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Nenyo Kwasitsu is a Graduate Programs secretary at Dalhousie University and is a serving board member of the Im/Migrant Women’s Association of Halifax (IMWAH) where she also volunteers as a Project Coordinator for their Art and Storytelling project sessions with Immigrant and migrant women and their children.
What led you to resettle in Canada?
I am Ghanaian by birth. In the 1990s, my Dad did a 6-month course at Dalhousie University and he loved it. When I finished Law school in Ghana, I worked with a non-profit organization helping young people who had been imprisoned and mistreated over the commission of petty crimes. These were just kids who committed benign crimes, simply for survival. Our laws were draconian and subjected these young people to undue hardships and dismal outcomes so I decided to pursue a Master of Law at Dalhousie to explore better avenues of social justice and systemic policies that could help these youth and give them hope for a better future. I arrived in Canada in August of 2017.
What were some of your early successes and challenges?
Coming from a very large family where siblings, cousins and extended family surrounded me with a close and supportive social network, when I first arrived in Halifax, I was overwhelmed by the loneliness and isolation. I was wandering around the university campus like a ghost, feeling unseen, not included, an outsider. But this changed when I met Irena, a girl from Kenya, who was studying at the same university. She made me feel at home by introducing me to a Ghanaian restaurant and then later on to a group of other foreign students from different parts of the world. They received me with warmth, inclusion, and restored my sense of belonging to a community. In a sense, this diverse group of international students, became my community.
I had been working on campus as a student minutes taker but eventually, I got a job with the Halifax YWCA, facilitating newcomer women workshops by sharing tips and strategies with them regarding how to survive as a newcomer to Canada. I got to know about the Im/Migrant Women’s Association and became a board member. My own experience of feeling isolated and longing to be part of a community was instrumental in helping them to adjust and feel like they belong. I am grateful for the opportunity to study the N4 on-line program and develop more skills in helping newcomers. The program is the perfect complement to my interests in social justice and my passion to help newcomers to adjust to life in a strange, new but, welcoming country. It has helped me to understand the complexities of Canada’s various systems, including health and social services, and the common challenges professionals from the different sectors encounter in helping newcomers to settle in. At the same time, I learned how compassionate these professionals should be when it comes to helping others.
Nenyo has also extended her own compassion towards local female identifying Canadian youth by helping them to overcome socioeconomic challenges and build a more positive future through Dalhousie University’s Sister to Sister High School outreach.
What aspects of Canada do you enjoy the most?
I am touched by the diversity of Canada and that people in general are helpful. I also enjoy the snow - I do actually -as long as you are well-dressed. I enjoy the sheer beauty of this place - there are parks everywhere. I even discovered and enjoy pumpkin soup – pumpkin is not native to my homeland.
What advice would you provide to a newcomer?
If you don’t know something, ask, and you will discover the warmth and kindness that Canadians have to offer. Newcomers are often too shy to ask questions, or they simply don’t know who to ask, or where to get information.
What do you think of the current global civil rights movement?
As a lifelong student who has a solid interest in social justice, I think this current global civil rights movement is important and long-awaited. It highlights the social injustices that have been experienced by many vulnerable groups around the world for centuries. It is an opportunity for all of us to contribute to change that will improve the lives of the most vulnerable members of society and globally, it will provide positive outcomes for everyone.
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