Articles tagged with: Profile
Journalist mulls “community conversations” to heal wounds of racial prejudice
Asna Adhami, journalist, film maker and poet has all along sought to tell the untold story and to fathom the roots of prejudice. But now she’s looking to pursue that search in new ways, particularly through artistic expression – a series of poems that express the strong emotions she grew up with, a photo exhibit and in a new way create opportunities for community conversations.
A tribute to Jerry Braganza
When Idi Amin ordered his country’s Asian community to get out of Uganda in 1972 Jerry shook the dust off his shoes and fled amid the horrific tribal violence that was unleashed across northern Uganda at the time.
Danish filmmaker’s love of the Arctic brings her to Canada
What would have brought a filmmaker and author to Canada? Annett Wolf, told this reporter, she initially came to experience the Arctic, concerned of the impact that climate change would have on Arctic wildlife, particularly wolves and Polar Bears.
Canadian of Iranian heritage seeks change around friends and community
Nikki Jafari was bundled out of Iran at the age of two when Ayatollah Khomeini’s revolution broke out in 1979. Her family moved to Turkey. Despite the cultural milieu being somewhat akin, she was, anyway, the only Iranian in her school. So she lived with the fact that she was different. But not for long. By the time she was 10, she moved to Canada giving up her Turkish citizenship.
With Gaddafi gone, everyday is brighter says Libyan-Canadian
Libyans in Halifax rallied and carried out a dozen protests during the Libyan crisis. Some of us also went to the demonstrations in Ottawa and protested in front of the Libyan embassy. Libyan-Canadians even flew back to fight for their freedom, says Fathi Ghanai, a Libyan who came to Canada to study in 1982.
Kurdish Syrian tells of horror and torture in Syria’s jails
Baram Omar Ilsso is Kurdish and had joined the activists opposing the Syrian regime since 1980. “Since 1981 there has been no politics in Syria,” he says. “So we had to operate underground and fight our cause through private newspapers. The media in the Middle East is monopolized and we suffer from that.”
Croatian bikers on world tour to promote country meet community in Halifax
Robert Koletic and Patrick Grguric took off on a bike trip across the world from Croatia on 5 May and arrived in Halifax on 18 May. The two bikers are driving across the world to promote Croatia: “It’s a very beautiful country,” says Patrick Grguric. “The sea, the coast, the mountains—the cities and towns have a historical heritage and are at least 2000 years old—Croatia must be seen by people of the world.”
Nigerian newcomer working to address malaria in home country
Olugu Ukpai came to Canada from Nigeria on a Commonwealth Scholarship in May 2005. But it was not until 2008 that he was able to bring the family to the country. Unfortunately by then he had lost one of his twin daughters, Goodness, to malaria.
New Canadian suffers hardship, but is now galvanizing others
Claudia Covalciuc was born in Austria in 1990 and immigrated to London, Ontario with her mother when she was only a few weeks old. But even before she could finish her Grade 5, her mother decided they would be better off back in Romania. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Claudia could not go to school because of language and cultural barriers, poverty, and a lack of guidance.
Iranian film maker says Canada is neglecting the industry
Asheri Qias left Iran at the age of 18 in 1983. That was soon after the revolution. “The revolution took power and put pressure on other Iranians,” he says. Qias was of Turkeman ethnicity and there are about two million Turkemen around the borders of Iran, Syria and Russia. But in Iran the Turkeman have no rights. “Our people asked for rights to study and speak in our language, but the Iranian government refused those rights,” he says.
