The Immigrant Woman

THE

IMMIGRANT WOMAN

MAGAZINE

07 DECEMBER 2015

UNVEILING

An in-depth look into living under the niqab

&

What the opposers say

HER VOICE Immigrant women voting for the first time

STEFANIE NEVES Balancing her mixed-race identity and what it means to be Canadian

China Town Toronto is located at Dundas Street West and Spadina Avenue West. It is known for its dense population of Chinese residents and businesses.

China Town

Little Italy is along College Street West. It is renowned for its numerous Italian restaurants.

Little Italy

Little India is located on Gerrard Street East, between Coxwell Avenue and Greenwood Avenue.

It is home to North America’s largest South Asian ethnic market.

Little India

Little Portugal is located at College and Dundas Street.

Predominantly residential, it is known for its mid-century housing.

Little Portugal

Greek Town is located at Danforth Avenue, between Chester Avenue and Dewhurst Boulevard. It is known for its architecture, Greek stores and restaurants.

Greek Town

Litle East Africa is located in Milton along Bloor Street West. It is known for its Ethiopian and Eritrean restaurants, bars, and other businesses.

Little East Africa

LITTLE ETHNIC TOWNS IN TORONTO

18.

REUNIFICATION WITH A STRANGER

CONTENT

Newcomer stories 07.

SHESPEAKS HER STORY 10.

THE FIRST-TIME VOTER 14.

UNVEILING THE NIQAB

Zannalyn Robest wasn’t expecting such a hard time coping with her stepfather when she came to Canada to live with her mother.

THE 28. BREAK TABOO

Settlingsin HER BATTLE WITH RACISM FROM TRINIDAD TO TORONTO THE BALANCING ACT

34.

38.

40.

Naeem is a young entrepreneur with a henna tattoo business.

24.

Starting a business is already a difficult task for Canadian-born citizens, but it’s even harder for newcomers. Financial and networking challenges are two of the biggest issues immigrant women face. Read how Parisa Naeem, 15, overcomes them all.

WELCOME

THE IMMIGRANT WOMAN , The Immigrant Woman is a magazine based in Toronto, Canada that focuses on the lives of female immigrants in Canada. Our team hopes to help our readers explore what it means to be a female immigrant in the context of being a wife, a mother and a career woman. In other words, our magazine aims to connect Canadians and newcomers in the context of women’s issues.

In 2006, Statistics Canada estimated that there were 3.2 million immigrant women living in Canada, making up 20 per cent of the country’s total female population. These women come from over 220 countries, looking for a different life in Canada. For being a such a large and important part of this country’s population, newcomer women and their particular issues get very little time under the spotlight. The Immigrant Woman celebrates this diversity through a different lens.

To our readers A very special thanks to our readers for supporting us - and by extension, the immigrant women featured in this magazine and the unique issues they face. By reading these stories, you are giving them the opportunity to speak at a time and place where they are often forgotten or dismissed. At the same time, you are acknowledging their success and perseverance in a new country they now call home. Our team at The Immigrant Woman hopes these women can speak proudly and confidently through us.

Besides support, we hope you will better understand the challenges faced by immigrant women in Canada. We also hope that by reading these stories, you can approach certain topics with a more open mind and try to empathize that different groups view and tackle subjects in ways that may seem typical in Canadian society.

OUR TEAM KELSEY CHENG ◆ KEI LAM ◆ DENICE RAAGAS Ph

oto

SPECIAL THANKS

by Ke i

La

m

We would like to express our gratitude to our managing editor Lindy Oughtred for overseeing the birth, progress and completion of our magazine. We’d like to thank her for having faith in our idea and sticking by us. To our documentary editor, Tammy Thu Nhi Khuc, thank you for helping us successfully complete the final mini-documentary.

And to all our gatekeepers: Khalid Magram - publisher and editor-in-chief at Msimulizi - The Storyteller, Stephanie Zeng - communications coordinator at Newcomer Women’s Services Toronto, and Natasha Fatah - international affairs reporter at CBC.

The Immigrant Woman @magazineTIW theimmigrantwoman

SOCIAL MEDIA VECTORS / DREAMSTALE

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IN THE NEWS

As refugees flee from ISIS in war-torn Syria, North America has chosen to welcome them with open arms. The Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, announced that Canada would be accommodating 25,000 Syrian refugees by December 2015. In the past few months, the government has been preparing for accommodations to help provide support for accompanied men, women and children.

According to the Government of Canada, 2,600 privately sponsored Syrian refugees will be settling in Toronto. So far, over 300 refugees are settled in Canada.

Refugee Welcome Party: Wed. Dec. 9, 2015 at Toronto Pearson Airport

DID YOU KNOW? In Canada, 3.5 million immigrant women come from over

220 countries IMMIGRANT WOMEN

1 5 in

04

| THE IMMIGRANT WOMAN

women are born outside of Canada

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS DEMONSTRATION (46) & (47) / PHILIPPE LEROYER • THE FUTURE OF SYRIA / UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES

CURRENT EVENTS

WEB CONTENT

MINI DOCUMENTARY

Duaa Saber is from Sudan and is born and raised in Saudi Arabia. She moved to Canada in 2013. She wears the niqab and claims that her religion is misunderstood. This documentary portrays various perceptions of the veil, giving a glimpse on what it means to be an immigrant woman wearing a niqab.

Visit www.theimmigrantwoman.wordpress.com to see the controversy unveil.

Farzana Hassan Toronto Sun columnist ➢ Supports the Niqab ban

Elif Nur International student ➢ Against the Niqab ban

Aslihan Arikan First-generation immigrant ➢ Against the Niqab ban

UPCOMING NEWCOMER EVENTS

8 DEC. 2015 ➢ INFORMATION FAIR FOR SPONSORS OF SYRIAN REFUGEES

by NEWCOMER OFFICE LOCATION: 100 Queen Street West 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

10 DEC. 2015 ➢ SMART SERVE CERTIFICATION by NEWCOMER WOMEN’S SERVICES TORONTO LOCATION: 745 Danforth Avenue 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

➢ ENHANCED LANGUAGE TRAINING PROGRAM by COSTI IMMIGRANT SERVICES LOCATION: 10 Gillingham Drive, Suite 109A 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

18 DEC. 2015 ➢ CELEBRATING CANADIAN HOLIDAYS by OFFICE OF REFUGEES, ARCHDIOCESE OF TORONTO (ORAT) LOCATION: 371 Old Kingston Road, Unit 7 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

SPRITTIBEE BLISS13 NEWCOMER15 / BLISSDOM

17 DEC. 2015

SHESPEAKS

HER STORY Giving opportunities and a voice to newcomer women.

Seated alone to find at a table at solutions to the far side of the issues Text and photo by Kei Lam the conference they face. room, Suely The forum Anunciacao allows tapped away at immigrant her phone as she waited for the SheSpeaks event to women to hear stories from and network with sucstart. It was her first time attending and in her eagercessful businesswomen and other attendees. ness to meet and hear from the speakers and other Several others entered the room, but the growing attendees, she had arrived early. audience remained mostly quiet. They were too shy SheSpeaks is an annual conference hosted by the to approach other attendees - that is, until the bingo Newcomer Women’s Services Toronto. It aims to game began. empower immigrant women and encourage them The room erupted with activity as attendees raced

to complete their playing cards. The conference had temporarily turned into a fierce tournament.

“I’m left-handed,” one woman announced. Left-handedness was on one of the card squares.

In the end, Anunciacao won the game. She was awarded a ceramic mug and a pastry treat.

But she wasn’t just here for the fun and games or the prizes. Anunciacao said she hoped to retell the stories that were shared at SheSpeaks to encourage other women to be the best at what they do.

This was a thought shared by many at the conference.

Platforms like SheSpeaks provide judgement-free environments that allow community members and immigrant women - who are sometimes embarrassed by their lack of proficiency in English or are bogged down by stereotypes to inspire one another.

Besides hosting SheSpeaks, Newcomer Women’s Ser-

vices Toronto runs services such as networking sessions and adjustment classes that teach newcomers seemingly simple things like bingo or where to buy transit tokens.

Among the eight guest speakers present at the October event was Umi Ali, founder of MogulMom and its sister company ZodiacScrubs. The two companies provide entrepreneurial opportunities for women over the age of 30.

Things weren’t always smooth-sailing for Ali. With only 45 cents in her bank account, she scrambled to launch her businesses earlier this year.

In her panicked state, she thought back to why she wanted to start a business.

“I didn’t want to be a statistic,” she said.

As a young mother and businesswoman, she told the audience she wanted to “make change” and to “get out of the situation” she was in and help other women who were in the same position as her.

Conference MC and guest speaker Itah Sadu telling attendees about her own experiences as a newcomer to Canada and how she succeeded in the country.

08

| THE IMMIGRANT WOMAN

Taking control of their lives, change and self-betterment couraging my journey was…I was able to overcome everywere recurrent themes at the conference. thing that got in my way. It made me realize how much I Many of the staff at Newcomer Women’s Services Towanted things to change.” ronto also come from humble beginnings. Florencia Leston, This was what the SheSpeaks conference provided: an manager of operations of employment services at the orgaopportunity for immigrant women to receive recognition nization, immigrated to Canada from Argentina in 2004. and to voice their thoughts, and for attendees to share what At the time, she rarely left the home due to her pregnancy they learn from it. and difficulties communicating in English. Her self-esteem Stephanie Zeng, communications coordinator of Newdropped. comer Women’s Services ToIt took her months to decide ronto, said SheSpeaks took to step out of her comfort zone inspiration from the popular - first finding volunteer work TED conferences. She added at Black Creek Pioneer Village that although there were TED in Toronto. She improved her Talks specifically catered to language skills after working women, the format of them for five months at the heritage did not allow for open dialogue site. among immigrant women to “I felt like someone else. I share their stories of struggle was able to build confidence and success. and friendships,” Leston said.

Nadia Sayeh, a conference “It was the best feeling ever.” attendee and president of ANHer loneliness returned after NISAA - a Muslim women-foher daughter, 4, started junior cused empowerment group kindergarten. This prompted - acknowledged that organiza- Florencia Leston Leston to briefly return to Artions like Newcomer Women’s gentina.

Services Toronto and confer“What do you want to do?” ences like SheSpeaks were imher mother had asked when she visited. portant to the community.

Her family had left her bedroom untouched in hopes of “I saw other women struggling with findher coming back. ing mentorship,” Sayeh “(It was) then I realized…the only one setting those limits said. “(We need platwas me,” she said. “I had to do something about it.” forms like these) Leston said she was in a very dark place at the time after where women can separating from her husband and losing her job. But those be exposed to or to hurdles taught her self-improvement and got her “where she share their ideas is right now.” without be“Every transition was hard because there were new chaling stereolenges,” she said. “I love the fact that as difficult and distyped.” ◆

‘The only one setting those limits was me.’

SheSpeaks guest speaker Renatta Austin. Austin is a lawyer and government relations advisor in Toronto.

‘I DO HAVE A VOICE. I BELONG HERE.’ Text and photo by Kelsey Cheng

First-time voter Milica Dodic speaks about her voting experience at the federal election.

O

ct. 19, 2015 was a special day for Brenda Chung. Putting her red Canadian hat on and holding two extra identification documents, she walked to the polling station in her condo building, beaming. It was Chung’s first time voting at the federal elections since she became a Canadian citizen last July.

In fact, it was her first time voting, ever.

“I’ve never seen a ballot before so I have to ask for a sample to look at,” said Chung, 37. “The lady (working there) informed me to check the candidate I am voting for with the pencil, then asked me to place my ballot into the box.”

To many female immigrants like Chung, having the right to vote defines the meaning of a “true Canadian.” To become a Canadian citizen, a person must have lived as a permanent resident for at least four out of the six years prior to application. Chung has lived in Canada for nearly 10 years.

“I feel so proud to be a real Canadian,” she said.

“I think it’s a powerful thing to be able to voice your opinion. As a new Canadian, this is the least I can do for the place I now call home.”

Many people, like Chung, did not vote in their country of origin. She was born in Hong Kong, but citizens there were only allowed to vote for legislative and district council. The chief executive of the city is off-limits. To this day, all attempts to bring democratic discussions on universal suffrage were rejected

by China.

Joanna Chan, 50, also immigrated to Canada from Hong Kong five years ago, becoming a citizen last year.

First time voter Brenda Chung holds up her voters’ information card at the polling station of her condo building. Chung got her Canadian citizenship last summer.

Oct. 19 was a memorable day for her as well since she too voted for the first time.

“Many people in Hong Kong don’t have that privilege,” she said. “I am very proud to be a Canadian and to have the right to choose what kind of government for the country.”

To this day, women in Vatican City do not have the right to vote. Women in Saudi Arabia were just recently given the right to vote since August this year. In Lebanon, women are eligible to vote, but only with proof of elementary education - men are not required of the same. According to The Canadian Encyclopedia, wom en were considered property in the past and did not have the right to vote until 1917 in Ontario. Even then, aboriginal and Asian women were not allowed to vote until late 1940s.

Danielle S. McLaughlin is the director of education at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. She believes votes from women immigrants are very important.

“To feel as a participant is crucial,” she said, “because if women immigrants see themselves as part of the process, they may feel more empowered to do other things that are citizenship-related - for example, to speak up when the government they voted for did not deliver. That way, things get done.”

Contrary to many Canadian families who make it tradition to vote for the same party over the years, McLaughlin believes newcomers can make an objective decision.

“As a newcomer, you’re not bound by that,” she said.

“You can choose whomever to vote based on your own personal values. It is an amazing opportunity to make a truly independent choice.”

She emphasized that the more women immigrants are involved, the more representative the election process is, which is key to the democratic system.

Newly elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it was time to have a cabinet that “looks like Canada.”

Half of the appointed ministers are women, including Maryam Monsef as Minister of Democratic Institutions who is from Afghanistan.

“That’s the process – first you vote, then you run for office,” McLaughlin said.

Milica Dodic, 25, fled with her family from a civil war in Serbia to Canada in 1999. She got her citizenship in 2003, but decided not to vote in the last federal election. This time, she felt ready to vote for the first time. From the party campaigns to post-elections, Dodic was keeping up with all of it.

“The ladies at the polling station were all congratulating me,” she said. “It’s the whole process that, for some reason, made voting seem so important and liberating at the same time.”

Dodic initially thought her single vote wouldn’t matter to the election. But the voting experience changed her mind.

“When you finally step inside the polling station, something comes over you,” she said. “And you realize, ‘I do have a voice; I belong here.’” ◆

First time voter Joanna Chan talks about her first time voring experience at the federal election. She received her citizenship the summer of 2014.

Unveiling the Niqab Text and photo by Denice Raagas

D

uaa Saber, 20, was covered with a deep blue veil, showing only her eyes. As she lifted the bridge of her glasses, she glanced up. Her eyes were filled with mystery. Saber considers the niqab to be a symbol of her identity – a Muslim immigrant woman. According to Middle Eastern cultures, the niqab is a symbol of modesty. But in Western cultures, the niqab is a form of oppression.

Duaa is from a family of six and lives in Toronto. She started wearing the niqab three years ago. Originally from Sudan, she was born and raised in Saudi Arabia. After moving to various countries throughout her childhood, Duaa decided to immigrate to Canada to study. When asked why she wears the veil, she said it’s for religious reasons.

There are two main types of veils worn by Muslim women in Canada - the hijab and the niqab. The hijab is a veil that is wrapped around the head, covering the hair and showing the face, while the niqab is a veil that covers both the head and the lower half of the face, revealing only the eyes of the woman.

Government polls say that 83 per cent of Canadians want Muslim women who are trying to become citizens to remove their niqab during the oath-taking ceremony. During the federal elections, a heated niqab debate took place after former prime minister Stephen Harper made a comment about the niqab, saying that he would never let his daughter wear the veil.

While most Muslims were offended, Saber felt otherwise.

That’s because she believes that people don’t ask or try to understand the reason why she wears it.

“They should understand that we are not oppressed,” she said.

Saber agreed that there is a small number of women who are indeed oppressed. However, she made it clear that it is a personal choice for her to wear the veil.

Award-winning journalist Barbara Kay, who works for the National Post, firmly believes that the niqab should be banned.

In her article, “Ten reasons to ban the niqab,” Kay said it is a form of oppression, for studies show that men would control female counterparts by making them wear the veil. According to Kay, the niqab is also an aggressive social statement with harsh implications to those not wearing it. She said the veil implies that people who don’t wear it can’t be trusted.

“They don’t have the right to disappear socially,” Kay said. “It creates a message of distrust.”

She added that the niqab is “offensive” for those who don’t wear it because it implies that the person who is not wearing the niqab is immodest.

When Saber was asked if she thought others were immodest, she simply said that everybody is free to choose what they prefer 16

| THE IMMIGRANT WOMAN

to wear. She said that as someone who wears the niqab, she personally doesn’t judge. Therefore, people have no right to judge those wearing the niqab either.

Elif Nur, 20, is also a Muslim and a friend of Saber. Instead of a niqab, she wears the hijab. Originally from Turkey, she moved to Toronto in September of this year. She also wears the hijab for religious reasons, saying that it is an expression of her identity as a Muslim.

“I feel like me,” Nur said. “I feel so free.”

Mohammad Fadel, an expert and a professor from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, said women wear the niqab and hijab for various reasons. These include cultural and religious reasons. Fadel also added that it is enforced by the Taliban and is a tool used for political reasons. Although it is reinforced in Middle Eastern societies, there is no written law that states that women should wear the niqab.

“There is nothing explicit in the Qur’an,” Fadel said. “However, women are encouraged to dress in a non-provocative way.

These values have turned to rules on how one should dress outside the house.”

Fadel said women shouldn’t be forced and must have the right to choose what to wear in Canada.

He noted that there are lots of things women wear that are inappropriate in the eyes of society. According to him, it is all a matter of perspective.

“Why is the niqab any different than any kind of inappropriate dress that people perceive as inappropriate?” Fadel said. “These aren’t any grounds for the state to intervene.”

Saber said she only wears the niqab outside her home. Her reason for wearing it is primarily to establish a good relationship with her God. She and her friend Nur said it is a representation of their Muslim culture. Saber took her oath of citizenship and was happy to be Canadian.

Since Canada is multicultural, both immigrant women believe that their preference in attire should be respected.

“I already showed my identity before the oath,” Saber said. “I feel like I don’t have to show it after.”

Saber said if it is necessary for her to remove the veil, she will do it. She claims that she would do the same thing in Saudi Arabia if her identity needed to be confirmed. What Saber appreciated most about Canada is its multiculturalism. Instead of feeling offended by the former prime minister’s comment, she thanks him for caring about them feeling oppressed. Saber and Nur said that wearing the veil is meaningful to them because it represents who they are.

“This is my identity as a Muslim,” Saber said. “But I consider myself Canadian.” ◆

Elif Nur considers wearing the hijab her identity. She recently arrived in Toronto to study university.

REUNIFICATION

WITH A STRANG Text and photo by Kelsey Cheng

N

GER

Zannalyn Robest wasn’t expecting such a hard time coping with her stepfather when she came to Canada to live with her mother.

W

hen 10-year-old Sharlene Pompey finally received her mother’s immigrant sponsorship to come to Canada from St. Lucia in 1992, she dreamed of Christmas with her new family and all the things they would do together.

It turned out to be a dream that never came true.

During the six years they were separated, Pompey’s mother met a man in Ottawa who would later become her stepfather.

“Except he was never a father to us at all,” said Pompey, 34.

According to her, he resented her and her younger brother because they took their mother’s attention away from him when they arrived. He never cared for them. Christmas and birthday gifts didn’t happen.

Every Sunday during her teenage years in Canada, Pompey would watch her mother, stepfather and two stepsiblings get in the family car and leave the house for their weekly family adventures. She and her little brother were never allowed to come along.

They were told “there’s no room in the car.”

For Pompey and many others like her, the reunification process for children joining their families in

Canada after long periods of separation isn’t always smooth. Unrealistic expectations, culture shock and new family members and structures are among the many issues children face when they’re reunited with their family.

Looking at families of Caribbean and Filipino adolescent immigrants in Montreal, a study conducted by the Montreal Children’s Hospital in 2009 concluded the reorganization of families post-migration in Canada is more difficult for young newcomers to adjust to, rather than the separation itself.

In Pompey’s case, having to cope with her new stepfather was never part of her expectations. However, she got through this difficult time with friends who had similar experiences in the Boys and Girls Club that provides before and afterschool programs for youth.

“I would walk to the club every day and spend a lot of time there,” Pompey said. “They made me feel I was part of something.”

Others are less fortunate.

Melonie Biddersingh came to Canada in 1991 when she was 13. She arrived with two brothers to reunite with her father Everton and his new wife Elaine Biddersingh.

Nicole Watson is the face behind the City of Toronto Newcomer Office. She is part of a work group that supports family reunifications in Canada.

‘Except he was never a father to us at all.’

- Sharlene Pompey

Twenty-one years later on Oct. 28, 2015, an Ontario Superior Court Justice and a grand jury heard the trial of Melonie’s murder.

The accused were her own father and stepmother, both charged with first-degree murder. As prosecutor Anna Tenhouse described it, Melonie was “treated like a slave.” She was made to use buckets as toilets on the apartment balcony, forced to sell drugs for her father and never enrolled in school.

On Sept. 1, 1994, her remains were found inside a suitcase that was left burning in an industrial area in Vaughn.

She was 17 years old.

Stories like this are what motivate Nicole Watson in her work. She is a community development officer at the City of Toronto Newcomer Office and part of the Welfare of Children Immigrant work group, where she meets federal and provincial representatives on how to provide more support to families and make the process of child reunification less onerous.

“Coming out of the Melonie Biddersingh tragedy, we wanted to make sure that never happens again,” Watson said. “We want children coming to Canada ensured a safe and successful reunion.”

According to her, most newly reunited families experience breakdowns due to a lack of social support systems from the city and false expectations of each another.

“When they were separated, both parents and children have a very idealistic version of each other and what it would be like to reunite with each other,” Watson said.

“However, sometimes there will be new family structures integrated and the mother may have remarried. There may be additional siblings in Canada, so it can be a struggle on both ends.”

Zannalyn Robest, 32, was also expecting a happy reunion with her mother after a five-year separation as she stepped off the plane from St. Lucia to Canada in 1993.

Having her mother back in her life was easy, but Robest did not get along with her stepfather during the four years they lived together.

“He was a stranger to me,” she said. “It was a difficult time – I loved my mom, I loved my stepsister, but never liked him. As I got older, I hated him even more.”

Robest described it as one of the most defining negative experiences of moving to Canada. However, she didn’t let her feelings towards her stepdad dominate her life. She rebonded with her mother and found a way to make her life stay on track.

“I have this philosophy,” she said. “If one aspect of my life is going badly, I must not let everything else tumble and fall away. That was the time when my grades in school were the best.”

She also found comfort when she opened up to her aunt, Linda.

“It is a balancing act and you have to address it whenever you can,” Robest said. “Find someone who you can speak to and be an advocate for you. It’s nice to let it out in a healthy and constructive way. In the end, we are all human.” ◆

SYRIAN REFUGEE CRISIS

QUICK FACTS

72% of Syrian refugees are women and children Lifeline Syria will help 1,000 Syrian refugees to be settled in the GTA over the next two years Fewer than 1% of Syria’s refugees will ever get a chance to be resettled overseas Source: Lifeline Syria

Processing Wait Times IN MONTHS

25 Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

29 Accra, Gana 25 Nairobi, Kenya 27 Islamabad, Pakistan 28 New Delhi, India

52 Moscow, Russia Source: Citizenship and Immigration Canada

Starting from Zero Text and photo by Denice Raagas

S

tanding by a table near a window with a view of the Toronto skyline, Parisa Naeem, 15, was arranging her henna ink packets in a basket as people walked past her.

She was at the Immigrant Women’s Small Business Expo, which is an exhibition that allowed women with small businesses to network. Naeem was the youngest at the event. Around her was a pamper lounge, where women from various cultural backgrounds sold hair extensions, beauty products, services and more. Eager to start and maintain their businesses, each woman wanted to do something they were passionate about.

According to Statistics Canada, “Self-employment is an important source of labour market opportunities for immigrants.”

Statistics Canada said that, “by the end of the 2000s, 19 per cent of immigrant workers were self-employed, compared with 15 per cent of their Canadian-born counterparts.”

Born and raised Pakistan and Dubai, Naeem moved to Canada with her mother in 2010. After watching someone applying henna during her aunt’s wedding two years ago, Naeem fell in love with the art. At present, she has raised enough money to have a booth set up for her business. On her booth, there was a sign that read “Parisa’s Henna Art”. Another sign hung at the front of her booth, bordered with yellow and orange stars.

Dwania Peele, the founder of the event who immigrated to Canada when she was 18. She entered the pamper lounge and said “Hi” as she was walking to Naeem’s booth. When Peel lifted her hand, there were intricate swirls of henna ink just about to dry. As Naeem carefully cleaned the smudges on her customer’s hand, she smiled and said “Hello.”

Parisa Naeem , 15, started her own henna artist business.

Naeem arranges her henna packets for potenetial customers at the Immigrant Women’s Expo on Nov. 8, 2015.

Born and raised in Pakistan, Naeem first fell in love with the art two years ago after watching someone carefully applying ink onto hands and palms during her aunt’s wedding ceremony. Her mother, Tahiya-Tul Husna, urged her take courses on henna in Pakistan and encouraged her to attend events. Naeem was reluctant at firs. However, she is thankful that her mother pushed her. She opened her business two months ago, where her mother started booking more festivals and calling people for her services.

“I’m really proud of my mom,” she said. “I think that it would be very helpful and I’m going to be very successful in the future because of her.”

Husna said that it was hard sometimes as they were starting Naeem’s business in Canada due to the limited amount of money they had. They began taking small steps by printing out business cards. Next, she helped Naeem expand her network with the help of social media.

Husna spoke about her daughter’s skills and services to friends, family and other immigrants. She shared how Naeem would even choose to use her earnings to re-invest the business.

“She has a small box for money,” Husna said. “Whenever she earns from any event, she puts all that money on the same box.”

Naeem’s mother said having a good set of skills, networking and exposure is very important. Husna was business-minded, teaching her daughter to be the same. According to Peel, it was Naeem’s business and Husna was her guardian.

According to the founder of The Canadian Small Business Woman, Dwania Peele, a business is not easy to start – especially if one is not from an entrepreneurial household. It is a struggle for people to put up a business because it is also not easy to maintain.

She said that it is not easy, particularly immigrants due to their lack of resources.

“You need able to find the resources you need to start that business,” Peele said. “Some don’t even know that the simplest place is the library.”

Enterprise Toronto is a one-stop source to start and grow a small business. According to one of the business advisors, Sandi Koitsis-Zigomanis, they can help entrepreneurs make the right decisions during business start-ups.

“Challenges of newcomers are understanding the regulatory requirements each individual business requires.” Koitis-Zigomaniz said. “Language barriers and financial barriers also play a role.”

Educating business starters is important because it will help them understand the process and educate them on the services available. There are seminars, workshops, special events, referrals, and other organizations such as Connect Legal.

“Many newcomers don’t know that our services are free of charge,” Koitis-Zigomaniz said. “The don’t realize the magnitude of our resources available,” Free services offered by organizations that help start up small businesses includes: Business idea analysis and guidance, one-onone business plan consultation, personal assistance with business registration, name searches and incorporation, advice permits, licences and regulatory requirements, coaching for a range of business challenges, training and networking opportunities, and referrals to other business support services.

When asked why Naeem hasn’t established a business plan, Husna said that she is still too young. However, the business is slowly growing. ◆

Starting your small business

WHAT IS IT: Inspired Initiatives is an organization that supports and provides resources for youth that is interested in starting their own business. They host networking sessions, youth clubs and programs for newcomers.

WHAT IS IT: With three locations in Toronto, Enterprise Toronto’s small business advisors can help newcomers with business plan decisions and development, as well as training on management skills.

WHAT IS IT: Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office of Toronto is a community group that assists newcomer women in their home-based business knowledge and entrepreneurial skills. They also microlend startup funds.

For more information, visit www.thorncliffe.org

WOMEN IN BUSINESS, TECHED 2014 / IGNITE NEW ZEALAND

UPCOMING EVENT: Business Plan Boot Camp Tuesday, Dec. 8 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

100 Queen St. W., 2nd Floor, Committee Room 4

S

ometimes her sadness lasted for days, sometimes for weeks.

For a long time Jiemin Lin, a 21-yearold artist and student from Toronto, didn’t understand why she was always confused and unhappy. She would even occasionally get headaches with no apparent cause.

It wasn’t until she spoke to her high school teacher about it that she considered any chance of her having a mental illness.

“Normal sadness should go away, but this didn’t go away,” Lin said. “Sometimes I didn’t even feel anything. I felt empty, like something was missing inside of me.”

According to the Public Health Agency of

00 | THE IMMIGRANT WOMAN

BREAK THE TABOO

MENTAL ILLNESS Text and photo by Kei Lam Cover photo by Fotolia

MENTAL HEALTH

‘The word depression is like a bad word.’

Canada, some common symptoms of depression are depressed mood; feelings of guilt, worthlessness, helplessness or hopelessness; loss of interest or pleasure in usually enjoyed activities; and decreased energy or fatigue - all of which Lin experienced throughout her struggle with her mental illness.

It was a subject she seldom talked about with other people, but after months of silent distress, Lin finally told her parents.

As a second-generation immigrant, Lin had an idea of how they would react and she was right - when she suggested the possibility of her suffering from depression, instead of support, her parents yelled at her.

“In Chinese culture, the word

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depression is like a bad word.

When people hear that you have depression they think that you’re suicidal, but that’s not it,” she said.

They dismissed her when she tried to explain it.

But Lin brought up the subject again this year. Frustrated by their daughter’s persistence, Lin’s parents took her to their family doctor to appease her and confirm the belief that she was “only going through a phase.”

What Lin didn’t expect was for her doctor to also deny the possibility of a mental illness.

“My doctor didn’t help because when I talked to him he said, ‘That’s normal. When I was in university I was going through the same thing. I was so

stressed out,’” she said.

After the appointment, Lin’s parents were convinced she didn’t have depression.

Jessica Dere, a University of Toronto professor who specializes in cultural-clinical psychology - an area of study that explores the relationship between mental health and culture - said people often forget doctors are also affected by their own cultural backgrounds.

“There’s also a culture that surrounds certain professions such as the culture of medicine, psychiatry, psychology… any profession has been trained within a certain model,” she said. “So a psychologist in North America would learn different theories - combined with their own backgrounds - that would affect how they perceive mental illness.”

Hong Fook Mental Health Association, an organization that provides mental health-related services and resources to the Asian community in Toronto, also recognizes the stigma and ignorance that exist among healthcare professionals.

Bonnie Wong, executive director at Hong Fook, said she’s not surprised by Lin’s experience because older practitioners “may not have as much comprehensive training on mental illnesses and their exposure to them is limited.”

Hong Fook has tried to raise awareness within the medical community through hosting events such as doctors’ dinners

where practitioners are invited to learn and engage in mental health dialogue.

“We invite psychiatrists (to the dinner) to do presentations so the doctors can become more aware of mental health and illnesses,” Wong said.

A 2012 review published by the Canadian Mental Health Association recognized that the media also influenced the perception of mental illnesses. Negative portrayals led people to negatively view mental illnesses and likewise, positive portrayals led to agreeable opinions.

By extension, representation (of immigrants and visible minorities) - or rather lack of representation - also affects the public’s opinion of mental

illnesses and of those who suffer from them.

Lin agrees that sometimes people (like doctors) forget immigrants and visible minorities also suffer from mental illnesses due to the lack of representation in mainstream media.

When they do decide to seek professional help, immigrants and minorities can sometimes be bogged down by the “healthy immigrant effect.” It is a phenomenon where immigrants are generally both physically and mentally healthier than Canadian-born citizens.

Although the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) reported lower rates of depression in first-generation immigrants, the rates increase

in second-generation immigrants. Dere said the effect also “decreases over time,” meaning those who have lived in Canada longer report similar rates of depression as native-born Canadians.

Both doctors and patients can be influenced by the healthy immigrant effect, but Dere understands other factors, such as cultural ones, also play an important role in how often mental illnesses are recognized and reported.

“When we consider mental illness…what is considered a problem can vary based on your norms. What you might pay attention to (as indications of a mental illness) can also vary,” she said. “Let’s say you are

Untitled artworks depicting Jiemn Lin’s experience with depression.

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her feelings after Lin constantly tried to talk about it.

Sinthuja Krishnamoorthy is a Newcomer Youth Program coordinator at East Metro Youth Services (EMYS), a youth-oriented mental health and addictions centre located in Scarbor-

They can receive counselling without a health card or appointment. However, for those who do want family involvement, EMYS has services that provide the educational material and facilitate discussions between family members.

Although there are facilities available in the city, both Wong and Krishnamoorthy think there are not enough - that there need to be more mental health services for immigrant youth, women and minorities.

But before that, Lin believes the most important thing is to reduce the stigma against mental illnesses by exposing more people to the issue, so they can recognize and accept A close-up of Lin’s untitled artwork. the symptoms and seek help.

“People shouldn’t be ough. She said the young people afraid to talk about (mental she works with don’t want their illnesses). They’re normal,” Lin families involved and the EMYS said. “Sometimes it feels like I’m has services that cater to this dealing with it every day, but specification, like the ‘what’s up’ it gets better. You have to talk walk-in clinic. about it.” ◆

SPRITTIBEE BLISS13 NEWCOMER15 / BLISSDOM

feeling some form of distress.

What are the words you use to describe it?”

And this - the language barrier between her and her parents - was one of the biggest obstacles Lin encountered.

“I can’t translate correctly and I can’t say it in English to them because they don’t know what it means,” she said. “I try to explain it to them (in English) and they get upset because in English it means something, but in Chinese it could mean something entirely different.”

Other times her parents’ stubbornness halted their conversations about mental health.

“I want to educate them, but they’re not willing to accept it,” Lin said. “Especially my dad, who’s very patriarchal…his thoughts are very traditional.”

On the other hand, she has noticed her mom being less hostile towards her mental illness and is acknowledging

Want to talk about it?

‘WHAT’S UP’ WALK-IN CLINIC 416-438-3697 1200 Markham Road, Suite 200 Scarborough, Ontario

HONG FOOK MENTAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION 416-640-1934 or 416-493-4242 WWW.HONGFOOK.CA

ASSAULTED WOMEN’S HELP LINE 1-866-863-0511 1-866-863-7868

LGBT YOUTHLINE

A SAD MOMENT / WASFI AKAB

1-800-268-9688 TEXT // 647-694-4275 WWW.YOUTHLINE.CA

Her battle with

RACISM Text and photo

by Kelsey Cheng

I

tah Sadu was walking by the Ontario Science Centre with her best friend, who was from India, when four or five white males drove by in a car, rolled down the window and yelled the P-word at them.

“It was a profound moment for me,” she recalled. “Just like that, we were placed into a different group. It was a rude awakening.”

Sadu was born in Scarborough and received her education in the Barbados. She returned to Canada in the early ’70s, but racialization in the labour market made life difficult. She wasn’t alone. According to Statistics Canada, black women who are second-generation immigrants had an unemployment rate of 9.3 per cent in 2006, the highest among all races.

In the mid ’70s, she applied for a leadership role at a senior centre in Don Mills and was called in for an interview.

Everything was going well until the interviewer said to her at the end, “We’ve got a problem. I don’t even know how to tell you.”

He said they could hire her, but they could not advance her.

“It takes your breath away and there is no language to describe this ugly thing,” Sadu said. “I stood up, thanked him, and left.”

‘It takes your breath away and there is no language to describe this ugly thing.’

- Itah Sadu

Being discriminated against never held her back, though. In fact, it made her stronger.

Now an accomplished children’s author and a community leader in Canada, Sadu co-owns, with her husband, an independent bookstore called A Different Booklist on Bathurst Street in Toronto. Her books include Name Calling, Please Clean Up Your Room and Christopher Changes His Name.

Looking back at her bittersweet journey, Sadu thanked her mother, Gloria Walcott, for her persistence in building their new life in Canada.

Walcott was among the first wave of women immigrants to arrive as domestics in Toronto from Barbados in 1956.

She, like Sadu, also faced racism in the course of her career and at one point, was not allowed to join the union at OHIP (Ontario Health Insurance Plan), where she worked.

“As women, we are marginalized in so many areas of our life, we become more creative in how we handle it (racism), and we become even more determined to resist,” Sadu said.

She also advocates for equal race relations.

She is also the founding member of several movements, including the Underground Freedom Ride in celebration of Emancipation Day, the Black Book Affair and the Caribbean-Canadian Literacy Expo.

She was presented with the African Canadian Achievement Awards for Excellence in Community Service last year.

In fact, Sadu met her husband, Miguel San

Vicente, at one of the events she spoke at in March of 1993. It was the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

“I was impressed by her ability to communicate,” San Vicente said of the day he met his future wife. “It’s part of her nature – very passionate, very sincere, very people-oriented.”

Sadu was the MC at the SheSpeaks Conference at Ryerson University on Oct. 3. Her effect on the audience was profound.

Among the listeners was Jennifer Lynn, who is an old friend of Sadu’s. Lynn is also an advocate for equal rights for female employment.

“I came to the conference for Itah,” she said. “The chance to bring women together to share stories is something we cannot have enough of.”

Her most memorable encounter with Sadu was in 2006 at the inaugural Literary Expo.

“What I remember the most was how we brought people together from the Caribbean who were unrecognized, but who were equally as powerful in word and voice,” she said.

“We’ve journeyed together many times after that.”

To her fellow newcomers, Sadu asked them to live in the present and not to treat their past as a debt.

“The entire city of Toronto is yours,” she said. “And you are to challenge yourself and push yourself to engage in everything that is happening. Because, we are not here to survive; we are here to live.” ◆

Itah Sadu’s husband, Miguel San Vicente, at their independent bookstore, A Different Booklist, on Bathurst Street in Toronto.

from

TRINIDAD to

TORONTO Text and photo by Denice Raagas

Z

aida Daniel, 52, works for a financial transfer agency on Bay Street in Toronto. She’s the director of operations and supervises a staff of 31. She’s also an immigrant from Trinidad who has no post-secondary education.

How did she do it? By being patient and maintaining a positive attitude.

When she was 19, Daniel started working at Solo Beverages, a soft drink manufacturing company in Trinidad, where she was in charge of payments, shipments to different Caribbean countries and approvals from suppliers. She believes she was hired because she loved taking on different tasks and had a good work ethic.

“I am a loyal employee,” Daniel said. “I take ownership of the tasks and see them through to completion.”

After years of hard work, Daniel immigrated to Canada with her ex-husband on July 7, 1989. Since she did not attend college back home, she planned to attend a post-secondary institution. After two weeks in Toronto, however, she landed a job through a temp agency. It was a one-week contract and she was assigned to stand in front of a photocopier. Her job was to make 200 copies of procedure manuals. From being the person in charge back in Trinidad, she ended up accepting the job as a clerk here in Canada. To Daniel, that was a shift.

According to Statistics Canada, in 2006, 40 per cent of immigrant women, like Daniel, held jobs as retail sales clerks, truck drivers and office clerks, despite having a university degree from their country of origin. Their research shows there is a low rate of credential recognition in the Canadian labour market. Immigrants are often unemployed because of their visible minority status, country of origin, and level of schooling, according to the organization.

Vappu Tysska, an immigration policy expert and program director of the Immigration and Settlement Department at Ryerson University, said that even if women try to learn certain skills, racism and stereotypes in the workplace still exist today.

“Even those who have language skills are discriminated

against in the workplace and in society at large,” Tyyska said.

Fortunately, Daniel did not experience such discrimination.

She was able to acquire a full-time position at CIBC Mellon.

In April 2000, she was asked to set up the Bare Trust department. The department was under an audit at that time and everyone left.

“I was handed the entire department in a box,” she said.

It took Daniel nearly 18 months to put the department together by completing the audit and establishing further operating procedures. The opportunity opened many doors for her to travel and meet clients.

By October 2001, Daniel’s department was operating under the proper procedures she had created. She was invited to present to CIBC Mellon executives on her work.

The room was filled with eight men and one woman.

During the presentation, the chief operating officer (COO) asked her to report on her client visits and she responded with her gut feeling. The meeting lasted for two hours.

The COO stood up and had to leave in the middle of the presentation. When he left, he gave her a pat on the back and told her she did a good job.

“That was very comforting,” Daniel said.

Daniel is currently the director of operations at CST Trust Company, a financial transfer agency. Megan Young, 29, has worked with Daniel for almost three years. According to Young, Daniel is accommodating, incredibly tolerant, and very knowledgeable.

“Zaida is an incredibly self-driven individual,” Young said.

“She would work her way up from the bottom to find the solution and that is admirable to me.”

Daniel’s story is one many women immigrants that came to Canada with knowledge and skills in pursuit of a better life.

According to Daniel, it wasn’t always easy. In her case, being patient and keeping a positive attitude is key.

“I would listen to people,” she said. “Creating more ways (to solve things) never bothers me. I am a dedicated employee and I am always looking for ways to mitigate risk. Nonetheless, my current job isn’t what I expected when I immigrated to Canada.” ◆

Zaida Daniel is now a director of operations at a financial agency in Toronto. She came to Canada from Trinidad in 1989.

THE

BALANCING

ACT

STORIES OF MIXED-RACED IMMIGRANT WOMEN LIVING IN CANADA Text and photos by Kei Lam

D

espite having spent Chinese New Year and other cultural holidays like any other full-blooded Chinese families and knowing how to speak some Hakka, Taylor Barrett - a mixed-race second generation immigrant - said it is still difficult for her to identify herself as a Chinese Canadian because of her Caucasian half.

“It’s a really difficult question because I personally identify myself as a person of colour, but I never publicly identify myself as that because my ethnicity is very questionable,” she said.

It’s sort of like soul-searching, but instead of the thoughtful self-analyses of her beliefs and behaviours, it’s a search for her identity.

Trying to define oneself is difficult and for those who are mixed-race, whose identities are never a constant, the task is even more challenging.

Barrett’s mother is a Jamaican woman of Chinese descent who immigrated to Canada when she was 10 years old. Her father is a white Canadian whose ancestors were from Newfoundland before its union with the Canadian

‘inauthentic’. There’s so much I don’t know and there’s so much I wish I knew more.”

This concern was also echoed by Emily Pacheco, a 21-year-old third-generation immigrant, who is currently studying English in Toronto.

Pacheco’s worry isn’t unfounded as the likelihood of acculturation - where one cultural group adopts the beliefs and lifestyle of another - of immigrants is high.

“I almost didn’t identify with my Japanese side at all,” she said Both of her parents were born in Canada. Her mother is Japanese-Canadian and her father is Portuguese-Canadian. Both her parents were raised in a very “Canadian way,” she said, and neither of them have a strong grasp of their native languages because her grandparents chose to only speak in English with them.

A 2007 study conducted by the University of Western Ontario found that an immigrant’s sense of belonging grows and she is more likely to identify with just “Canadian” the longer she has been in Canada.

Jean Golden is a sociology professor at Ryerson Univer-

‘I almost felt ashamed of myself.’

- Emily Pacheco Confederation in 1949.

Barrett said as a young mixed-race girl, she didn’t notice she was different because “it was just something she grew up with.”

“It wasn’t until elementary school did I realize I was different. It wasn’t just my ‘Asianess’ or ‘Chineseness’ - it was because I was biracial,” she said. “I was Asian enough for people to make Chinese jokes about me, but not Asian enough for people to call me Chinese to my face.”

She said that making sure she was “culturally educated” wasn’t something her parents really considered. As a result, they didn’t prepare her for the discrimination she would eventually face. “(My mother) never taught me how to deal with (discrimination)…It’s a struggle I still deal with today because there are a lot of instances where I question whether I could really call myself Chinese,” Barrett said. “I always worry about whether I’m going to be called out for being

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sity, whose research and teaching interests include biracial identity and diversity issues. She said that emphasis is placed on white Canadian identity because “we live in a society in which we have racial hierarchies.” Immigrant parents may want their children “westernized” so they can fit in.

“The dominant racial hierarchy is white…they’ll be seen as better,” Golden said.

The study’s results didn’t really apply to Pacheco - she never saw herself as just Canadian. She always identified as a Portuguese-Japanese Canadian.

As a young girl, it was difficult for Pacheco to balance the two cultures.

“Realizing that I haven’t been paying enough attention to the other half of me, I almost felt ashamed of myself, so I strove to become more in touch with my Japanese side.

Even now, I feel like I put a little bit more emphasis on my Japanese half because of that reason,” she said.

Pacheco’s shame only grew when she was singled out by a high school acquaintance for her mixed-race identity.

“She made a lot of passive-aggressive comments about my heritage. She’d say stuff like ‘well you’re not a real Japanese person’…she always did it in a way where she could pass it off as a joke, so I was afraid to say anything because I was worried that I would come off as taking it too seriously or being a downer, even though it hurt,” she said. “I think that’s always why I’m almost ashamed to not be as immersed in my Japanese side. I think it was the fact that I was mixed fueled her remarks.”

Pacheco’s experience is not uncommon among mixedrace women.

Mixed-race women who come from immigrant families still face discrimination - albeit, a form of it that is unique to their mixed-race identities - despite mixed-unions not being so much an anomaly now. According to the 2006 census, a little over seven per cent of Toronto marriages were interracial.

Stefanie Neves’ Portuguese background and white physical appearance also overshadowed her Asian identity. She had attended Chinese school on the weekends when she

was younger, but her teachers “would give her a different lesson plan because the other kids grew up with Cantonese”, unlike her.

“Even when we were in the same age group, we were at a different learning level and I was really frustrated by that because I knew I could do better,” she said.

To her Asian peers, she wasn’t Asian enough.

For Neves, whose mother is from the Azores Islands of Portugal and her father is part of the Chinese diaspora in Vietnam, her biraciality is “natural” and fluid - moving back and forth, and never identifying with just one.

Like Barrett and Pacheco, Neves never identified herself as strictly Canadian and had trouble pinpointing her identity during her younger years - and even now.

“When people ask about my background I always say I’m Portuguese and Asian. I never say ‘I’m Canadian, but my family is from Portugal and Vietnam,’” she said. “For a lot of my childhood I really identified with being Asian despite being (white-passing). Now being older, we spend a lot more time with my mom’s side of the family…I really identify with being Portuguese now, but I still like to incorporate Asian elements into everyday life.” ◆

Emily Pacheco is a mixed-race, Japanese and Portuguese, Canadian woman studying at the University of Toronto.

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PROFILES

Irma Parades Irma Parades is originally from South America. She moved to Canada in 1975 with her parents and six siblings. She and her family moved to Argentina earlier, after military coup in Chile in 1973. They were political refugees and Canada welcomed them. She is now working with Think and Grow Rich, helping women build their networks and dreams.

Mary Grace Mary Grace is a first-generation Canadian. She and her parents immigrated to Toronto from the Philippines during the 70s. She designed jewelry for herself and when people noticed her work, she started her business. Her father encouraged her to start her own business.

Serena Gonzalvez

Courtesy of Neighbourhood Legal Services

Serena Gonzalvez is a mixed-race Canadian - her mother is a Chinese-Indian woman from England and her father is a Portuguese-black man from Guyana - living in Toronto.

She said she was exposed to various cultures at a young age. She believes she was never picked on for her identity because Canada is a very diverse society.

Jennifer Stone Jennifer Stone (in red) is a executive committee member of the Canadian Council for Refugees and an immigration lawyer at a community legal aid clinic in Toronto. According to Stone, some of the reunification processes are hindered due to prolonged wait times from immigration offices. This is due to them being over burdened and under resourced.

THE IMMIGRANT WOMAN