February 2010

Volume 1, Issue 4

CultureLink HOST

Welcoming Community Champion

Can you support us and be

committed to:

Giving voice to immigrant is-

sues?

Raising issues that matter for

newcomers to Canada at differ-

ent levels of public

life?

Hosting a diversity lunch/dinner at your

work place?

Promoting barrier-

free hiring practices?

Hosting a welcom-

ing event for new-comers to Canada

(CultureLink will be

happy to assist

you)?

Supporting a new-

comer individual or

family in starting a good life in

Canada?

Volunteering with a newcomer

settlement agency (e.g. deliver-

ing a speech at a CultureLink

event)?

Joining Culture-

Link‟s Host Program as a Host Volunteer,

or persuading a per-

son who you know

to become?

Donating to a

newcomer settle-ment organisation of

your choice?

Supporting local

business run by

newcomers to Can-

ada?

Chow: Allow Haitians to

join their families in Can-

ada quickly. TORONTO – In the wake of the tragic earthquake in Haiti, the government must ease immigra-tion regulations to help Hai-tians with relatives in Can-ada reunite with their family on Canadian soil, says New Democrat Immigration Critic

Olivia Chow.“-Canadian families bring their relatives home, and to do so quickly.”

“We have a responsibility

to help the Haitians through this tragedy. Help-ing Canadian Hai-tians reunite with their fam-ily must be a priority for this government.”

“At CultureLink we believe

that::

Newcomers are critical to

Canada’s future;

Our staff and volunteers are our organization’s most

important resources.”

Inside this issue:

Community Welcom-

ing Champion—Olivia Chow

1

Past Events—Lunar

New Year Celebration

2

HOST with the

most—Manuel Rodri-guez

3

HOST with the most -

Lucil Lukban

4

Night Falls on the Just

and Unjust—Robert

Iveniuk

5

Contact us 6

HHHOSTOSTOST PPPROGRAMROGRAMROGRAM NNNEWSEWSEWS

“Yes, I can. And yes, I did.”

Olivia Chow

CAN YOU?

Olivia Chow, Member of

Parliament for Trinity-

Spadina

PAST EVENTS

CultureLink’s capac-

ity for “hot” and

“noisy”, and we

passed - the result

showed we can be

as “festive” as we

would like to be!

Many Culture-

Link staff members

worked very hard to

make this happen.

My heartfelt “Thank-

you” also goes to

Newcomer Senior

Center’s senior volun-

teers, the unsung he-

roes - they made the

dumplings from

scratch and helped

a lot with cleaning.

Look forward

to a prosperous Year

of Tiger with all of

you!

- Fei Tang

Dear CultureLink

Family:

Happy Spring

Festival (another

name of the Lunar

New Year festival)!

On February 11, we

hosted the Lunar

New Year celebra-

tion at CultureLink. It

was truly a “Hot” and

“Noisy” event - a

combination of the

two words literally

translates to “festive”

and “full of joy” in

Chinese. Indeed,

that’s how Chinese

people traditionally

celebrate their new

year event. The

Spring Festival is sup-

posed to be a family

gathering (usually

with extended fami-

lies), the timing is of-

ten towards the end

of a quiet and cold

winter and people

are yearning for fun

... that’s how “hot”

and “noisy” come to

play and good food

is always essential -

to the Lunar New

Year, Chinese dump-

lings is as indispensa-

ble as chocolates to

Valentine’s Day.

More than 80

participants came to

celebrate the New

Year with us. There

are seniors, youth

and children. They

are Chinese, Polish,

Korean, Colombian,

South Asian, British…

they are all Culture-

Link’s extended fami-

lies. They came to

make dumplings to-

gether - a main ac-

tivity of this event.

People from cultures

where dumplings are

exotic had the op-

portunity to learn

how to make one

and were happy to

obtain recipes. Our

Polish senior group

also demonstrated

the Polish way of

making dumplings.

Participants also had

a lot of fun with the

riddles and Karaoke.

This is a test of

Page 2 Volume 1, Issue 4

Hosts with the Most

Page 3 Volume 1, Issue 4

The Ballad of Manuel Rodriguez Manuel Rodriguez and Carolyn McGill

Manuel first came to Canada

to escape a civil war in El Salva-

dor, in December 1989, while

looking for information and sup-

port as a new immigrant to Can-

ada, he found himself at Culture

Link, then-known as „The Metro

Toronto Host Program.‟

Though he met many wonder-

ful volunteers and new friends,

there was one individual in par-

ticular who helped Manuel adjust

to life in Canada: „Mike the

Greek‟. Mike, a former member

of the board of directors for Cul-

ture link, had been working for

IBM at the time. They formed a

friendship through their common

interest in technology and IT, and

eventually Mike encouraged

Manuel to get involved within the

immigrant community as a

volunteer.

Manuel fondly remem-

bers summer picnics at

High Park with Culture

Link. In taking part in an

introduction session,

Manuel was shocked to

find that his fellow volun-

teers, who he had previ-

ously assumed to all be

“Canadian”, were actually

all either immigrants or,

the children of immi-

grants.

“It really made me

think, that I was the new

Canadian” Manuel re-

flected. Manuel then went

on to help out other fami-

lies who were new to Canada. He

recalled helping one family who

were also from El Salvador. “They

were illiterate,” said Manuel,

“They felt trapped and alone. We

helped to integrate them into the

community and find their way

around.”

After managing many major

IT infrastructure implementations

during his 12 year career with the

Government of Ontario, Manuel

ventured into entrepreneurship

and formed his own company. As

one of the founders of Unikron

Inc., Manuel has directed the tech-

nological vision of the company.

Unikron is now one of Canada‟s

leading production companies,

specializing in Internet content and

interactive media. His understand-

ing of business strategy, communi-

cations, and viewers‟ experience,

has resulted in many successful

websites and online seminars, in-

cluding video productions for

Bombardier, CIBC, and Alcoholics

Anonymous (AA). Manuel has also

been instrumental in helping the

Town of Markham receive the

2008 Willis Innovation Award.

Manuel is still very keen on

helping newcomers to Canada, and

strives to make the community

more welcoming for im-

migrants. As one of his

volunteer activities, he

founded HispanoTech,

which is a not-for profit

organization geared to-

wards helping Hispanic

immigrants succeed in

Canada‟s technology sec-

tor.

After recently recon-

necting with “Mike the

Greek”, through Culture-

Link‟s Host Program.

Manuel is now looking

forward to continuing his

volunteer work with the

help of his wife and two

kids. •

Manuel Rodriguez, founder of HispanoTech,

which is a not-for profit organization geared towards helping

Hispanic immigrants succeed in Canada‟s technology sector.

“One important key to success is self-confidence. An impor-

tant key to self-confidence is preparation.”

- Arthur Ashe

Manuel Rodriguez, CEO - Partner, Unikron Inc; Host Volunteer

Hosts with the Most

Page 4 Volume 1, Issue 4

The Host Program Experience

A Volunteer’s Perspective By Lucil Lukban

Okay, hang on. So, the ladder’s a clear

symbol for the slow climb to success and happiness. But, yellow is a colour associ-ated with caution. And jaundice. Man, I need to lie down.

-RWI

Every person‟s sense of

contentment and happiness are

not mainly anchored on mate-rial gains but rather on the qual-

ity of life that an individual has.

The matching program

provided ample opportunities

for both the newcomer and the host volunteer. It constituted

broader and mutual benefits. These may range from develop-

ment of a friendship to discov-eries of ones cultural orienta-

tion, dreams and aspirations,

goals and lessons in life.

Being a volunteer means

commitment to carry out the functions as mandated by the

recognized host institution. It means stepping out of the vol-

unteer‟s comfort zone in terms

of time and effort. These are essential components in order

to successfully implement the missions and objectives of being

a volunteer.

The emotional element is

congruent to the intellectual.

As a volunteer, I should be the source of inspiration and infor-

mation. All throughout the more than six months of the

time I spent with my new-comer, I would like to empha-

size the following factors that

gauge its effectiveness:

1. Pre-phase - approximately the first two meetings (3rd week

to 4th week of May 2009); fo-

cused on self particularly the events that led to migration;

mostly on general topics of inter-

est.

2. Mid-phase - from the third

week to the third month (June to August, 2009); discussion be-

came more personal; family

members had met and properly introduced; exchanged of infor-

mation re basic services accessi-ble to newcomers in terms of

health, employment, education and other services available to

immigrants.

Final phase - beyond the third month to the last month (Sept to

2nd week of December); identi-fied probable opportunities not

merely to the newcomer, as an

individual but to the newcomer‟s family, as well. At this stage, the

self esteem was better and the newcomer‟s language proficiency

had immensely improved.

During this period, activi-

ties done together were shop-

ping at different malls and gro-

cery shops and places visited in-

cluded the library, parks and

ones‟ dwelling areas.

In summation, the impact

of the program is greater on me as a volunteer because not only I

learned so much out of this ex-perience, I also found a new

friend; my family found a new family friend. The friendship did

not end when the project was completed. Communication

through phone conversations,

sometimes meet up with each

other remains the same. •

CultureLink HOST‟s matching mittens

“The matching program provided ample opportunities for both the newcomer

and the host volunteer.”

To this day, I have no idea how I got this job, and

I have no idea how I managed to keep it.

I am, after all, not an ideal candidate for this line

of work. Not only do I resemble a hybrid be-

tween an Easter Island statue and a shaved Big-

foot, but I also have perpetually frayed nerves,

and on my worst days I‟m only as pleasant as a

jaguar with a chainsaw duct-taped to his face.

Could someone please tell me what bright-eyed

hopeful with dreams of bringing smiles to all the

world‟s children was rejected so that my sorry

hide could be let in here?

I suppose this is where I tell you who I am. Be-

fore getting this position, I was a student at York

University, and the holder of a B.A. in Humani-

ties. Unable to pursue a Masters, I found myself

thrust into a similar two-year program that pro-

vided actual job experience. So, I went backwards

and headed for Seneca college, at a campus

where there are more trees and coyotes than

actual people.

To complete my degree, I had to find and per-

form placement for an agency in my second year

that best represented what our field stood for.

And so, I was taken in by CultureLink, who freed

me from a lifetime of sitting on park benches

making inappropriate noises at women, and set

me to work on several projects—one of which

being this very newsletter.

But, my time has come. Other duties around the

office are building up, interfering with my work

here, and so I must pass the torch onto someone

else. I knew this would be temporary, but I never

thought I would go so soon.

How like life.

Night Falls on the Just and Unjust

There are too many people to thank. First, special thanks

to all our contributors who made this creation of ours

flourish. Extra-special thanks go out to Fei and Barbora

for not only giving me this opportunity, but also for not

defenestrating me when I failed to deliver.

Finally, I want to thank you, the readers. You‟re the ones

who make this work. Without your support, without

your help, this Newsletter would be nothing but a shell of

words and good intentions.

As for me, I have a long road ahead. What I find at the

end of it will be a story for another time.

And one day, if I‟m very, very lucky, I hope to tell you all

about it.

Good night. •

Page 5 Volume 1, Issue 4

Fei Tang

Program and Newsletter Supervisor

Barbora Gomezova

Host Intake Worker

Robert W. Iveniuk

Placement Student

Editor-in-Chief

http://www.culturelink.net

CultureLink

2340 Dundas Street West, Suite 301 Toronto, ON M6P 4A9

Phone: 416-588-6288 Fax: 416-588-2435

CultureLink HOST

CultureLink is a settlement agency located at

Bloor and Dundas West in downtown Toronto.

For twenty-one years, we have upheld our mis-

sion:

CultureLink is dedicated to facilitating the

independence and full participation of newcom-

ers in Toronto‟s diverse community. Culture-

Link works within an anti-discriminatory frame-

work to ensure a respectful, safe and inclusive

environment.

We hope you have enjoyed Volume One, Issue

Four of our CultureLink Host Newsletter, and

that you will enjoy future issues.

Know someone who wants to join

Culturelink’s Host Community?

Have them sign up!

Volunteers, Newcomers

Fill out our online Regis-

tration form, at:

CONTRIBUTORS

HOST Program

is funded by:

Lucil Lukban - HOST volunteer

Carolyn McGill

Manuel Rodriguez - HOST volunteer

The Host Newsletter invites you, the members of the CultureLink Community to share your story with us. Please send your story, com-

ments and thoughts to:

bgomezova@culturelink.net