People move to Canada for many reasons. For Abeer, the decision was made for her children. She and her husband wanted to diversify their future opportunities and widen their perspectives. This family arrived January of 2015 from Jordan.
Like many new Canadians, Abeer felt that she would have benefited from practicing her English more before her arrival, however, she felt the Library Champions Project helped her push her comfort zone and be less shy of speaking this language. This program offered ample opportunity to meet and interact with other newcomers and learn of other’s challenges and successes.
Library Champions are trained to market and promote libraries to other newcomers in BC. While training, Champions are provided with opportunities to learn of the programs and services available at their local libraries. They also have opportunities to practice their English through presentations to newcomer groups and word of mouth.
Abeer was surprised with the variety of activities that libraries provide, the selections of books in multiple languages, and the different sections of the libraries – children’s books, computer labs, teen rooms, and more. She spends much of her time in the children’s section of the library with her kids, exploring the multitude of books, play toys, and computer games available. She loves that libraries are so open and community oriented.
Abeer’s advice for newcomers is to utilize the resources available online to research information they need instead of asking other newcomers for it. She says each person’s experiences and circumstances are different.
While she misses everything about Jordan, she’s happy to be in Canada close to all of the amenities she and her family need. She loves the diversity of Canada and how family-friendly it is here, and she’s happy to be sharing it with her husband at her side watching their children grow into the opportunities that are available to them here.