_used to be

will |

« children at Queen Mary. :
~~ * When : they: first. came 'to the .
Lower Mainland, his. family lived

“ nadian-born’ children can

4 - Sunday, July 4, 1993 ~

Iranian community copes with new. country |

Nonh Shore News

Several agencies helping fast-growing group adjust to life in Canada

in the last instalment of a three-
part North Shore News feature
series on the fast-growing local
Iranian community, Stephen
Wisenthal looks at some of the
social factors affecting them. The
Iranians, estimated to be as much
as’ 20,000 strong on the North
Shore, have to cope with many of
the problems any newly arrived
immigrant community faces.

“By Stephen Wisenthal
‘ Contributing Writer

THE IRANIAN Community Cen-
tre is looking for a new home. It
in downtown Van-
couver, but last. month the direc-
tors decided to make the move to

~ the North Shore.

The move across Burrard Inlet
“reflect the. important role
North and West Vancouver play .

_ as’a focus for Iranians in the

Lower. Mainland — and the many
needs of the. fast-growing com-
munity.

Centre director Mansoor Hor-

* sandi says the facility is needed as

a base for volunteers. He hopes a
“new location will be found soon.

_ <The major role for, the centre is”
helping members of the Iranian :
‘community, many of whom. are |

recent arrivals to.Canada, adjust’
* to their new country, he says. .
Many of the new arrivals don’t

“know English, and. they’ find. it

challenging to adjust to a country
with a very different culture and
-. way of life from Iran’s.

A major area of difference i is at
“school  -

Catherine | Molinski. is ptincipal
of: Queen Mary’ community school
in North Vancouver. The school is’
one « of « North® Vancouver’s! few

" English’as a second language cen- :

Me. ;
The Central
_ around Queen. Mary is home to

_imany young, Iranian _ families.

., Their children, and the children of
a4 “Wariety of. other immigrant
“groups, make up a large. propor-
..tion of the pupils at Queen Mary.
‘We ‘want them to be! really -
proud of their culture and) lof be-
ing _ Canadian,” says Molinski.
Hamid .Dadizadeh has.-

in -Burnaby. They: soon. moved to:
“North Vancouver, attracted by the
existing community and cultural
- pportunities. : , 1.

After two years at Queen Mary,
“his children feel at home, he says.

It’ takes about two years: for
‘kids ‘from Iran to learn functional
~ fase says Dadizadeh. :

But catching up fully with Ca
take
four to eight years.

The education system here is
very. different from the approach

tithes:s of how: we
« children.” '

Lonsdale latea :

two.

bese i
REMARKS 4 tst NARROWS ‘

taken in Iran.

Many Iranian parents, “used to
seeing children doing a lot of rote
learning. such as memorizing
poems, are frustrated when their
children don't get much
homework, says Dadizadeh.

“They have a high expectation
of school.’’

Molinski concurs, ‘saying: “The
homework issue is a big issue. In
Canada, homework is just one
aspect of a busy child’s after-
schoo! schedule.’’

Dadizadeh says Iranian teachers
“control everything,’’ treating
pupils like empty vessels to be
filled with knowledge.

“Discipline is like a barracks.”’

Says Molinski: ‘That is the an-
trust our

Another area of concern in the

community is extracurricular ac-°

tivities — including trips. outside
school, school dances'and courses
such as family life programs.

“There is always a struggle,”’

she says.

But in those cases, the decisions
of the parents are always honored,
she adds,

Sometimes, solutions are found.
For example, a girl may wear
shorts for school athletic teams,
but with tights underneath.

Despite these differences, the
school is respected.

“Parents. feel happy and. safe
when their kids are at school but
not when they: are: outside,’’: says

_Dadizadeh.

Outside school, the. concerns are
the same as those which affect the
community as a whole — young

. people,” particularly in older age
groups,

becoming involved in
gangs and other kinds of trouble.

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“During two decades in fran,
you barely could find a knife, for
example,’’ says Dadizadeh. ‘“‘It is
not possible for an Iranian father
or mother to let his or her child
have a knife.’*

He speaks for many refugees
when he says: ‘‘We have lost
everything — we should gain
something — the education of our
kids.”

And it is that status as refugees,
uprooted from their homes with
no opportunity to return, that af-
fects a large proportion of the
Iranian community here.

Before the Canadian embassy in
Iran closed, Iranians coming to
Canada were able to apply as
immigrants.

For more than a decade, since —
the closure, they. have had to, |

come as refugee claimants.

Immigrants have had time to’

get English tutoring in~ Iran,
prepare for their move, and plan

for their future.

Refugees, on the other hand,
have often had to deal with great
hardships, such as fleeing through

Mouiitains to Turkey with only

the clothes on their backs.

By the time. they arrive’. in
Canada, some of the: children
haven’t been. in’ ‘schoo! for two or
three years. :

Dadizadeh / speaks of the
frustration Iranians feel when they
can’t find jobs, particularly if they
are unable to transfer their pro-
fessional qualifications from Iran.

“The reason why the Iranian
community has a tendency
towards business is because they
have been ‘unable to work in their
chosen professions,’’ adds
Dadizadeh. |

To help Iranians adjust to tife
in Canada, there are a number of
social services provided. Several
North Shore community . groups
have had Farsi-speaking people

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on staff at various times.
North Shore Family Services
has an Iranian community worker,

Roshi Ghomshei, who. works out”

of Queen Mary school.

Family Services executive direc:
tor Arlene Gladstone says demand
for help from ‘members: of the
Iranian community is increasing.

In March, Family Services _re-
quested $23,000 from North Van-
couver City Council to help fund/
another Iranian -community,

counsellor, but the request has not’

been approved yet.

North Shore Community Ser--
vices wants to provide more ser-
vices in Farsi.

Executive . director. Peat
McKenzie says: ‘‘There should jbe.~.

someone on our staff who ~ can

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