June 2013 - CultureLink
Transcription
June 2013 - CultureLink
WELCOMING COMMUNITY NEWS CultureLink Mentorship Program Volume 4, Issue 6 Page 1 Luminato Edition June 2013 By Saskia Rinkoff, Volunteer Coordinator, Luminato Festival Newcomers to Canada often face a multitude of challenges upon their arrival. Linguistic and cultural barriers prevent them from fully engaging with people and customs in their new homeland. The joint CultureLink—Luminato Festival Volunteer Program in Toronto provides newcomers with a unique opportunity to break through some of the barriers. Three or four newcomers have the option of being matched with an experienced Canadian mentor, forming a CultureLink—Luminato Festival Volunteer Mentorship Circle. This year, we had 15 active circles and a total of 53 participants. Together they learned about Canadian life and culture in the city while volunteering for the festival and being part of a multitude of artistic events. As one of the Volunteer Coordinators who facilitated these mentorship circles during the past three months, I had the great pleasure of witnessing the extraordinary transformation many of the participants – mentors and mentees alike. The circles fostered greater understanding, tolerance and appreciation for different cultural backgrounds they represented. New friendships were formed, skills were developed and confidence were built. The program is truly a reflection of what Canada and Toronto, one of the most diverse cities in the world, is all about. Inside this issue: A Transformative Experience 1 The Info Team 2 The gift that keeps giving 3 Arts Marketing Team 4 My Luminato Experience 5-6 Contact Us 7 “At CultureLink we believe that: Newcomers are critical to Canada’s future; Our staff and volunteers are our organization’s most important resources” WELCOMING COMMUNITY NEWS CultureLink Mentorship Program Volume 4, Issue 6 Page 2 Luminato Edition June 2013 By Mary Pigott This was the third year that CultureLink and Luminato have partnered to give newcomers to Canada the opportunity to volunteer at this unique, 10-day, multi-arts festival in June. It was the first time, however, for a CultureLink Info Team. Three CultureLink mentees were chosen in April for this new initiative: Janet Wei, Safoura Hakami and Samantha Sun. Safoura is the most recent newcomer, arriving from Iran just nine months ago. Janet emigrated from China two years ago. Samantha is from Taiwan and has lived in Canada for six years. Their CultureLink mentor, Mary Pigott, has volunteered with Luminato since 2007, when the festival was launched. She has been an Info Team member since 2008, when Info Teams were initiated. Mary also joined the CultureLink-Luminato program when it began in 2011. All Info Team members must be ready to answer a wide variety of questions, not just about Luminato, but also about Toronto. To prepare for this challenging role, the CultureLink Info Team went on three excursions to learn about the city: (1) a 5-hour tour of 35 sites in Toronto; (2) a half-day visit to Harbourfront; and (3) a trip to the Scarborough Bluffs. Members of the group also attended Luminato’s Info Team training sessions; listened to Luminato Talks by both Artistic Director Jorn Weisbrodt and CEO Janice Price; and participated in CultureLink’s Social Media Workshop. Finally, the team spent many hours together studying the Luminato program book and watching many of the scheduled performers on YouTube. Armed with all this knowledge, the CultureLink Info Team bravely set off on its three Luminato shifts: the first in the Distillery District, the second in Brookfield Place, and the final one at “The Hub” (David Pecaut Square). The three venues were very different and gave the mentees the opportunity to interact with the public in different ways. They were also able to enjoy the artistic activities at each of these locations. The “Future Tastes of Toronto” in the Distillery District was especially popular! By the time Luminato ended on June 23, the three CultureLink mentees had been transformed. When the group first met in early May, most of the mentees were familiar with only a few locations in Toronto, felt their English was poor, lacked confidence in speaking with the public, and were concerned about what they had to learn. By the end of their third shift, they were all very outgoing, confident, knowledgeable, articulate, and delightfully enthusiastic. In short, they no longer needed a mentor! WELCOMING COMMUNITY NEWS CultureLink Mentorship Program Volume 4, Issue 6 Page 3 Luminato Edition June 2013 By Ivonne Bayonna CultureLink through its mentorship program has provided me with an incomparable opportunity to give back to the community in a way that you can see the difference you are making. I was able to use my work skills to the best of my capability in order to create a bridge between the skills of new immigrants and the requirements of the Canadian workplace. We discussed topics anywhere from proper emailing to office politics. All of these lessons were successfully applied through our volunteer hours at the Luminato festival, where the experience not only became richer but also had the chance to meet new people from different industry fields and different backgrounds; learn from each other, share experiences, reinforce teamwork; and create for the new immigrant a sense of belonging in their new home country. Being in Toronto also allows for great opportunities to roam around and explore this wonderful city where you can still feel close to home even though you might be thousands of kilometres away. I thank Culturelink for their great efforts in providing a helping hand through an experience that can be sometimes overwhelming for new immigrants and allowing them to feel like there is a great support network where all you need is the gift of time. I thank my mentees to allow me into their lives and for teaching me so much during our time together. Each one of them taught me a lot and these are life lessons that I will always cherish and keep very close to my heart. WELCOMING COMMUNITY NEWS CultureLink Mentorship Program Volume 4, Issue 6 Page 4 Luminato Edition June 2013 By Armando Pemberton Volunteering with the 2013 Luminato Festival was an amazing experience. The energy was felt on the first day of assignment. I have volunteered before, but I have never seen such outstanding management of a team of volunteers as numerous as the 2013 teams. The CultureLink mentors were fantastic. The city of Toronto was transformed with activities promoted by the Festival. It gave me a great opportunity to hold a small conversation with more than 100 people from all backgrounds through the Audience Research managed by the Marketing Team. Visitors from different countries were part of the survey as well. But most of all, the artistic expressions that brought so many Torontonians together: the concerts, the classical music, the plays … the list is endless. It was a magnificent opportunity for us newcomers to understand the life and culture of a metropolis like Toronto, one of the most multicultural cities in the world. As part of our cultural integration, the Marketing Team visited 3 historical landmarks on Doors Open day. It was the initiative of our mentor Ivonne so we could practice our public speaking skills. I happened to be carrying my camera and so I became the impromptu cameraman. I even made a video! Last but not least, the Citizenship Ceremony within the Festival was fantastic. The speeches at the ceremony were inspirational. I was part of one of the round tables were I heard closely the journey of about 7 immigrants who became Citizens that day. My thoughts were: I will be there in a couple of years! WELCOMING COMMUNITY NEWS CultureLink Mentorship Program Volume 4, Issue 6 Page 5 Luminato Edition June 2013 By Amelia Zheng It is my first time to be a volunteer for Luminato Festival. It is such a great journey, so I have to share my happiness and gratitude to my beloved Luminato Festival. As part of CultureLink volunteer team, we got all the information as a group from the volunteer coordinator, which does help a lot to avoid potential misunderstanding. As a volunteer, we all received training before we started. I still remember during that training, the volunteer coordinators tried their best to explain the process and plan, and made great effort to answer everyone’s questions. We felt so welcome from then on. I have to say, volunteering at the Hub and Stockpile was a remarkable experience! At the Hub, we passed our welcome to visitors along with the Hub information; at Stockpile, we shared the joy of participants who won wonderful prizes. It is especially amazing at the Hub because we were not only playing the role as a volunteer but also as an audience. As a new immigrant to Toronto, it was my first opportunity to get to know these Canadian musicians and artists. It felt terrific! I really enjoyed the time volunteering with Luminato, and I can’t wait for the return of the Festival next year. About Luminato - CultureLink Project In Spring 2011, when CultureLink Host Program, a newcomer befriending pogrom with 20+ years of history, was transforming into a mentoring program, Luminato reached out to the new Mentorship Program for partnership opportunities. It was love at the first glance: Luminato would like to enhance the diversity in its volunteer base and engage newcomers to explore Toronto’s cultural life; CultureLink was excited about this perfect opportunities to experiment its new mentoring model - Civic Engagement mentoring. All worked out well and we now just completed our Year Three. Planning for next year’s project is under way already. As the partnership matures more and more we can expect it to bear more wonderful fruits in the future. WELCOMING COMMUNITY NEWS CultureLink Mentorship Program Volume 4, Issue 6 Page 6 Luminato Edition June 2013 By Anna Paula Lima This is my first time volunteering for CultureLink-Luminato and it's been an amazing experience. My mentoring circle and I went on Saturday May 25 to Doors Open event. We visited the Ingram Arts Gallery in Yorkville and the Gardiner Museum. Although I've been in Toronto for a long time, I did not know much about the history of Yorkville from the 60's until we visited the Ingram Arts Gallery. We were very lucky on our visits. We had the great opportunity to speak to the artist Alain Bonder who had his work displayed at the Ingram gallery and we met Kathy Vender, the terracotta sculpture artist who will have her work shown at the Gardiner Museum from May 30 to Sept 15. It was great to talk to these amazing artists and know more about their artwork. WELCOMING COMMUNITY NEWS CultureLink Mentorship Program Volume 4, Issue 6 Page 7 Luminato Edition June 2013 CultureLink is a settlement agency located at Bloor and Dundas West in downtown Toronto. For 25 years, we have upheld our mission: CultureLink is dedicated to facilitating the Independence and full participation of newcomers in Toronto’s diverse community. CultureLink works within an antidiscriminatory framework to ensure a respectful, safe and inclusive environment. We hope you have enjoyed this issue our Welcoming Community Newsletter, and that you will look forward to future newsletters. 2340 Dundas Street West, Suite 301 Toronto, ON M6P 4A9 Phone: 416-588-6288 Fax: 416-588-2435 Visit us at: www.culturelink.ca Www.celebrateculturelink.ca CONTRIBUTORS Fei Tang CCMP Manager Newsletter Supervisor Tatiana Baltrushevich CCMP Worker Saskia Rinkoff Volunteer Coordinator, Luminato Festival Mary Pigott, Ivonne Bayona Anna Paula Lima CCMP Mentors The Welcoming Community News invites you, the members of the CultureLink Community to share your story with us. Please send your story, comments and thoughts to: [email protected] Please note that the submission deadline for our July edition is: Friday, July 26, 2013 Armando Pemberton, Amelia Zhang, CCMP Mentees The newsletter can be read online at http://www.culturelink.ca/index.php/publications Photo Credits: Mentorship Program Team Members, Mentors and Mentees
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