My name is Ify.
I immigrated here to Quebec in 2018 with my husband and my son. We are from Africa, an English speaking country.
Our first months here in Quebec were not easy. We arrived during spring time, which was still cold. Our weather is always very hot where I am from. It was the first time for us to experience such a cold. Our skin, lips, nose, and eyes were affected with dryness.
We found it very difficult to communicate or get a job due to the language barrier. As refugee claimants here in Quebec, we didn’t have time to learn french before to immigrate. When my son started school it was not easy at all. He knew nothing in French, no words in French. He was forced to speak French with his mates, he couldn’t easily play, he was afraid of making mistakes. I had to encourage him, tell him to not be afraid. We had to devote enough time to ensure he learned and spoke French by registering him in so many activities, like going to the library, day camps, swimming pool etc. It took him about one year to learn it correctly.
While we were trying to find a good job to pay our bills, the government gave us money, social aid, but not enough to live on, to pay for winter clothes, for food and for our rent.
We also had issues understanding how things were working here. The amount of times I entered the wrong bus, stopped at the wrong bus stop.
Back in our country, things are different, the health system is different. You don’t need to book appointments in advance as here in Quebec. One day, the food banks gave me an appointment to give me food and I said yes. But I didn’t check my schedule. I already had an appointment that day with the hospital. When I tried to move the appointment, they told me the next appointment would be in a few months only. I was not used to organizing myself this way.
We also had a contract for a phone with a phone company, but we didn’t read the contract well before signing. The phone was not working well and then we were not able to contact the phone company to fix it. We understood that they took advantage of us. We should have asked more questions, but we didn’t know how things work here.
At some point, there were a lot of barriers, challenges and discomfort. But we wanted to stay in Quebec. There are a lot of good things and benefits from Quebec’s government. There are good schools and job opportunities. There are good hospitals which I benefited from when I was sick, the doctors, nurses and all the hospital attendants were nice to me. So we wanted to stay here and keep moving forward.
We found hope and courage facing all those challenges by asking questions from people already in the system. We learned a little bit more everyday about the system here and how to adapt. We learned from our own mistakes. I learned how to organize my schedule according to the Quebec system, I learned that appointments are important here.
At my son’s school, there was a lady there to help immigrant families to integrate. I decided to meet her, to ask for help. She connected me with different organizations and resources that have been helpful. She assisted us and guided us when we had questions.
There are some organizations that we went to for food, clothes, both for winter and summer shoes/boots. We were using the food banks that gave us cans, milk. The organization Saint-Vincent de Paul gave us coupons to pay for the school material for our son. Those organizations were really helpful for us.
After two years here in Quebec, there is a big difference now compared to our first months in Quebec. We are more used to the systems. My son is doing well in French now. My husband and I are currently enrolled in a French class and we are also both working. We eventually found ways to save money, we found out about the sales and prices reduced for winter clothes. We are better prepared for any type of weather, especially winter.
I encourage the newcomers to be focused, determined and not to be discouraged. There is hope in a new life here.
Histoires d'Espoir 