BLOG BY SANJUKTA DAS
This year I completed fifteen years of our moving to this country, Canada.
Today as I look back, I cannot emphasize the importance of volunteering to my international students. Volunteering is an integral part of a typical Canadian culture. When I first came here, I was completely blown away with this concept, that even small children are encouraged to do it, and then gradually came to learn that high school students must complete mandatory volunteer hours. And then as they grow into adults, they start volunteering their time and skills in different places. From non-profit organizations, charities to political parties to religious faith organizations.
Before I came to Canada, I had no clue about the power of “volunteering”. During my first few weeks here, a very kind Canadian neighbour came to know my husband and I are volunteer teachers of the Art of Living, who teach breathing techniques and meditation and practice yoga every day. She came up with a request, if we would like to volunteer in her Church as a ‘Yoga’ teacher. I said yes, as I was not doing anything much. And that opened floodgates of every opportunity for me, in terms of integration into a new community, in a new country.
When I first got initiated to the concept of volunteering, in my country of origin, India. I saw and understood volunteering as work that one does in the personal time, freely for a cause. Coming to Canada, as a new immigrant, my concept about volunteering completely changed. I learnt volunteering in any organization is a way to learn how to integrate into the work force. It is the time I will give not only to strengthen the community, but it was more about my growth and integration.
Giving back to the community is treated with very high regard here in Canada. It has deep impacts in the life of new immigrants. In fact, I will not shy away from saying that my doors of employment opened because I started volunteering and was able to show my skills and ability. My transferable skills were well recognized by the nonprofit organization where I started volunteering twice a week in their cafeteria. And yes, it was my best learning experience.
The three most important ways that volunteering helped me when I first arrived, can be clearly categorized into:
a) It helped me to build my network from scratch
During my initial days or even months, when I arrived, we chose to stay in the city where my older son got accepted in the university. We moved into Kitchener, as he was going to Waterloo University. We did not know anyone other than one Indian family from the city we came from, in India. It was extremely isolating. I started conducting Art of Living classes/follow ups; my volunteer work for the community around me. And that was the beginning. From one family to the other I started connecting. I started learning about the local community. I would talk to any Indian I would meet at the grocery store. I would take their number and share mine. I would initiate conversations with them. There are some who became lifetime friends from there.
b) It helped me to learn the Canadian way of working and gain that experience that I so required.
As I started my life as a new immigrant the phase of the job search came. I learnt about the hidden job market. That there were positions that I could tap into through people I knew. That all job positions were not advertised openly or online. That the Canadian concept of a resume is completely different from the curriculum vitae I had taught my engineering college students in India. It was a huge learning for me. I learnt that I could use my expertise and skills of my past professional role in other professional roles. The place where I went to make my first resume triggered my interest about volunteering there. I remember I left seventeen voice messages, to get a call back. I never gave up! And finally, when I did get a call back, I said I was NOT looking for employment but a way I could help with my skills as a professor from India. It certainly worked. I was asked to volunteer in their cafeteria, not for resume writing! I embraced it and as I started volunteering in their Cafeteria I learned how to meet and greet customers. The terms and terminologies; the work ethics; and I started developing so many new skills unknowingly. I became an integral part of their fund-raising team. I had no idea what “fund raising” was before that! I learnt the power of having good references. What I did not know was that the executive director of that organization was observing me closely and in a month’s time a position was created for me as a “job developer” for international professionals. I was recruited by them with a full time permanent position. And there was no looking back after that. My current role in Humber college as a placement advisor stems from there.
c) It kept me connected to people and did not let me get depressed.
The challenges of adapting to a new country, a new society includes many barriers including separation from families, friends, feelings of loss which very often leads to depression. As life started rolling out in Canada, with many culture shocks and learning and unlearning about lifestyles, I started embracing the tools and techniques that I already knew. Knowing meditation was a valuable component I started spreading the word, that I was an Art of Living teacher and that I was going to start teaching. The word spread. I opened the doors of my simple apartment and started meditation sessions.
It was hard when my mind was all over with the barriers we were facing with integration. Being able to sit amidst all the anxiety and collect my mind and meditate helped me immensely at that time. That turning the mind inwards allowed me to be less distracted amidst the struggles. The mind started calming and I could start connecting despite the heaviness of integrating in the community. That peace helped me to network actively. While I was deconditioning, I was gaining mental clarity. I was undoing patterns in my mind, even as a professional. It helped me find gratitude in the smallest help and compassion I would receive from strangers. I felt nourished connecting with the people, through a way, that I was comfortable with, teaching the Art of Living course. It kept me busy and paved the way for a quality of life that I was very used to, even in India. It helped me to let go of my professional identity that I came with, from India. We as a family went through extreme down moments. Volunteering as an Art of Living teacher provided me with a sense of purpose, being involved in the community, teaching people to take care of their mental well being through something as simple as breathing techniques. Deep connections started developing and there were many positive life experiences we started gathering. Life as an immigrant started blossoming.
I can never finish emphasizing how volunteering can help the new population of international students coming to Canada. It’s an asset to be a volunteer. I keep repeating, volunteering brings a whole different dimension of hope and resiliency in the face of barriers and that is my topmost advice to anyone about overcoming challenges. It changed my narration completely as an immigrant woman and leaves me very grateful to this country, that I have embraced to be my own.
