CASSA is excited to be announcing the names of the featured leaders of the 2020 South Asian Heritage Month Poster in preparation for the South Asian Heritage Month, starting May 1st. This year's theme is Environmental Justice.
Yesterday, we conducted a workshop with seniors at Punjabi Community Health Services (@baldevmutta) to talk about community issues they care about and educate them about the upcoming election. Here's what they had to say:
"If you're a doctor, lawyer, or engineer back home, you come here and they want Canadian experience, so you end up being a taxi or Uber driver."
"There isn't any good intercity transit, from Brampton to Ottawa or London... or even just between here and Mississauga, you need to pay an extra fare to switch transit."
Today we continued our second day of civic engagement workshops with newcomers at @TNOtoronto! Participants talked about largely the same issues:
Housing was a significant concern for residents - they spoke about increasing rent costs, and property managers who do not take action after residents make complaints.
They also identified the expensive cost of dental care - check-ups and regular cleaning are luxuries that many can't afford. Long emergency wait times in hospitals were also concerning to many participants.
Today, CASSA conducted its first workshop in preparation for the upcoming federal election. We learned so much from the newcomers who participated around the issues they face in their community - thank you to the @TNOtoronto for having us! Here are some highlights:
Many newcomers spoke about the difficulty in finding jobs as many jobs require "Canadian experience". Newcomers have education and experience from their home countries, however, those degrees and skills are not seen as suitable or valid to employers here.
"The government accepts more immigrants, but they should also give immigrants more opportunity."
@Fatima_journey says it gave her the opportunity to meet her organ donor's family. @TrilliumGift#beadonor
"It changed me completely as a person. I feel so fortunate to see a conversation is happening amongst the South Asian community about organ and tissue donation. @LoveenGill@AmarKarma@TrilliumGift#beadonor
Second panel question: "What is the biggest challenge you've faced in advocating for organ and tissue donation?" @ShilpaRSharma@TrilliumGift#beadonor
Dr. Devendra Mishra says "You have to convince people out of the dilemma that once someone has died you must not touch the body." @TrilliumGift#beadonor
@BadatYusuf "Ignorance. People aren't sure whether it meets their religious values, their ethics - and the most important thing to do is to educate to combat that ignorance." @TrilliumGift#beadonor