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Professional Development Day at Broadleaf

April and May 2012

Spring

Spring is in the Air at MAGMA

MAGMA-AMGM

From left to right, Tradina Meadows-

Forgeron, Managing Director , Claudine

Landry, Human Resources Coordinator,

Anahita Aslani Life Skills Coordinator and

Myriam Poncelet, , International Student

Settlement Coordinator

Friday, March 16th at Broadleaf Farm

The majority of the staff made the trek (via

school bus) to Broadleaf Farms for a professional

team building session. It was a beautiful sunny day

and the setting at Broadleaf Farm was wonderful!

In the morning, Janice Butler, a dynamic Motiva-

tional Speaker from Creative Breeze Training,

energized the staff with her WOW conference.

We left her conference full of positive energy for

both work & everyday life. A sleigh ride followed

in the afternoon. Thank you Janice !

Staff at MAGMA

enjoying a

beautiful spring

day at Broadleaf

farm with a

sleigh-ride.

It’s a happy day !

Janice Butler from

Creative Breeze

Training.

Alina Kobos Literacy In-

structor and Khalid

Badrezzamane , French

Teacher .

Both employees at

MAGMA

WINTER DISCOVERIES

Maple Sirop and waffles ! MAGMA classes celebrated the arrival of spring by sampling our

famous New Brunswick maple syrup and pancakes/waffles. Students

cooked the pancakes/waffles, talked about the process of making

maple syrup, read stories about the First Nations discovery of maple

syrup, copied recipes for homemade pancakes/waffles, and wrote

stories about their experiences. One student who had never sampled

maple syrup before exclaimed to the class, “It takes like caramel!”

Laughing the teacher replied, “This takes a lot more work and skill

to make than caramel but you are right, both are sweet!” It was a fun

experience and students were encouraged to get out into the commu-

nity and visit a sugar bush and view for themselves how syrup is made.

Young newcomers in the Moncton area have been busy exploring their province and trying out several winter ac-

tivities Canadians enjoy doing in such a traditional fashion. Students from various cultural backgrounds and Cana-

dian youth met at La Maison de Jeunes in Dieppe for a very relaxed and fun evening, as well as participated in a

Ski trip to Poley Mountain. For most of our young clients, this was their first skiing and snowboarding experience...

They were surprisingly skilful at these new Winter Sports.

Two MAGMA staff also brought a group of 20 children out to Fredericton. There we visited the Science Centre,

participated in a guided tour of the Parliament, and spent a joyous lunchtime at a local pizzeria.

Our Wintery activities also included a Sleigh Ride and a sledding session at Rotary Park, curling lessons, and cele-

brating Black History Month. Nonetheless, one of our biggest successes remains our Learn to Skate Program... 70

newcomer children and youth were registered, and several of them were given free skates and a helmet. We cele-

brated this event with a pizza party, cake, certificates, and a lot of laughter. What fun! Special thanks to the

Moncton Boys & Girls Club for their active participation in the planning, and realisation of

this event, and thank you to the Université de Moncton hockey team, -Les Aigles Bleus, - for

helping out on the ice!

The New Day—Iranian New Year– March 21st-Naw-Ruz

Naw-Rouz or Nawrūz (Persian: نوروز‎‎, IPA: [nouˈɾuːz], meaning "[The] New Day") is the name of the Iranian New

Year in Iranian calendars and the corresponding traditional celebrations. Nawruz is also widely referred to as the

"Persian New Year". Nawruz is celebrated and observed by Iranian peoples and the related cultural continent and

has spread in many other parts of the world, including parts of Central Asia, Caucasus, South Asia, Northwestern

China, the Crimea and some groups in the Balkans. Nawruz marks the first day of spring and the beginning of the

year in Iranian calendar. The moment the Sun crosses the celestial equator and equalizes night and day is calcu-

lated exactly every year and Iranian families gather together to observe the rituals.

The UN's General Assembly in 2010 recognized the International Day of Nawruz, describing it a spring festival of

Persian origin which has been celebrated for over 3,000 years. Haft Sîn (Persian: هفت سین‎‎,) or the seven 'S's, is a

major traditional table setting of Nawruz, the traditional Iranian spring celebration. Today the haft sin table in-

cludes seven specific items starting with the letter 'S' or Sîn ( ( س in the Persian alphabet. The items symbolically

correspond to seven creations and holy immortals called Amesha Sepanta protecting them. The seven elements of

Life, namely Fire, Earth, Water, Air, Plants, Animals, and Human, are represented. They also have Astrological

correlations to five planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Sun and Moon. With the advent of Islam

the word Amesha Sepanta shortened to and eventually was remembered by just the letter S and the number 7.

The Haft Sin has evolved over time, but has kept its symbolism. Traditionally, families attempt to set as beautiful

a Haft Sîn table as they can, as it is not only of traditional and spiritual value, but also noticed by visitors during

Nawruzi visitations and is a reflection of their good taste.

The Haft Sîn items

sabzeh - wheat, barley or lentil sprouts growing in a dish - symbolizing plants (or rebirth) / samanu - a sweet pud-

ding made from wheat germ - symbolizing affluence /senjed - the dried fruit of the oleaster tree - symbolizing

love /sîr - garlic - symbolizing medicine /sîb - apples - symbolizing Earth (also symbolizing beauty and

health)/somaq - sumac berries - symbolizing (the color of) sunrise/serkeh - vinegar - symbolizing age and pa-tience

Welcome to

Anahita Aslani

Our New Life

Skills

Coordinator at

MAGMA

Anahita with her

husband

Homayoon and

their son

Benyamin

arrived

in Moncton in

April 2011

www.magma-amgm.org

Anahita ( middle) with her husband and Iranian clients of

MAGMA

It has been a blast! The veteran

curlers have been a marvelous sup-

port and terrific role models for

the first time curlers.

Nothing beats the warm hospitality

of MCA. We have always been

greeted with smiles. The volunteers

are patient teachers on the ice and

love to talk with the newcomers

after they come off the ice to ask

about their countries, their cultures

and their future plans here in Monc-

ton.

Our second great season at MCA was

topped off with an international pot-

luck lunch on Tuesday April 3rd.

Heartfelt thanks to all the great peo-

ple at MCA !

Newcomers Take to the Ice at MCA

Veteran and novice newcomer curl-

ers have been enjoying the exper-

tise of volunteer coaches at MCA

since late January. Twelve weeks of

learning one way to enjoy winte-

Moncton.

MCA Curling For MAGMA

Childminding Centre-Our Beautiful Children

What a wonderful day of curling.” THANK YOU MCA

The Children in

MAGMA’s Child-

minding Centre

with Fozia ( top)

and Miriam ( bot-

tom) full-time

Educators.

Childminding at MAGMA has been busy this year.

We developed several partnerships in the community, includ-

ing Moncton‟s Family Resource Centre and Talk with me pro-

gram. We have also been busy incorporating French into all

our program plans , our centre is now bilingual. Childminding

has been working on developing program plans that respect

the values, customs and traditions of the enrolled children.

We have been celebrating diverse holidays from around the

world. Childminding now has some spaces available for

toddlers, in the morning and afternoon.

MCA and Heather Telman, ESL

Teacher at MAGMA

Black History Month

The Multicultural Association of the Greater Moncton Area hosted an event to cele-

brate Black History month which showcased local talents such as musicians, dancers,

art displays and presenters sharing black history events on a regional and international level.

The main component of the evening was the book launching of Blacks in the Maritimes before

the Loyalist. The book was published by the University of Moncton professor Gregory Ken-

nedy and his student Kayleigh Blacklock . Several community members attended this very suc-

cessful event, and the Lions Centre Hall was filled at its full capacity, with a very enthusiastic

multicultural group.

Kayleigh Blacklock - Student at

Université de Moncton

African Dance Queens from Moncton.

Thank you for the great performance.

To celebrate the event, the children at Childminding with

Fozia Ahmed prepared this beautiful painting.

From left, Mr, James “Skip” Talbot , Past President,

Mrs. Sandra Forman ,School District 2 , Mr. Jack

Haller, Past President and Mr. Mike Timani,

President of MAGMA`s Board of Directors

Newcomers to Moncton : Welcome Divya and Girisankar

Divya migrated to Canada along with her husband in order to pursue better opportunities in life.

They arrived in Moncton on April 23, 2011 and it was almost the beginning of summer. Divya‟s

husband, Girisankar ,is now working for Medavie Bluecross as a senior IT Consultant .They used

to live in Winnipeg for 3 years before moving to Moncton. This is the first time Divya has trav-

elled outside her homeland. She is from a country where the population is around 1.2 billion and

more than 100 languages so moving to Canada was a big change in her life.

In June 2011 , Divya volunteered for the Mosaiq Multicultural festival. At that time, she came to

know more about MAGMA which is dedicated to help immigrants settle in Canada. Initially she

joined MAGMA to learn French and has successfully completed Level 1 French program. An En-

gineering graduate (specialised in Information Technology In India ), Divya started looking for

jobs related to the IT fields. She found it difficult to get a job because she lacks Canadian work

experiences. At this time , a colleague informed her about the NBELT Program at MAGMA

meant to help immigrants gain awareness about Canadian workplaces and improve language skills.

After undergoing the NBELT program, she is able to understand Canadian workplace environ-

ments and it helped increase confidence during interviews. Also it helped her create effective

resumes and cover letters . Divya met a lot of new friends at MAGMA coming from different

parts of the world. She is planning to start volunteer work for MAGMA and willing to contribute

her time to help new immigrants settle in Moncton.

She will complete her first year in April 2012 and within a short time frame, Divya has adapted

to the canadian weather and life styles. According to her , Moncton is a very small city compared

to where she lived before, but Moncton offers a lot of benefits and now she is thoroughly enjoy-

ing her new life in our beautiful City.

Divya and Girisankar

Centennial Park in Moncton

Divya and her classmates in the NBELT

Program at MAGMA. All graduated from the

program in April 2012.

Business Buy and Sell conference

The Multicultural Association of the Greater Moncton Area (MAGMA) in cooperation with The Immi-

grant Settlement and Integration Services of Society of Nova Scotia (ISIS) and the Atlantic Canada

Opportunities Agency (ACOA) had the pleasure of presenting a Business Buy and Sell Training and Net-

working Event on March 9, 2012 at the Crystal Palace Convention Centre in Moncton, NB.

This workshop provided a unique training and networking opportunity where buyers and sellers were

brought together to learn what to consider when buying or selling a business and also to discover ex-

citing business opportunities within the Greater Moncton Area.

The event was by facilitated by Fred Veysey, Employement Counselor of MAGMA , and included ses-

sions for buyers and sellers in the morning and the afternoon. Approximately 52 participants had the

opportunity to listen to an expert panel . Thank you to ISIS and ACOA for supporting this event.

From left : Wa’el Stephane Al-Faraj Ghaida Petro,

Fred Veysey ( Employment Counselor at MAGMA)

and Anmar Moise Al-Faraj . Participants

From left: Nicole Pauley, TD Canada Trust,

Ghaida Petro, participant, Karim Bhibah, Entre-

preneur AKTIV Accounting and Myer Rabin, Real

Estate lawyer for the Murphy Group

Canadians have a rich history of volunteering and

community involvement. Each day, our volunteers at

MAGMA make a WORLD of DIFFERENCE.

Thank you to all our volunteers . We appreciate all

your efforts and dedication to our newcomers.

Please join us on May 3rd for a special VOLUNTEER

APPRECIATION NIGHT at NBCC , Mountain rd in

Moncton. For information on this event, please contact

our New Community Connections Coordinator

Chantal Laviolette at 858-9650 ext 2299

Volunteering at MAGMA

The fabric of Canadian life and history has been woven with the threads

of hundreds of nations, and in 2002 the Canadian Government declared

the Month of May as Asian Heritage Month to recognize and acknowl-

edge the important contributions and history of Asian Canadians to the

development and growth of our Nation.

From the earliest, hardest and most dangerous times of the gold rush

and the construction of our network of railroads through to the new

wave of highly-skilled workers and business entrepreneurs, we are constantly reminded of the benefits they have

brought to our companies, restaurants, arts and social life. Even our parents' generation would never have imag-

ined that we would spend a relaxing day with friends starting with a dim sum breakfast, followed by a shiatsu

massage, a sushi lunch, and then driving the kids to their tae kwon do lessons

so we could enjoy our butter chicken curry in peace.

Keep in touch with MAGMA for the latest news in festivities and fun as we cele-

brate the vibrant heritage and culture that our Asian communities continue to

add to our community.

May is Asian Heritage Month

MAGMA‟s Immigrant Seniors Activity Program encourages immi-

grant seniors to be involved in the community by creating activi-

ties where they can meet other seniors and share common ex-

periences all while building friendships and networks that help

them to settle in their new environment. All activities and pro-

grams are offered in both official languages . MAGMA provides

the following services to immigrant seniors : settlement ser-

vices, technology services, employment services, language ser-

vices, Life Skills services, Community building , activities, hobbies

, social events. Also, a monthly newsletter and volunteering possi-

bilities.

For further information on our Sen-

iors Activities, please communicate

with Samuel Sabor, Immigrant

Seniors Coordinator at MAGMA 858-

9659 ext.2284

Seniors Activity Program

Mosaiq Festival July 20-21 2012

MAGMA and the City of Moncton are working hard to co-present the Mosaïq Multi-

cultural Festival which will take place July 20-21, 2012 in beautiful Downtown Monc-

ton (Additional educational events will take place before and after these dates).

If you are interested in being a vendor of food or arts & crafts in the World Vil-

lage, being part of the live entertainment, volunteering or sponsoring this exciting

event then please direct your inquiry to the General Manager, Robert Gallant.

Call 506-855-8525 or email info@multiculturalfestivalmulticulturel.ca for more de-

tails

NBELT Celebration of Achievement Ceremony

On April 4th, MAGMA held a celebration of achievement ceremony for the most

recent New Brunswick Employment Language Training class graduates. Newcomers from the

Medical, Law, Education, Pharmaceutical, Business & Psychology fields, successfully completed

the program. During the program, some had already received the wonderful news that their

credentials had been recognized by Canadian associations. Congratulations to all! (note: a few

students missing from picture due to employment and volunteering obligations)

Khalid Badrezzamane

with his students from

CLIC ( Cours de langues

pour les immigrants au

Canada) .

These students are

learning to speak and

write in French. This

special class was held in

the Mapleton Teaching

Kitchen. Thank you

Joanne Richard from

the Teaching Kitchen.

MAGMA’s new home address

Address: 22 Church St Suite

C170—Moncton NB, E1C 0P7

MAGMA’s mission is to enrich and

enhance the well being of our

community by fostering and nurturing

respect, understanding, acceptance of

and assisting people from all heritages.

It‟s very important to note that MAGMA-AMGM office is now situtated

in the Peace Centre, 22 Church St Moncton. Reception area is on the

first floor !

Thank You MAGMA Funders

Citizenship and Immigration

Canada

City of Moncton

Canadian Heritage

New Brunswick Multicultural

Council Inc.

Ville de Dieppe

South East Regional

Adult Learning Centre

Province of New Brunswick

Town of Riverview

NEW STAFF PROFILE—JUSTIN RYAN

PUBLIC EDUCATION COORDINATOR It might surprise you to find that Justin Ryan, our new Public

Education Coordinator, immigrated to Canada not from his native

Australia, but from Japan. While living and teaching there for

over six years he met his Monctonian wife Jennifer, who

convinced him that becoming part of the Moncton community

would be right not only for them but for their

soon-to-be family. He therefore brings with them the

experience of being a newcomer to a foreign land not once but

twice, which has inspired him to be part of making sure that the

newcomer experience for others is a positive one.

“My main role is helping the local region truly appreciate the

tremendous value immigrants bring to the community. And it‟s not

just the social community that‟s enjoying the depth and richness

that their adding to our culture. Business are also coming to

understand that at a time that New Brunswick is losing so much

of its most valuable talents to opportunities out west, having

such a key source of potential employees is huge. These are

often highly skilled and educated people who are choosing to be

part of Moncton, Riverview and Dieppe and are not only bringing a

unique depth of experience, but also access to new markets.”

Justin is himself an example. As a former lawyer, teacher and

investment banker, choosing to make his home here has been a

win-win for himself and the community. If you‟re part of a school,

business or organization that is looking to have its members add

depth to their understanding of diversity and how to make it

work for them, don‟t hesitate to contact him at:

justin.ryan@magma-amgm.org .

Special Guest at MAGMA– MP Robert Goguen

Childminding Educators, Fozia

and Miriam with the kids were

so happy to welcome MP for

Moncton Mr. Robert Goguen to

MAGMA „s new location.

The kids ( and Fozia ) are

proudly wearing RCMP hats

following a presentation by-

from Corporal Steven Conrad.

Thank you for the visit

Mr. Goguen.

Hope to see you again soon !

What a wonderful group of students !!

Morning English classes gathered on Wednesday April 25th to celebrate students moving up within the levels of

LINC (Language Instruction to Newcomers of Canada) classes. The celebration started with O Canada. Four stu-

dents moved up from LINC 2 to LINC 3: Xuan Phuong Nguyen, Salome Mbouzie, MyungJa Hong, and Hyun Hee

Choi. Afterwards, everyone enjoyed cake. Another celebration was held in the afternoon to honour students

moving up within afternoon LINC classes. From LINC 3 to LINC 4: ThiNhaVuong, Heesook Kim, and Catherine

Pissi. From LINC 4 to LINC 5: Bwe Paw, Sohyun Yoon, Jina Ha, and A. Reum Jang.