Our Neighbours: Mohamed
“I believe that Canada and Canadian people make the best out of their reputation. Everyone is speaking about the Canadians, it is not about Canada as a place, where it is located on a map… When they spoke about Canada, they spoke about the community, they spoke about the people, they spoke about what we are looking for. When you take the decision to immigrate you have options, you start making your own decision of whether we go to this country or that country. You have Canada, Australia, many countries, so you build your decision not based on economical situations or political situations, it is always about the people. I am taking my family, I am taking my kids, to a completely different place, in a different part of the world, with a different culture. This is a very critical decision, so you have to be confident and ensure that your kids and your family will be happy in this community and you can call it home… It is not about citizenship because, from the first week, our first day here, it was very obvious that we could call it home. Even if someone asks me where I am from, I say, “I am from Fredericton.” I can feel it and my kids feel this, so this is why we are happy.”
We live in a richly diverse community, but we sometimes don’t see the unique and beautiful individuals and families who live in Fredericton South. Many members of our community are overlooked, some are invisible, and sometimes they are Othered. In the coming months, I want to introduce you to some of our neighbours. They are us. This summer we are featuring the work of Faces of the Immigration Story, a collaborative effort to weave the experiences of Fredericton’s immigrants into an inspiring tale of their journey into becoming new Canadians.