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| Mariana and Alberto |
“Because of my work in Colombia, I have been threatened by extreme rightist and leftist groups ... as the press, we are between a war that is not ours.” Alberto speaks of his job in his native Colombia as a journalist, where he says that his job is to report the news. |
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| Sandy's story |
| Tuesday, 18 January 2011 10:37 |
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It was the winter of 1962 when Sandy came to Canada; he had little more than light weight Naval clothing, unprepared for the winter ahead. Before this, Sandy was a member of the Indian Navy studying electrical aviation in England. It was here he met his wife, Pat, only to be discharged from the Navy as marrying a foreign national was not allowed. When considering their options, Sandy did not want to go back to India because of the social structure and did not feel at home in England due to the hostility exhibited towards Indians. His wife saw an ad in the paper “Opportunities in Canada”. Sandy applied, and then received notice that the job was his if he could make it before 1962. Since then, he has never looked back. Getting to Canada was not easy as there was confusion around Sandy’s nationality. In the eyes of British immigration officers, Sandy was a British subject (as he was born in India under British colonial rule). This was not true in Canada – Sandy remembers them turning him away saying “sorry we don’t take people from India”. He and his wife persevered and went to another immigration office where they said “yes, you have a wife, you have a job – do the medical”.Sandy and his wife first settled in the Toronto area with $100.00 dollars in their pocket. The first thing they had to do was find housing. While at the grocery store, they saw a sign “basement apartment for rent” and moved in right away. They were there for 14 months at which point the landlord said they would have to leave; the neighbours were objecting to him living there. Sandy describes some of the special challenges he faced when he came to Canada. Within the first week here, his wife had a miscarriage. They did not have insurance and so they had to pay $69.00 from the $100.00 they came with (not including the $19.00 they had to pay in rent for the first week). Language was also a barrier for him; despite speaking English, he felt that he had to enunciate his words so that others could understand him. He also says that his children experienced discrimination in the school and says that his daughter recalls being beaten up with a copper pipe. After working in the greater Toronto area for 36 years, Sandy and his wife moved to Peterborough to retire. He has many things he considers achievements since arriving to Peterborough. He wanted to keep his mind active and so he went back to college and received another diploma. He also regularly volunteers at places such as the Peterborough Hospital and a school, tutoring math and english. Sandy concludes by saying: It is not easy to progress, but if one is willing to work hard and persevere, the sky is the limit. Sandy concludes by saying “ ... thus fulfills the dream of a typical poor immigrant!” Written by This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Caitlin worked at the New Canadians Centre as the Summer Student in 2010. After she returned to her studies at Trent, she undertook a project through the Trent Centre for Community-Based Education titled "Oral Histories of Immigrants in Peterborough". This story is one of many that she compiled for her project. |
