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James Swaka, a student of the N4-SPU Online Program, was born in South Sudan and came to Canada as a refugee student through the World University Service of Canada (WUSC) program. Starting in university, James was called upon to be an interpreter of both the language and the experience of people who were coming from refugee camps due to his own lived experience with these camps. He now works as a case manager at Reception House for the Waterloo region, an organization that welcomes and settles government-assisted refugees (GARs) in Canada.
At the Reception House, he regularly interacts with people from all over the world to help them settle in Canada, including newcomers from Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and South America. The latest group of refugees to arrive in his care are from South East Asia. James explains: “When these new cultural groups arrive in Canada, in our community, it is very useful to have more information and background on their customs, beliefs, languages, and whatever else we can learn, to help them in a culturally safe manner and make their settlement process easier for them, especially knowing that they have experienced a lot of trauma.” His role as case manager is to assist and provide necessary services such as medical or system navigational needs across the social services and health sectors, as well as manage their concerns and questions. While the expected timeline for settling in Canada is one year, James describes it as more realistically taking around five years for a newcomer to truly feel comfortable in their new Canadian community.
The COVID-19 pandemic has created many new challenges at the Reception house. The new focus on technology as the main method of communication has been both a barrier for those who struggle with technology, and useful for those familiar with using zoom, cell phone apps, and messaging. Furthermore, the isolation many refugees have been experiencing as a result of quarantine or social distancing has been difficult for them on many levels and limits their ability to access services.
Food insecurity has also been a significant issue impacting newcomers, and it was recognized early on in the pandemic. James and his colleagues use a weekly survey to identify those who need help. The relevant social services are then contacted and deployed to provide newcomers with essential food supplies. As James explained, “From my own experiences, food is always the first thing on the agenda in camps. You have limited food and it’s that ration of food you have to rely on. It creates a mentality of having to calculate how much food you’ll have to go through. Everybody that comes from this experience constantly have that in their mind and it creates an anxiety in a lockdown situation. We have been dealing with that heavily since the pandemic began, and we have been creating a community that has the ability to provide hot meals to residents. It’s a big issue and it’s not in anyone’s control, but there was a call to react to this urgent need.”
When asked about whether or not he found his role gratifying, he had this to say. “I like learning new things all the time, and I like helping others. Working in the field of newcomer navigation is unpredictable and challenging, even more so during a pandemic. You have to be creative and resourceful to address some of these issues. Between the on-line program and the N4 network, there are tools and support that are very helpful during this pandemic.”
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