"It helped me feel more confident raising my
children."
Perspectives from Building Bridges Clients
"Canada is very far from our country, so when you come here and find lots of your own people, like if you feel homesick, meeting with them, talking to them, makes you feel comfortable….[The staff] they welcome me and my children…. Everything I want to know or I need to know they give me. They help me. Make it easy for me."
"The workshop about the [Children’s Aid Society] took away my fear about children being taken away from their families. Now I understand better what they consider child abuse and that their goal is not to apprehend children. It helped me to feel more confident in raising my children…."
"It helped me to see that I was too used to violence and did not identify it because it looked normal to me."
"The last workshop about parenting was amazingly great for me. We are from Sudan, completely different culture and way of handling children. Older people tell you what to do but here I’m alone with no one to give me advice, so this was extremely helpful for me. I went and applied it automatically with my son and it was a great help dealing with my son and how to treat him. The papers they gave me, I tried to keep everything…. What I have learned from here I applied to my home. Very helpful."
"I find out that there are no big differences between us except the language…."
"I felt more comfortable in doing more stuff, socializing, meeting other people. Before I never used to go anywhere without my husband. Now I use the bus, subway on my own … I can come and go by myself with no problem."
"I volunteer at COSTI … downtown … if they have work for me to do, I volunteer my hours. I learned this from coming here."
Building Capacity. Building Community.
Prologue: FSA Toronto has been at the forefront of community development since our inception, and more formally since 1993 when we established our Community and Neighbourhood Development team (then Community Action Unit). Two recent community initiatives—at different stages in their development— illustrate the value of capacity building and bringing communities together to address collective needs.
Building Bridges was a program partnership between FSA Toronto and the Lawrence Heights Community Health Centre that concluded its three-year mandate in March 2007. Working with women and youth originally from Horn of Africa countries that have experienced conflict (Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia),
Building Bridges encouraged participants to overcome their cultural differences, build confidence and work together to address common challenges that affect their quality of life. Approximately 250 women and youth were engaged in Building Bridges activities each year. Youth participated in such activities as discussion groups, traditional dances and learning circles.
The women received training in knitting and sewing and workshops on such topics as violence against women, healthy eating, stress management and education and training opportunities for immigrant women. In March 2007, we launched an evaluation with plans to speak to five participants from each program year, however only 12 participants, all from the most recent year’s group, responded. Overall, feedback was very positive and the third-party evaluator noted, "Many seemed to light up when talking about their experiences – about the skills they had learned and the knowledge they had gained."
Participants had mixed opinions, however, about their opportunities to learn more about different cultures. This may be because most third-year participants were Sudanese (possibly reflecting a new coordinator’s Sudanese heritage). Some noted that although workshops were presented in English, casual discussion among attendees often took place in Arabic, excluding non-Arabic speakers. As facilitators, we have learned that we need to be more vigilant in fostering an inclusive community-building environment.
Families are Important Resources (FAIR), another three-year community development project, has just completed its first year. FAIR seeks to increase community involvement for families marginalized by such issue as poverty, immigration status, language and disability. FAIR involves families at every stage of the decision-making process. Its March 2007 parenting conference asked the 29 participants to identify their current capacities and areas of interest, with the ultimate goal of determining priorities for FAIR for its second year. Parents indicated strongest interest in improving their communication skills, learning how to conduct surveys or focus groups, and decision-making.
Epilogue: The success of Building Bridges, while clear, was dampened by year-over-year turnover in the coordinator role. It was also evident that respondents would welcome longer-term or permanent programming. Over the next year, supported by the FAIR coordinator, parent groups will arrange four workshops on the subjects identified as having the greatest interest.
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