summer 2013 issue - saskatchewan intercultural...
TRANSCRIPT
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!
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