Day 13 - HAPPINESS AND RESILIENCE

Day 13

There is a Haitian woman in my class this session. She left Haiti on January 11th, 10 days after the earthquake. She came with her kids, but her husband stayed back. He is the Director of a Haitian Financial Institution, so why would he immigrate to Canada? To start a career as yet another over-qualified Canadian immigrant taxi driver? Looking at her trying to build a new life for her and her children made me think of how happiness is also a about resilience.

I once had a Rwandese student, her name was Gertrude, I will never forget her. She was a true ray of sunshine. Every morning, she would walk into class with a huge smile on her face. I remember the whiteness of her teeth and the brightness of her traditional African outfits! During Rwanda’s genocide, she had lost her husband, three siblings, cousins, uncles and friends. She had lived through pain not many of us have experienced. Yet, she didn’t stay home and weep all day. She didn’t drown herself in her misery. She found the courage to change her life.

She immigrated to Canada, by herself. She was told that it would be easier to come alone as a refugee. So, she left her children behind with her sister. When she was following the course, she was in the middle of her struggle with the Canadian bureaucracy to try and get her children to join her. It was June 2003. The following September, I was in the middle of teaching when she walked in and told me she had a surprise for me. Somehow I knew what it was. “I want you to meet my children”, she said. And there they were, her 12 year-old son and her 15 year-old daughter. It had taken her two years, but she had succeeded in bringing her children over from Rwanda. I was so moved, I could barely keep on teaching that day!

The matter of the fact is, despite all her suffering, she had chosen to live. She even got remarried. I remember when students would complain about the cold weather, the rain or the health system, she would look at them in disbelief! She loved winter, she loved summer, she loved people, she loved life. She used her suffering as a diving board to plunge into the unknown in hope of finding happiness, and she did. She is a true example of strength, courage and resilience. And in my life, since I met her, she has been a true source of inspiration.