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Welcoming Ottawa Week (WOW) is looking for stories about people who warmly welcome newcomers to the Ottawa community.
The WOW Ambassador project and contest is a new addition to the second annual event, which celebrates Ottawa’s immigrant past, present and future.
Immigrants are being invited to nominate goodhearted people who helped them to settle in by posting on the project’s Facebook page.
Stories might feature a person who went out of their way to help a newcomer grocery shop, find a school for their kids or land a job interview. Other posts could simply recognize someone who offered their support or friendship.
WOW Co-chair Sarah Onyango, who is heavily involved in Ottawa community media, says it’s important to highlight stories about what happens when the integration process goes right.
“This creates excitement around doing your part, around helping out, around celebrating,” says Onyango, who herself came to Canada from Kenya as a child and back again as a foreign student to attend the University of Ottawa.
“It makes people have faith in humanity, faith in society and its ability to lift up people who may not be able to lift themselves up,” she says. “These are the good news stories we need more of.”
Onyango says it’s not just about born-and-raised Ottawans helping out their new neighbours. It’s also about connections between new immigrants and even newer immigrants, and the sharing of common experiences.
Nominations will be accepted until noon on June 4. Then, a selection committee will choose a sampling of stories. Both nominee and nominator will become ambassadors and sit for a portrait by local photographer Dwayne Brown of the loveOttawa project, a celebration of Ottawa featuring photos of local personalities.
Brown was approached by WOW for advice on their new project. He offered to take on the portraits so Ottawa would be able to put a face to all the positive stories organizers hope they will receive.
“If you show examples of people being helpful, other people will want to be helpful. It’s a very positive project,” says Brown. “It’s exciting to meet people from somewhere else, and then to learn about those inspiring stories. I think it’ll be really cool.”
The portraits will be shown in an exhibition during WOW, which runs June 23-28.
Last year’s WOW, organized by the Ottawa Local Immigrant Partnership, featured 14 events. This year, there will be more than 25, including film screenings, book launches and a soccer tournament.
For those who don’t have a Facebook account, nominations can also be emailed to sherri@olip-plio.ca with “WOW Ambassador Nomination” in the subject line.
msmith@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/mariedanielles
查看原文...
The WOW Ambassador project and contest is a new addition to the second annual event, which celebrates Ottawa’s immigrant past, present and future.
Immigrants are being invited to nominate goodhearted people who helped them to settle in by posting on the project’s Facebook page.
Stories might feature a person who went out of their way to help a newcomer grocery shop, find a school for their kids or land a job interview. Other posts could simply recognize someone who offered their support or friendship.
WOW Co-chair Sarah Onyango, who is heavily involved in Ottawa community media, says it’s important to highlight stories about what happens when the integration process goes right.
“This creates excitement around doing your part, around helping out, around celebrating,” says Onyango, who herself came to Canada from Kenya as a child and back again as a foreign student to attend the University of Ottawa.
“It makes people have faith in humanity, faith in society and its ability to lift up people who may not be able to lift themselves up,” she says. “These are the good news stories we need more of.”
Onyango says it’s not just about born-and-raised Ottawans helping out their new neighbours. It’s also about connections between new immigrants and even newer immigrants, and the sharing of common experiences.
Nominations will be accepted until noon on June 4. Then, a selection committee will choose a sampling of stories. Both nominee and nominator will become ambassadors and sit for a portrait by local photographer Dwayne Brown of the loveOttawa project, a celebration of Ottawa featuring photos of local personalities.
Brown was approached by WOW for advice on their new project. He offered to take on the portraits so Ottawa would be able to put a face to all the positive stories organizers hope they will receive.
“If you show examples of people being helpful, other people will want to be helpful. It’s a very positive project,” says Brown. “It’s exciting to meet people from somewhere else, and then to learn about those inspiring stories. I think it’ll be really cool.”
The portraits will be shown in an exhibition during WOW, which runs June 23-28.
Last year’s WOW, organized by the Ottawa Local Immigrant Partnership, featured 14 events. This year, there will be more than 25, including film screenings, book launches and a soccer tournament.
For those who don’t have a Facebook account, nominations can also be emailed to sherri@olip-plio.ca with “WOW Ambassador Nomination” in the subject line.
msmith@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/mariedanielles
查看原文...
