Tune in to the final episode of our Allyship series. Join Maddie, Malcolm, Zuha and Noor as they discuss the challenges being a newcomer and how to an ally. Also we say goodbye to Zuha and Maddie they will be missed.
Tune in to the final episode of our Allyship series. Join Maddie, Malcolm, Zuha and Noor as they discuss the challenges being a newcomer and how to an ally. Also we say goodbye to Zuha and Maddie they will be missed.
Hey folks, welcome back to the Get with the growth Podcast. I'm Maddie. I'm Malcolm. I'm Zuha. And I'm Noor.
Maddie:Thank you for Noor and Zo I mean, so you've been on many of our all of our episodes based recurring guests. But thank you, Noor, for joining us for another episode. For this week's episode, we are going to be finishing our ally ship 101 series with an episode about newcomer ally ship. So just a background term what our newcomers, a newcomer is an immigrant or refugee who has arrived to Canada within the last five years.
Zuha:For some context, in terms of the sub headings of newcomer, we're going to define refugee. So our refugee is someone with who comes to Canada because their country or origin is not safe for them. They're often seeking safety because of persecution or violence or conflict. Now another one is immigrant. So what is immigrant? An immigrant is someone who is granted the right to permanently live in Canada.
Malcolm:So we wouldn't be able to have this episode without having to go over some of the more challenging aspects such as some challenges that the newcomer newcomers youth and adults may phase and the first one we'd like to talk about is exclusion and hostility. So newcomers may feel left out or treated poorly because of who they are or where they come from. This is a result of people assuming stereotypes or believing negative claims about immigrants are true. One solution to help debunk myths about newcomers is to speak up and speak the truth to those who may say something untrue about newcomers.
Noor:Another challenge that newcomers can face is related to language barriers. Newcomers can struggle with learning Canada's official language, which is English and French, the language failure can make newcomers feel isolated, excluded and make it difficult for them to do everyday tasks or access services they need some solutions to help communicate with newcomers, if you do not speak their native language is to talk slower, not shout, use hand gestures, or use a translating app. Sometimes learning a phrase or even one word in their language can make it easier for them to feel safe and welcome. I also want to add that there shouldn't be an assumption that the ability to speak or fluently understand Canada's official languages makes someone Superior Man newcomers are multilingual and very intellectual capabilities. exclusions based on stereotypes or internally held biases should be unlearned.
Zuha:a lot of that, because, like, as someone who is, quote unquote, a newcomer who emigrated to Canada, I am trilingual, but I, you know, had to learn English when I first when we first immigrated to Canada, and seeing my like parents kind of acclimate to the Society of Canada coming from Pakistan. It was very, very interesting and a really good learning opportunity. Because I saw my dad who, you know, is a professional in his career and was successful in Pakistan, you know, come to this new country with some knowledge of English, but like, he obviously had to do a lot of work to fit in, learn language, learn the language, redo his, you know, his academic stuff, to have a fulfilling career in this country. And he in no way had to come to Canada, but he chose to for the betterment of his family and himself. So that's actually really important that you we kind of recognize that like, just because folks have to take the time with opportunity or access services to be able to successfully acclimate into Canadian society. It does not mean they're in any way less than folks that are from here.
Maddie:Yeah. So both of my grandparents on my mother's side are immigrants from Budapest, Hungary, so they emigrated to Canada. I don't even know when like 1950 Probably a long, long time ago. And so they speak fluent. Hungarian. My mom is fluent in Hungarian and growing up. I never learned full fluent Hungarian, but I do know some words. And when I was in elementary school, I remember two boys coming to my school who were straight fresh from Hungary and they knew absolutely no English. And the fact that I I knew even several words had made them feel so much more comfortable. And eventually we got my mom to come in and talk to their family. And it was really nice to see how little effort we can do to learn like a little bit of someone's native language and how much that can help them feel more comfortable or comfortable and accepted. So that was like a really special experience that will always like stick in the back of my mind, I still remember them.
Zuha:You know, it just showcases like communities coming together being each other support. And it's so important, especially for newcomers, because this is a, this is a completely foreign domain for them, like they're coming in to a new place, without knowing anyone or anything and new often leaving behind like their lives and their livelihood to make a better life out of, you know, here in Canada, because of whatever reasons or like, oftentimes, it's out of their control. So, you know, examples like that really like to showcase the importance of community,
Malcolm:it's very good that your family was there can, it can be particularly hard for youth coming to Canada. Back in grade seven, my best friend who I've talked about on previous episodes, he moved, he moved from Nigeria. And that was a big adjustment for him. But to be honest, I had mentioned in the last episode that I had been in a bit of a bubble with race in my grades in high school going up. So Paul was the first black person to come to my school. And it was, it was a big awakening. And he pretty much joined my family. I consider him like my brother now. But it was definitely very difficult for him when he first came, he was fluent in English, but he had a very thick Nigerian accent. And a lot of people had a difficult time understanding him, I had a difficult time understanding him sometime I did with my family, some joint research on how we could learn some words in his language so that he could feel a little bit more comfortable. And he spent time with us. And I think that just hearing some of the words from his leg from his native language, just because he was basically living with us at that point. And just hearing that in his his living space. I feel like it helped him a lot.
Zuha:I think that's just a really small example of how you can make folks who are coming into this country, like feel a little validated a whole herd and a little acceptance.
Malcolm:Yeah. And I feel like I grew so much from Paul, like, it wasn't just us giving things to him, he was giving things to my entire family, we, we grew all together. And it was a beautiful thing. That's what newcomers can can do for Canadian families, or anyone who's who's never had a newcomer as part of their life, it can really change your life.
Noor:Yeah. And I do want to add that, as a newcomer, a lot of times you are leaving behind your whole community,coming to this new space, where you might not have connections where there might be a lack of accessibility to things. So having folks step up, who are familiar with the newcomers culture, or just in general, like extending that help, and taking that initiation, to be supportive, can be so beneficial and can make a world of a difference in someone's life, who is new and is probably a little bit scary. Yeah,
Maddie:yeah. I feel like just having community like, safe community, like we see all the time. There's small like clubs and different churches and whatever there's, it's really important for newcomers, to have some sense of community and as you know, someone to rely on, which is why I feel like it's so important that organizations like the Grove, are accepting and provide services that can help folks adjust.
Noor:Yeah, safe spaces for anyone to enter through a door and like being mindful of the diversity that comes through the door and how we can support them.
Zuha:Yeah, and this is a great segue into our first of four questions. How can we make the space we live or work in more welcoming for newcomers? What can we do? What What can we implement to make that our priority?
Maddie:I know that at our growth growth hubs, we have a welcome sign where it has like 50 different languages where it says welcome in that language. And it's normally by the front door, I'm not sure about the other hubs. I know ours is right on her door when you walk in. So when you come, you're immediately greeted with a sign that says hello in all different languages, which I feel like is really really special. Something that we do a lot at our Guelph location is we have cultural cooking nights, and celebrations of you know, different celebrations. So I feel like that's like a small little thing that we do, which is really nice, because we see a lot of diverse groups come when we promote these nights. And just seeing like they can make connections in a safe space is really really nice.
Zuha:Actually, really great point because we did like this year, do a Ramadan throng on night for folks in like for youth in the community who are observed who were observing Ramadan during the month of fasting. And that was really cool to see like a lot of these young people come in, to just hang out. And these youth we never get to see. So, like I said, it's unique to the UG hub, we kind of, you know, do want to prioritize like having or offering programming that is specific to specific cultures and specific, not just religions, but like different folks from different communities. And I think that's really important. Anything that like kind of, is foundational for promoting like safe, inclusive spaces. So for a newcomer, who is, you know, freshly coming into guav, you know, and they are predominantly surrounded by white folks who may not have that in common with them, you know, providing them a space to celebrate their individuality is so, so important. And I think all the hubs should be prioritizing that.
Noor:Yeah, absolutely. And we are, we try to be such a youth inclusive space, and we welcome youth voices. So if there is ever a hub that you're accessing, that you want to see certain programming for specifically, regarding different cultural celebrations or celebrations specific to a community that you identify with, we welcome your voice. So please share that with any of the staff and we will work together and collaborate to ensure that we are implementing your voice in facilitating that programming.
Maddie:Yeah.So I know I already shared a little snippet of how I kind of helped welcome some youth when I was much, much younger. But Have any of you folks ever helped a newcomer adjust to life in Canada, or you yourself as a newcomer.
Zuha:I honestly, my, my memory of helping someone kind of welcome them into this community is my family like through my family, through myself, like when I first when we first moved to Canada, I was really young, I was like six or seven years old. So that is relatively young age, like that's below our age catchment, it was kind of jarring because I was in Pakistan for like, five, six years of my life. And interestingly enough, I never finished grade one because like, I came to Canada, like I didn't finish grade one in Pakistan, but I came here and I went straight into like finishing grade two. So I never had that, that pertinent those pertinent years of my life I just missed. So that was really interesting. And I think kind of does impact your like learning in the future. But like, the first interesting thing that I kind of noticed about as a as an elementary student, or as, as a, as a young kid coming into this country, the resources that like schools have, like implemented within their curriculum, you know, ESL, which I don't know if what, what if that's been updated or not, but like, during the time I was accessing it was during school hours, we would be in ESL specific classes with youth that you'd be have that shared experience with, we're also newcomers to this country who are freshly learning English. So that was really nice. It felt less isolating, because you had that you had something in common with someone else your age, but at the same time, like, I think there's still a lot of barriers in accessing certain resources, especially if we consider the intersectionality of like, these resources, like someone who is identifies as a person with disability, how can we make that easier to access for folks with disabilities or any other varying like barriers that may be so although like, yeah, learning English was great. And that was really, I mean, it's, it's fundamental to be able to kind of like live in Canada, because this is their national language. But what else can we do or what else could have been done during the time that was partially, you know, trying to acclimate into to it as a young kid that would have made me feel more safe, more included and less isolated. And that's something I wonder all the time because like, I see, like my little brother who was born here, it's so the his experience is so much different.
Maddie:Anything to add?
Malcolm:Well, I already went over kind of my story earlier. But yeah, we just did our best to make sure Paul felt comfortable when he was with us. Every once in a while we would. With his help, we'd try to cook a Nigerian dish or like something like that. A couple of years ago, another family friend of mine and his family, along with my family. We had a big Nigerian dinner night with Paul and his extended family that came to visit us for a little while. And it's just little things like that, that brought us all together. His family came and spent time with Paul's not new family, but other Canadian family and we all came together and shared their meals that they helped make and we helped make some of the dishes as well and it was just little things like that just they can be so instrumental in your Growing yours,
Maddie:I know so for my rugby team, it's our tradition every Friday night before a Saturday night game, to go to our coach's house and have a potluck dinner. And last year, we introduced cultural cooking night themes. So every Friday, we would have a different style of food or culture, cultural cooking. And it really broadened everyone's taste and knowledge of different areas. And it also made it really nice for us to acknowledge those communities that we might feel are underrepresented. And it was really nice to learn more about all of my teammates, and you know, their family, their history, try some new food. So that was something that was something really nice. And it'll be continuing on for the next several years, which I'm really excited about. But I loved it,
Malcolm:we could do a whole episode on just cooking and how we can bring people together in different cultural cooking. Yeah.
Noor:And my family also immigrated here when I was four, and it was really hard as the eldest child to see how they adjusted to this community, because we did not have family here previously, or connection here. So it was really isolating. For my parents, I would say to build from the ground up, my dad is very resourceful so he was able to take that initiative and go searching for communities. And at one point, there were things that we would freak out with that felt very aligned with home. And that was wonderful. So now when I do see someone who's struggling, who I could relate to, or if I share the same language as them the same native language, and I can be that a translator, even if it's with something small, like communicating with a cashier, because I can tell that they're struggling to ask a question or don't know how to work the Self Serve machine. I'll just switch over and speak to them in the language that we share. Because it makes it so much easier for them. And it helps them feel connected to that they aren't lost and completely alone. And that's something that I do personally, if I feel that I can support a newcomer.
Maddie:Wow, that's awesome. And again, to anyone listening to our podcast, if you frequent any of our hubs, and you have any ideas or any programming, anything that you feel you would like to see represented more at any of our hubs, please, please bring it forward to our staff. At the end of the day, we are here for youth or for youth by youth. So your ideas matter, your voice matters. We love to hear how we can create more of a safe and inclusive space for everyone. So feel free to come to any of our staff members at any of our hubs and share your opinions.
Malcolm:Yeah, we're always learning we always we always welcome new voices. So since we're coming close to the end of our episode, I just want to say a quick little note. This is Maddie's last episode. For now. We're hopefully hopefully having her back as a guest and Zo as well. She is currently a guest star but she'll be stopping her guests our episodes. So we want to thank both of them so much for all they've done in the past episodes. They've been such great hosts. They've had such great things to say. So thank you, both of you. Yeah, round of applause.
Noor:All the snaps for Maddie and Zo
Malcolm:I know we'll be missing Matienzo and we want to thank Noor for coming in today as well. Yeah. So just to finish off the day. Thank you everyone for tuning into this week's episode. And remember, be kind to your mind, and we'll see you next time. Bye