Sources: Ottawa Local Immigration Partnership & CBC News
Photo credits: OLIP & J. David Andrews
Monday 22 June 2015
Welcoming Ottawa Week (WOW) is an annual week-long series of events to celebrate the way people of Ottawa welcome newcomers to the city. Among the highlights is the WOW Ambassadors awards given to those residents nominated by newcomers, as playing a pivotal role in their adapting to their new home land. Black residents featured prominently in the 2015 awards, which were announced at the 3rd Ottawa Immigration forum held on Monday 22 June at the Marriot Hotel, by the Ottawa Local Immigration Partnership (OLIP).
Abai Coker, ESL Administrator with the Ottawa Catholic School Board was nominated by Salome Atandi, who arrived in Ottawa from Kenya in 1992. When Atandi needed advice on starting her new life in Ottawa, a neighbour suggested she go to see Coker at the school board.
Wendy Alexis, is a teacher and Paul Galuak, is an inventory control specialist who came to Canada from South Sudan in 2002. Galuak’s son O’Chang, right, was in Alexis’s class. Alexis invited Galuak to speak to students about his experiences as one of the Lost Boys of Sudan. She recently helped to organize a concert by hip-hop artist Emmanuel Jal to raise money for the school Galuak is building in South Sudan.
Public relations and communications professional Yvette Yende-Ashiri, was nominated by Sabine Daniel, left, and Rawan Dallasheh. Dallasheh, a pharmacist who arrived from Jordan in 2014, contacted Yende-Ashiri through Junior Chamber International, an international community service organization. Yende-Ashiri, who was born in Congo and grew up in France, runs the Ottawa chapter of JCI. Yende-Ashiri received a separate nomination from Daniel, the daughter of immigrants from Haiti and the Dominican Republic, who met Yende-Ashiri doing volunteer work.
Vicki Trudel is a youth program co-ordinator and Claudia Pinto is a social worker from Colombia who came to Ottawa in 2012. Pinto was an intern in Trudel’s office at the Vanier Community Service Centre. Trudel organizes activities for newcomer youth through the Franc Succès program at Collège catholique Samuel-Genest and école catholique Franco-Cité.
Beatrice Osome is a retired nurse and husband Ben Osome is a retired physiotherapist. George Ogwel, centre, is a writer and editor who arrived from Kenya in 1986. Ogwel attended an event at the Kenyan High Commission as a university student in the late 1980s and the Osomes welcomed him to their home.
Melanie Gamache is a teacher and Yvonne Katchunga is a settlement worker who arrived from Congo in 2009. Gamache runs a program at Franco Ouest for newcomer students, helping them adjust to their new home and new curriculum. Katchunga’s children were in Gamache’s class.
Heather Pugh is the owner of Flow Pilates. Carrie Cuhaci is a mother and volunteer who came from the United States in 2002. When Cuhaci arrived in Ottawa she didn’t know anyone beyond her Canadian husband’s family and friends. In an effort to get out more, she called Pugh’s pilates studio to ask about classes – and found a new best friend.
Eleanor Henderson is a retired ESL teacher. Grace John is a hospital orderly who arrived from Sri Lanka in 1990. John worked for Henderson’s family when they lived in Sri Lanka. When John later decided to emigrate to Canada, Henderson helped her overcome bureaucratic hurdles and settle into life in Ottawa.
Charles Tshimanga is an employment counsellor at WorldSkills. Elise Edimo is a project officer from Cameroon who arrived in Canada in 2010. Edimo attended a job search workshop with Tshimanga and he became a trusted source of advice as she tailored her resume and applied for jobs.
When Ann Bird and Roger Bird visited Rwanda, Alice Musabende helped them settle in. They returned the favour when Musabende came to study at Carleton University, and now they are close friends and honorary grandparents to her son Liam.
Pierre Charest is an agronomist and vice-president with NSERC. Ephrem Nisrane is a chemical engineer who arrived from Ethiopia in 2013. Charest and Nisrane were matched through OCISO’s career mentoring program for newcomer professionals.