The other day, I was reminded that loud passionate voices are heard. Some of you may remember the great work we did with a group of women, who had been working in a sewing factory for many years, and were laid off. This event for many of the women was thought to be the end of their working lives. What could they do now that there was no more sewing factories to work at?
These women had limited language and transferable skills. They were both newcomers and long- term immigrants who had not developed their English skills and only knew about the types of work they were doing. There were many barriers and challenges. . However, DREAMS do come true. Surjit was one of our clients from that transition project. She always dreamed of working taking care of the eldery. She had tried once before to take her education and training to become a Health Care Aide, but the path to get there was long and painful, and she had to gave up, and instead she continue to work in the garment industry.
Life has away to bring you moments of awesome when you least expect. Recently, due to a family member having a stroke, my husband and I found ourselves at the Grace Hospital dropping in for a visit. As we walked down the hall, I heard my name being called with an accent very familiar to us. When we looked back, it was our past client Surjit, who proceeded to embrace me with a huge hug and great smile that lite up her face. She was genuinely happy to see us. Once again proceeded to tell me, that this path and life she has right now is all because of me and my loud voice. I started to laugh, because for those of you that know me, yes I do have a loud voice. However, I do know she did not mean it just litterally. She meant that because of my passion to build human capacity, I go all out and advocate loudly.
This group of women needed a “loud voice” to ensure their dreams would come true. I was always very honest with them about the challenges and the path they needed to take to the achieving their goals. We all had to work together, work hard and smart! They all needed to find the internal motivation to get through the difficult times, and determination and tenancity were key to getting there.
Surjit is proud to tell people that she is a HCA at Grace Hospital. She genuinely wants and does take care of the elderly providing them with warm care and dignity. She is taking care of our loved ones, and she get great deal of pride and satisfaction from doing the work she does.
Dreams do come true and the rewards are big smiles!!
