welcoming culturelink host community n welcoming … · 2013-03-10 · welcoming community news...
TRANSCRIPT
By Kristin Schwartz
pedestrians alike. The
Toronto Cyclists
Union was represented
by staff Andrea Garcia
and Moe Berrigan.
Volunteers Francisco,
Kate, Vicky, Angela and Manpreed extended
their warm welcome
to newcomer partici-
pants. Thanks are also
due to the CultureLink
staff and interns who
supported this new
venture, and Darren
Sustar and the whole
video team for their
professionalism and
enthusiasm.
WWWELCOMINGELCOMINGELCOMING COMMUNITYCOMMUNITYCOMMUNITY NNNEWSEWSEWS
CultureLink HOST
September 2010
Welcoming Community News
Bike Host Launch on the
Toronto Central Islands
“At CultureLink we believe that::
Newcomers are critical to
Canada’s future;
Our staff and volunteers
are our organization’s most
important resources.”
Inside this issue:
Bike Host 1
Bike Host Pictures 2
Trip to Niagara Falls 3
Volunteer success 4
Gardeners’ Field Trip 5
Global Roots Garden 6
Summer Youth Theatre 7
Contact us 8
Early fall in Toronto
brings warm afternoon
sun and chilly evening
breezes. We had the
opportunity to experi-
ence both on Saturday
September 11 on the Toronto Islands, with a
group bike ride and
picnic that launched
CultureLink’s Bike
HOST.
This new addition to the HOST
program will match
Toronto cyclists with
newcomers who also
like to bike. We hope
that this shared activity
can be the basis for
rewarding friendships
that promote healthy
living, environmental
sustainability and
community engage-
ment. If it’s successful,
the Bike HOST
program will expand
and enhance Toronto’s
cycling culture.
We already see
signs of success
sprouting from this
event: matches were
made ―organically‖
right on the spot. We
even had a surprise
visit from two friends who first met when
they were matched by
CultureLink Host
Program three years
ago. Evgenia from
Russia, learned to ride
a bike with her match
Sarah and they have
cycled together ever
since.
Thanks are due
to many volunteers,
especially Mai Nguyen
who helped in planning
the event, and Michel
Paré from the Gay
West Bicycle Club and
Queer West Arts
Centre. He promoted
the event and helped
guide a group around
the Islands, a car-free
haven for cyclists and
Page 2 Welcoming Community News Volume 1, Issue 11
Bike HOST Launch, Saturday September 11, 2010 on the Toronto Islands
For many newcomer participants, this is their very first time to roast marsh-
mallows on campfire - ―it’s a very North-American thing,‖ they said, and
―Heavenly, it’s delicious!‖
Welcoming Community News Volume 1, Issue 11 Page 3
―It was amazing to see how people from diverse cul-
tural backgrounds got together to rejoice Canada’s
natural beauty and its attractions.” D.L..
Niagara Falls
A joyful day at the Falls
By Dolora Leka
It was a bit showery but that did not stop
our guests from joining the Host team for
the Niagara Falls bus trip. The bus filled up
very quickly, so the tour group got to the
destination earlier than expected. Picking the
right location for this trip was not that diffi-
cult as newcomers would never abandon the
idea of visiting the most popular attractive
place of Ontario, such as Niagara Falls. It
was exciting to see that newcomers had
brought their friends or family members
along with their host matches to make
memories that will last forever.
After spending the day at Niagara Falls, the
guests were grateful and pleased in experi-
encing a day with some of the most enter-
taining options of the Falls. This wonderful
place brings thousands of people every year
together from different parts of the world to
visit this spectacular wonder that nature cre-
ated. It was amazing to see how people from
diverse cultural backgrounds got together to
rejoice Canada’s natural beauty and its at-
tractions. The multicultural group was happily
sharing laughter, rides and interesting stories
while exploring the Falls. Hearing different
language dialects coming together in one
common language made me think how di-
verse and welcoming Canada has now be-
come.
The trip was made possible by Government of
Canada and Tim Hortons.
Page 4 Welcoming Community News Volume 1, Issue 11
Hello Fei,
I would like to thank you for
your support. Your recom-
mendation played
a crucial role in my attaining a
position LINC Instructor in the LEAD programs
(Language Education at a Dis-
tance) at the Quality Continu-
ous Improvement Centre
of Community Education and
Training located in Missis-
sauga. I will be working from
home teaching....wow! This
means I will have the time to
take on my community vows
and get involved with Culture-
Link without the intense and
consuming strain of job hunt-
ing.
This is going to be an experi-
ence to say the least.
Once again I would like to
thank everyone at Culture-
Link who supported me,
shared their
knowledge in the various
workshops ect. The first
who permitted me to step
forward with grace and re-
spect after my long absences
from "My home and native
land...".
Keep the faith, strength
and passion that guides
your mission.
I hope you have a great
year... you are an ex-
ceptional person.....
Keep in touch.
Take Care.
Amy
Annual General Meeting
Monday October 18, 2010
at 6p.m.
A Host Volunteer’s Success Story
A Letter from Amy K.
MARK IN YOUR CALENDAR
“The matching program
provides ample opportuni-
ties for both the newcomer
and the host volunteer.”
A Fun-filled Farm Trip of Our Garden Project Participants
Page 5 Welcoming Community News Volume 1, Issue 11
By Rebecca Butler
Newcomer seniors and youth involved in the Global Roots Garden project had a wonder-ful opportunity to go on a field trip to a working farm outside of Toronto. This trip was or-ganized by CultureLink’s HOST program and New-comer Youth Centre in col-laboration with The Stop Com-munity Food Centre, Vineland Farm and Ontario’s Greenbelt. On August 19th over 30 Global Roots Garden participants piled onto a school bus out-side the community garden. Youth and seniors alike chat-ted happily on the bus ride and some seniors even brought grandchildren to en-joy the trip. We were taken to a farm called Vineland where researchers are busy experi-menting with crops rarely grown in Canada. They are currently growing Fuzzy Melon, Callaloo, Okra, and many unusual varieties of Eggplant. The kind folks at Vineland cooked the veggies for us and the participants were invited to taste different ways of preparing them. We then had the opportunity walk through the farm and enjoy the beauty and quiet of rural life. The gardeners were also given lots of produce to take home, so they could help test
the veggies and see if growing them in Canada is really working! Every-one was very excited to cook and taste vegetables that were very familiar (for some people) and al-together new (for others).
Mark in your Calendar—Evergreen , September 26
11 a.m. Sunday September 26, 2010
Join CultureLink for a walk, bike ride, and visit to
the Evergreen Brick Works.
The Evergreen Brick Works is a former industrial site in the heart of the Don
Valley ravine. It is being transformed into an environmental learning centre
with gardens, walking areas to explore, a farmers market and good healthy
food, an ice rink and more. Bike culture is central to the Brick Works. There is
a fleet of bikes which are available to use for learning and for group rides.
The Brick Works is celebrating its grand opening with a community festival on
Sunday September 26. From 11am to 4pm, there will be music, art and a
chance to explore. Three bike rides on nearby nature trails are planned. If
you’d like to experience this great new resource with a friendly group of new-
comers and welcoming community hosts, join us!
Meet at 11am Castlefrank Subway Station, at the fare collector booth.
It is a 15 minute walk to the Brickworks.
Bring snacks for yourself and a water bottle.
We plan to be at the Brickworks until about 2pm. You may leave anytime.
There is a free shuttle bus from the Brick Works to Broadview station.
Seniors pick out some produce to try
Photos by Francisco Vidal
Global Roots Garden
Open House
Page 6 Welcoming Community News Volume 1, Issue 11
By Rebecca Butler
On September 2nd 2010 par-ticipants of the Global Roots Garden project held an open house so members of the community could come and see their beautiful gar-dens and learn more about the project. The seniors took charge of preparing delicious snacks from their cultures and worked hard all afternoon to make Chi-nese dumplings, Italian zuc-chini fritters, Polish perogies, Columbian stuffed zucchini, Filipino dip and South Asian roti. Many of the vegetables used came from their very own gardens! When they were not busy helping with chopping, peeling and fry-ing, the youth were making beautiful signs for the gar-dens and then graciously serving food to our guests.
The evening brought some lovely recognition of the hard work that the seniors and youth have been putting into the garden all summer. Ontario’s minister of immi-gration, Eric Hoskins at-tended the event along with Charles Hain representing Ontario Trillium Foundation, Joe Mihevc councilor for Ward 21, and of course Ibra-him Absiye CultureLink’s Executive Director. Garden-ers and community members alike appreciated such big support and returned the fa-vour by serving delicious food and offering visitors
Polish senior participants serve up some soup
Filipino Gardeners with Mr. Hoskins
A senior participants shows off her harvest
The Latin American Garden
Youth participants relax together
Summer Youth Theatre
Page 7 Welcoming Community News Volume 1, Issue 11
Newcomer Youth Centre’s Summer Theatre Program 2010:
Objects of Identity – The Things That Make me, Me.
By Francisco Vidal
This year’s Summer Theatre Pro-
gram at The NYC proved to be a
major success! Our Theatre Pro-
gram employed 8 newcomer and
refugee youth - for eight weeks in
July and August - to collectively pro-
duce, write and act an original play –
the result being Objects of Identity
– The Things That Make me, Me.
Our Theatre Coordinator Nikki
Pascetta guided and coordinated the
youth performers throughout the
whole creative and performance
process. The youth performed the
play at CultureLink’s Offices; the
Bloor and Gladstone Library; and
outdoors at the Global Roots Open
House – Whychwood Barns.
The play focuses on the individual
stories of the 8 youth performers
and it’s divided into 8 scenes - each
tracing their ―Objects‖ of identity to
their home countries or previous
countries of asylum.
The play opens up with a descrip-
tion of how a newcomer youth’s
identity is torn between the ―Old
Me‖ vs. the ―New Me‖ in Canada.
There are two boxes holding their
memories – old and new - containing
―Sad memories‖, but also happy
ones. The youth depart from that
premise and act each scene with few
aides and prompts; their perform-
ance focusing more on sound and
movement to transport the audience
to places and situations all over the
world: from a beautiful country
house in Colombia’s Manizales, to
the relative safety of a refugee camp
near Kinshasa; from armed conflict
in Tibet, to an immigration lawyer’s
office in Toronto. There, at the law-
yer’s office, a refugee claimant has a
flashback when asked to fill up his
Personal Information Form (PIF) de-
tailing the events that led him to leave
his country and seek protection in
Canada. The flashback is powerful and
captures the horrific reality of having
to revisit one’s persecution in order
to make a case for protection in Can-
ada.
All the scenes are beautiful and
powerfully delivered – the subject
matter is heavy with emotion at times,
but a balance is reached when the play
closes with an excellent choreography
that showcases the youth’s music and
dance from their home countries.
You can catch an abridged version of
Objects of Identity to be performed at
CultureLink’s Annual General Meeting
on October the 18th at 7 PM.
You can catch an abridged version of Objects of
Identity to be performed at CultureLink’s Annual
General Meeting on October the 18th
at 7 PM.
MARK IN YOUR CALENDAR
Photos by Francisco Vidal
CONTRIBUTORS
Fei Tang
Newsletter Supervisor; Host Manager
Barbora Gomezova
Host Program Counselor;
Newsletter Coordinator
Kristin Schwartz
Newcomer Cycling Outreach Co-ordinator
Dolora Leka
Host Program Counselor
Francisco Vidal
NYC Coordinator
www.welcomingcommunity.ca
CultureLink
2340 Dundas Street West, Suite 301
Toronto, ON M6P 4A9
Phone: 416-588-6288
Fax: 416-588-2435
CultureLink HOST
CultureLink is a settlement agency located at
Bloor and Dundas West in downtown Toronto.
For twenty-one years, we have upheld our mis-
sion:
CultureLink is dedicated to facilitating the
independence and full participation of newcom-
ers in Toronto’s diverse community. Culture-
Link works within an anti-discriminatory frame-
work to ensure a respectful, safe and inclusive
environment.
We hope you have enjoyed Volume One, Issue
11 of our Welcoming Community Newsletter,
and that you will enjoy future issues.
Know someone who wants to join
Culturelink’s Host Community?
Have them sign up!
Volunteers, Newcomers
Fill out our online Regis-
tration form, at:
HOST Program
is funded by:
The Host Newsletter invites you, the mem-
bers of the CultureLink Community to
share your story with us. Please send your
story, comments and thoughts to:
Amy K.
Host Volunteer
Rebecca Bulter
Youth Program Worker