20. Terrace Review — Wednesday, Februy 18; 1987

TERRACE — What kind
of changes does a family
from the rural Punjab
area of northern India
face when immigrating to
Canada?

by Pat Cathers
Terrace contributor

- What stresses and ex- .
pectations arise from

migration? And how can
mainstream. society make
the’ transition easier for
the newcomers?

These were among the. }

topics explored as the Ter-
race & District Multi-

cultural Association began

its celebration of - B.C.
Multicultural Week with a
discussion on ‘‘Crossing
Cultural Barriers’’.
The afternoon event,
which -attracted about 50
people, was organized
with the help of the Ter-
race Women’s Resource
Centre, Northwest Devel-
opment Education Associ-
ation, and AMSSA, the
parent -group of multi-
cultural associations,
Guest speakers were’
Harminder Sanghera and

Raminder Dosanjh, both

teachers of English as a
second language in Van-
couver and longtime
multicultural’ workers in
the Indo-Canadian com-
munity.

Mrs. Sanghera describ-
ed traditional family life
in rural India and Mrs,
Dosanjh detailed the im-
pact of migration and the
social demands it brings.

’ Most Terrace people of —

Indian origin are from the
Punjab area and of the
Sikh religion, as she is,
said Mrs: Sanghera, and
reveal this by their names
and dress. ‘“‘Sanghera’’ in

fact means ‘‘farmer’’. Be- -

cause in a rural society
people are often identified
by their occupation, many
families in’ Punjab don’t
use their formal family
names, and since the fer-
tile Punjab is predomi-
nantly agricultural,
Sanghera is a fairly com-
mon name, she explained,

Plots of 30-40 acres sus-
tain a family well enough

to meet its basic needs,

People live in villages of
2,000 to 10,000. Each

village is generally self-. -

sufficient, with a small
dispensary, meeting places
for both men and women,
a shoemender, ironsmith,
and perhaps a small fabric
shop.
Most children attend
elementary school, with
sometimes a junior high
which serves two or three
villages. The education of
girls used to be valued on-
ly in so far as it prepared
them to be wives and
mothers, but since the
1950s that has changed,
Mrs. Sanghera said.
Family roles are clearly
defined. The elders are
held in respect and the
young not encouraged to
prove themselves indepen-
dent at a very early age.
--Any money that comes
in is pooled for the good
of all family members.

_ The “joint” family system _

“Grossing ¢ cultural E barriers

“|

Multicultural Week |

Nirmal Parmar,

president of the Terrace and District

Multicultural Association, is promoting organizational events

for Multicultural Week Feb. 15 to 23 in Terrace.

(rather than the -‘‘extend-
ed’’ family) is most com-
mon, with a man and
wife, their children, his
parents, and perhaps
brothers and sisters and
their families, all living
together.

Marriages ‘are generally
arranged by the parents.
Sometimes the young

couple is allowed to meet”

before the ceremony,
sometimes not. _

On entering Canadian
society, Raminder Do-
sanjh explained, the pace

of life for such a family

quickens dramatically.
Accustomed to rising with
the sun, the family must

“-now meet the demands of

the clock, a concept for-
eign to them. Water is
available from taps of
cold and hot, rather than
from handpumps. The
presence of items basic to
Canadian society such as
stoves and fridges must be
gotten used to. And the
family must learn to dress
to meet the rigors of the
climate.

Most challenging of all
is the newcomers’ lack of
knowledge of ‘the main-

_ steam language, which can

“bring even the most in-

telligent and the most ac-

tive to a standstill,’’

‘Dosanjh said.

It limits one’s social and
political life, and also
one’s knowledge and
understanding of one’s
most basic rights as a
citizen and as a worker.

Moreover, if parents -
don’t learn the language -

they are forced to become’

dependent on their one |

dren (who learn it at
school) — a role reversal
which challenges their
authority,

Most unfortunate of all,
according to Mrs. Do-
sanjh, is the tendency of
many adults to quit learn-
ing English once they have
mastered enough of it to
land a job — a decision
which limits their ability
to advance to higher-
status and better-paying
Positions.

Migration affects the

-women in particular, Do-
-sanjh said, Conflicts with

in-laws may arise when a

younger woman, raised to.

be submissive and to seek
the permission of her
mother-in-law before tak-
ing action, herself changes
and becomes more self-
confident and indepen-
dent when she gets a job.
Immigrant women, gen-
erally unskilled in work
outside the home, tend to
take the lowest paid jobs

with the worst working
conditions, the jobs that
Canadians on the whole
don’t want. While in India
family responsibilities are
more evenly .shared, in

Canada a woman must’.
not only work outside the -

home but also do all the
housework too on her
return. -

If it should happen that

‘her husband takes to beat-

ing her, she probably does
not know how to deal with
it, since she has been rais-
ed to be passive and also
fears blame’ from her

family and ostracization ©.

from her community.
Since most Indo-Can-

adians- came here. in .the_

‘70s, their children are
now in their. teens and co

-_generation gap is emerging,

said Dosanjh. Parents
want to preserve their cul-
ture and are afraid of
Canadian society’s per-
missiveness.. Teens are

keen to take an active part .

in social activities. Here
again, the young women
feel the effects more than

their brothers. As a way’

out of the dilemma the

cultural worker - liaising
witha home-school organ-
ization),

J addressing the needs of
the parents’ generation as
well as those of the’ chil-
dren.

@ hiring © social
_ workers who are culturally

aware and understand the.”
their

background. of
clients.

0 fostering the help. of ©
progressive individuals in .

the community. _
-@ pressing for

-CFRO' and Co-op Radio

of Vancouver, and mak-

"ing use of channel 10).
o. -outreaching to the

immigrant community
through readily accessible

places (eg. doctors’
fices).

Above all English as a
Second Language (ESL) is
a must. Also, the process
for evaluating the profes-
sional and educational

of-

parents start to look for a

spouse for their daughter,
who herself may not wish
to be party to an arranged
‘Marriage.

Certain recreational op-
portunities. open to the
wider society may be inac-

cessible to women, Cul-.

tural up-bringing is hard
to. overcome, and even
now — after 25 years —
Mrs. Sanghera said she is
still reluctant to swim in
mixed company.

But the repercussions
from ani inability to speak
the language may be even
more serious. If a family
member must go into hos-
pital the physician may
have great difficulty in

‘talking over what is

wrong, since discussing

- certain parts of the body i is

unacceptable to the im- -
“migrants.

How can the communi.

ty at large help overcome
such conflicts? Both
‘speakers recommended:

@ holding workshops and

seminars to increase cul-
tural understanding.

@ asking for longterm
funding for special social

_services that can alleviate

problems (eg. a multi-

f

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service.

- would-be

service :

‘more.
ethnic programming local. .
- - ly. (eg. the programs of

A picture speaks

» qualifications of

immigrnats
should ‘be offered, since

‘immigrants who are look--
ing forward to a better life

‘tend to see only. the

bright side, not the
bitter.”

"Mrs. Dosanjh said dis-

_ cussions on this very topic
have been ongoing. with

the Canadian consultate in

Delhi for 16 years, with no
" progress.

Two things not recom-
mended were the hiring of
social. workers solely on

_ the. basis of: their ethnic

origin, since some may
look down on their com-
patriots, and the establish-
ment of centres for specif-
ic ethnic groups, which
tend to ‘‘ghettoise’’ that
group and are impractical
if they serve too large an
area,

For more information

on the Multicultural Asso- |

ciation, contact its presi-
dent, Nirmal Parmar,

635- 3583, evenings.

a thousand words
Drawings by art students at Caledonia Senior Secondary
School -were among the projects recently displayed in the
board room of Schoo! District 88 (Terrace).

Entertainment
«this

ar

Northern
| Motor
Inn

This week’s
feature:

Where It’s at...

Aguideto |
Terrace's .
night life —
the “who
where and
when" for
entertainment,

Outstanding
_Entertalnment
nightly!

im-
‘migrants should be: re-
viewed, in order to give
them the recognition they:
deserve. In addition, an _
orientation program » for