graduates and Participants:

“I like …. everything in English class! Read[ing], writ[ing], listen[ing], and talk[ing]”

“I will miss my teacher, [….] My friends, [… ] my classroom”

“I learn[ed the] history [of] Canada, many topics, [and how to] find address[es] on computer”

“My favorite part about this English class [was going to the] Bank, Library, Broadway, Batoche, and

farm”

“I like everything in English class. I like [the] worksheets Gina give[s] me”

“My favourite part about this English class is the history of Canada”

“I learn[ed] how [to] speak English and how [to] write and different places, I learn[ed about] the

provinces and capital of Canada”

6

SIA would like to con-

gratulate our former

ELT Coordinator, Amee

Joshi and her family on

their new baby, Siya!

Siya is Amee’s second

daughter and was

born on July 25, 2013.

Congratulations!

Where you came from: All over Sas-

katchewan!

Interesting Facts: I like cats and I can fly

airplanes.

Quirks: I like nuts on my ice cream.

Places Travelled: Costa Rica, Jamaica,

and all over Canada

Favourite Food: Anything Mexican and

cheeseburgers (usually not together).

Pet Peeve: Movie talkers - People who

talk through movies.

Why you love it here (at SIA): The people

are amazing!

What you love about summer: Camping,

hiking, campfires, s’mores and long sum-

mer nights!

Congratulations!

Get To Know Us!

Gabrielle Bouchard

(ELT Mentoring Coordinator)

Scott Mickelson

(Connector Program Coordinator)

Where you came from: Saskatoon, SK!

Interesting Facts: I have many hobbies

including sports, photography and con-

structing things (furniture or com-

pleting renovations)

Quirks: I’ve had a beard for over 5

years straight!

Places Travelled: Europe, Asia, Central

and North America

Favourite Food: Nepali

Pet Peeves: I dislike distracted drivers

Why you love it here (at SIA): I love

assisting and meeting people new to

Saskatoon

What you love about summer: Getting

to go canoeing, exploring and fishing in

the lakes of Saskatchewan.

Know us better as we feature 2 of our staff members in every issue of our newsletter.

7

Summer Recipe: Cool Spanish Gazpacho

Ingredients:

2 lbs ripe juicy tomatoes

1 garlic clove

1/2 an onion, white type (not sweet)

1 green sweet pepper

1 cucumber, about 6-7 inches long

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/2 tablespoon salt

1 cup virgin olive oil

1 piece French bread (3-4 inches long

piece)

1. Peel and coarsely chop the garlic

clove and onion.

2. Rinse tomatoes and remove stems.

3. Coarsely chop the pepper and re-

move seeds.

4. Peel the cucumber well to remove

all of the dark green peel.

5. Place the piece of bread in a bowl

with water in order to soak it. Once

soaked, put all water away, squeeze

the soaked bread with your bare

hands as much as you can and set

aside.

6. In a good blender or food proces-

sor put the tomatoes the garlic, on-

ion, pepper, cucumber, squeezed

bread.

7. Add all of the remaining ingredi-

ents and crush all up at the highest

speed. Blend until most pieces are

crushed (becoming the consistency of

puree).

7.Pour it in a jar or bowl and let it chill

well in your fridge. Do not freeze!

Serve it in bowls as a first course for

any meal. Enjoy!

G N I N E D R A G D E

O T N J I Y P F R O L

I Q M G T M H E V H C

C S U A G M I W S M Y

I S U N S H I N E U C

Q D Z U H C A E B J I

G N I P M A C H F G B

A O S D S L A D N A S

Y V V G K M P L S Z M

beach

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camping

gardening

heat

lake

sandals

sunshine

swim

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