Peace, Freedom and Dignity

 

Jack Anserlian

 

As a youth who moved to Canada recently, interviewing a senior from a similar cultural background to me proved to be a very enlightening and interesting experience. It made me realize, among other things, that immigrants go through different experiences in their quest for a new life, and that the process of adaptation and acculturation varies from one person to another. Furthermore, for some, immigration proves to be a very arduous and unpleasant journey, while for others, the obstacles are less difficult and more easily dealt with. The factors that affect one’s immigration experience are many; among them are age, gender, religious affiliation, marital status, familiarity with the language of the host country, professional and financial status, and the availability of ethnic and religious institutions in the host country which can help facilitate the process and so on.

 

Jack is one of the seniors I had the pleasure of interviewing. He recounted how he planned to leave his country, Iraq, and immigrate to Canada, together with his first impressions about his new homeland. Jack was born in Iraq to a family of Armenian descent. He lived in Baghdad in a three-storey home. He had good memories of his childhood there: his friends, the simple but happy games he played, and the church he served in and attended. Life was pleasant and it also had purpose. He was surrounded with caring family and close friends.

 

When he graduated from university he began to feel that something fundamental was lacking in his life. The urge to embark on an adventure was so strong that he started to think about immigrating to either the United States or Canada. Jack was not happy with the socio-economic conditions in Baghdad and in living under a dictatorial political regime. The economic conditions were not all that promising and he did not think that he had a future in Iraq. He also did not like the fact that the average Iraqi citizen was not respected by the government and was not treated with dignity. Anyone could be accused of treason or conspiring against the government and be tortured or jailed simply by expressing a different opinion than that espoused by the ruling elite. As an intellectual, he found this lack of freedom intolerable as it led to a great deal of hypocrisy and mistrust among individuals.

 

Jack had relatives in Canada and he began corresponding with them to inquire about the possibility of coming here. His family was already aware of his desire to immigrate, however, his mother, brother and sister decided to stay in Iraq. He did a lot of fact-finding research about Canada, and in his own words “he settled before he even came here”. When Jack landed in Canada he was 24 and it was the year 1974.

 

Jack’s first impression about Canada was very positive. For the first time in his adult life he felt that this is a country where the individual is respected, where people are treated with dignity. He also liked the concepts of openness and freedom in Canada, and that here anything seemed possible.

 

Jack started to attend church and mingle with Canadian-born and non-Canadian born families. In 1988, he met a young lady while attending church and she caught his fancy – he later married her. Jack never had a problem with the language since he was already fluent in English before he came here. This made it easy for him to find a job as an insurance underwriter, the same work that he did in Iraq. After five years in the insurance business, he worked in market research for ten years. He took computer related courses and in the 1990’s with the implosion of the computer onto the workplace, he began to work in the computer business.

 

Jack really misses his family and friends back home, but he has not been back to Iraq for 34 years and does not intend to return. The situation in Iraq makes him unhappy and he is sad for the ordinary Iraqi who went from an unjust ruler to the total destruction of the country by foreign occupation. He is happy in Canada and is proud to call himself a Canadian. He especially loves the peace, freedom and sense of dignity that he has here. He believes that he has witnessed a great deal of change in Canada from the time he first arrived. He feels that now there is more corruption at all levels of society and that human rights are not as well-guarded as they used to be.

 

Jack’s advice to new immigrants is to “persevere, be flexible, and accept change”. He truly believes that complaining does not accomplish anything and could make adjusting more difficult since it takes energy from engaging in more positive actions. There are people who live as if they are in hell on earth, when in fact, being grateful would be the more appropriate way to look at life. Jack is very happy and satisfied with his decision to come to Canada and he has never regretted it.