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The Brazilian community in the Greater Vancouver Area is getting more attention this year with their CarnaWest event, bringing Brazilian music, food, and Capoeira to New Westminster on August 4th. The Brazilian Community Association of British Columbia (BCA-BC) was created in 1996 to help Brazilians integrate into B.C. and promote their culture. Since then, they…
Every five years, Statistics Canada produces the Canadian Survey on Disability, a national survey of Canadians aged 15 and older whose everyday activities are limited as a result of a long-term health condition or health-related problems. While the number of Canadians with developmental disabilities is less than 1%, the latest survey also shows that 13.7%…
The International Federation for Research on Women’s History/La Federation Internationale Pour la Recherche en Histoire des Femmes (IFRWH/FIRHF) will hold its 12th conference at Simon Fraser University from Aug. 9–12. This year’s theme, Transnationalisms, Transgressions, Translations: Conversations and Controversies, will explore frameworks, narratives, interactions and power relations across time and space at local, national and global…
Mahwish Yousaf has guided, counselled and mentored female immigrants in need for over two decades. She believes that more women could be supported through community-based partnerships and volunteerism. “I’m only one person,” says Yousaf. “To help more women, I knew I would have to build a network of resources to reach them all.” With a…
Greek Summerfest will be returning to Vancouver for the 32nd consecutive year from July 5–15. With many different Greek societies and associations in the Metro Vancouver area, including the Cretan Association of B.C., the festival has grown from one weekend in 1987 to an event that spans 11 days and is attended by over 40,000…
UBC Public Scholars Award recipient Bronwyn Bragg worked with immigrant and refugee communities as a community-based researcher in Calgary before returning to school to complete her PhD in human geography. Her current research findings may shed light on how immigration policy can affect the successful resettlement of Syrian refugees in the Lower Mainland. Through her…
“How we treat the poorest and the most vulnerable people in our community is an indication of what we are like as a society and it’s really important to make sure no one is left behind,” says Zulie Sachedina, Vice President, Human Resources and General Counsel at Providence Health Care. Sachedina, a 2018 YWCA Women…
Muslim festival Eid ul-Fitr is little celebrated in Vancouver, but Sarah Zafar and her fellow volunteers are aiming to change that. On June 17, they are organizing Vancouver’s first ever Eid ul-Fitr Festival. It’s Muslim tradition with a Vancouver twist. “This is one of the Islamic celebrations [for] all Muslims around the world. It’s a…
Sina Yetbarek and her family arrived in Canada just over four years ago from Uganda. “World Refugee Day is a day to raise awareness of the aspects and challenges of what a refugee goes through before becoming a refugee, during, and when they arrive to the new country by starting a new life all over…
“Rock for Autism is a concept found all over the world, and we need support to graduate to becoming a charity that supports as many of these folks as possible. Why? Because these are the people who remind us of our own humanity, and in our own humility we should work with them as we…
With its Cyrillic alphabet, the Russian language is one of the most complicated to learn. But, as Inna Mikailov and Stan Kriventsov explain, many Vancouverites speak Russian − and they’re not all from Russia. June 6th, Russian Language Day, marks the beginning of a summer of events designed to unite Russian language speakers in Vancouver.…
After competing with her fellow storytellers, T’uy’t’tanat-Cease Wyss had more than her fingers crossed when applying for the Vancouver Public Library’s Indigenous Storyteller in Residence Program. Having survived the interview and panel process, she was honoured to be chosen and couldn’t wait to start sharing stories and redefining what people thought of storytelling. According to…
What is the fate of leftover hotel bar soaps? How could it possibly be linked to battling drug and alcohol addiction? Soap for Hope, a student-run non-profit project out of SFU has made the creative and bold attempt to bridge the two and has successfully helped both the environment and the marginalised people of society…
