Uganda is sunny most of the year, with temperatures rising above 29 degrees. The summer days are comfortable in Red Deer, Alberta, with temperatures hovering around 22. But in the winter, residents experience freezing temperatures with snowy, windy weather.
For Ayaa, a new Canadian, making it through her first winter in Canada felt like a badge of honour – one she wears with pride.
“The first winter was a bit of a shock. But we got through it,” says Ayaa, who moved to Red Deer in January 2021 from Uganda in East Africa. “I was hypnotized by the softness and silence of the snow. It is very different from the loudness of the rain.”
Red Deer is home to nearly 15,000 immigrants – about 15 per cent of the total population.
“With many immigrants now calling Red Deer home, it is important we address the unique needs of this population,” says Kristine Bugayong, Communications and Outreach Coordinator with the Red Deer Local Immigration Partnership (RDLIP).
Immigration helps improve the quality of life for everyone by improving social life, economy, teaching about new cultures, customs and languages. When communities of support are created, it leads to understanding differences.
Funded by the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, the RDLIP is promoting the Proud to Be Your Neighbour Anti-Racism Campaign that aims to generate understanding between people, raise awareness of racial issues, change attitudes and improve the necessary communities of support for Black, Indigenous and People of Colour: rdlip.ca/antiracism
Ayaa was approached to be part of the campaign, and she felt it was a wonderful opportunity to tell her story and be part of the solution.
“When I chose to move to Canada, I was very aware of my skin colour,” says Ayaa. “I wasn’t sure how I would be treated or if I would be recognized for what I could contribute, what I could offer the community.”
Ayaa quickly found familiarity in the Indigenous community in Red Deer.
“My first job was with the Red Deer Native Friendship Centre in community work and development, working with women and children,” says Ayaa. “In the indigenous community, I found family. Everything about their culture and life was very similar to my African community.”
As luck would have it, her first neighbour-friend was Samantha, born in Wetaskiwin and raised in Red Deer.
“My neighbour Ayaa is amazing,” says Samantha. “We share stories about our cultures while providing a lot of support for one another. We connected right away.”
For Ayaa, making a connection was essential to adopting Canada as her new home.
“The Indigenous spirit has pulled me along,” says Ayaa. “Their openness as a people and their acceptance of me into their lives is comforting. Samantha was quick to invite me onto her porch for tea, and we have been friends ever since.”
Being a part of a community gives people a sense of belonging. Statistics show that people in a vibrant, accepting community have a reduced risk of mental health issues, lower heart disease mortality, and have better overall health. When people participate in a community with shared attitudes, values, and goals, they live a more fulfilling life.
Most would agree that Red Deer is a welcoming place where differences are celebrated. However, there is an underlying plight behind the scenes where people are often mistreated because of their race. According to survey results conducted by the RDLIP last year, eighty per cent of visible minorities and seventy per cent of Indigenous people have experienced racism in Red Deer.
“While the survey results draw such a dire picture of the experiences of people of colour in our community, it is up to us as a community to come together, learn about others’ experiences and actively challenge racist attitudes. There are many who are struggling to find belonging and community here due to racism, and our antiracist acts will go a long way in shifting discourses and showing people of colour that they are valued and supported in Red Deer,“ says Ezgi Sarioglu, Program Manager of the RDLIP.
The antiracism campaign focuses on real stories and situations to make a difference — stories like Ayaa’s. It also shares local and general resources for people of colour to find support and white allies to perform antiracism: https://rdlip.ca/antiracism.