When Vinu Abraham was growing up in India, he had to write letters and wait for a response in order to communicate with others.

The Francophone community of British Columbia is often lost as an “invisible” minority amongst the diversity of the province, but its rich roots continue to grow a vibrant community.

One in five Canadians will experience a mental illness during their lifetime, but only a third of these people will receive the treatment they need when the time comes.

When North Vancouver’s Anna Rice reached the round of 16 in female singles badminton at the 2008 Summer Olympics, she became the first North American ever to do so.

To get the flu shot or to not get the flu shot, that is the question. But in Vancouver, there is no shortage of alternative preventions to the flu.

Russian-born Yana Ilinykh, 36, and India-UK immigrant Nina Lindley, 55, represent the multicultural base from which many Vancouverites might draw dieting wisdom.

This year, in Vancouver and throughout much of the world, there has been a vigorous drive to build momentum and create movement towards positive change. From coverage of local groups promoting the integration of diversity, to reflection on larger political issues, throughout the year the Source Newspaper provided readers with a front row view of change in our community. Let’s take a look back.

Three decades later, Italian-Canadian Luisa Bucci still can’t come to terms with the car accident that left her a paraplegic at the age of 19. With her manual wheelchair, Bucci needs an accessible apartment with a no-step entry, wider doorways and an altered bathroom and kitchen. Her current housing situation is not fully accessible, leaving her with constant safety concerns.

Sung Hak Kim has lived in Canada for three years since coming from South Korea. Kim, executive secretary of the Korean Society of BC, remembers the public and government officials meeting in the national cemetery in Seoul with the format similar to Canada’s events – military bands, gun salutes and the placing of wreaths at the base of monuments.

Mohammed Imraz Asin, funeral director for the British Columbia Muslim Association, says that his association has purchased bulk cemetery space in Chilliwack in an effort to decrease the expense of funerals for their members.

Since being officially designated as a health profession by the BC government in 2000, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has slowly made its way into mainstream health care. John Yang, MD and Dean at PCU College of Holistic Medicine, says there are almost 1800 licensed TCM practitioners in BC.

Born and raised in Vancouver, filmmaker Mark Sawers loves laughter. Sawers, 46, is an award-winning director of numerous short films and TV series with 20 years in the industry. His first feature-length production, Camera Shy, is one of the 63 films in the Vancouver International Film Festival’s (VIFF) Canadian Images program this year.