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EVERY STORY MATTERS... ADD YOURS | SPRING 2010 | #8 contents career strategy Your Rights at Work 2 celebrations Passover 4 Easter 5 Nowruz 7 Holi Festival 8 Black History Month 9 neighbourhood buzz 10, 29 youth page 12 faces of bathurst-finch Interview with Helen Rostmoff 14 nutrition 16 recipes 17 community life 18 interview Number One Woman 20 neighbourhood event International Women’s Day 22 health Women’s Health: Creating Balance & Renewal in 5 Easy Steps 23 Стресс: пора меняться и двигаться вперед 24 Kaleidoscope Mini-Guide: General ESL and LINC programs 26 events calendar 31 COMMEMORATION Helen S. Rostmof (read the interview on page 14)

Bathurst-Finch Kaleidoscope Spring Issue BFK-Spring-2010

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Kaleidoscope Mini-Guide: events calendar; recipes; celebrations; interview; nutrition; General ESL and LINC programs; career strategy | faces of bathurst-finch | health | Your Rights at Work | Interview with Helen Rostmoff | International Women’s Day | Easy Steps- Women’s Health: Creating Balance| Stress: пора меняться и двигаться вперед Bathurst-Finch Kaleidoscope (BFK) is a community magazine distributed at Bathurst and Finch neighborhood. BFK covers different practical themes as job searching, health eating, primary health care. You can read at BFK interesting interviews with famous people and community residents

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every story matters... add yours | spring 2010 | #8

contentscareer strategy

Your Rights at Work 2

celebrationsPassover 4

Easter 5Nowruz 7

Holi Festival 8Black History Month 9

neighbourhood buzz 10, 29

youth page 12

faces of bathurst-finchInterview with Helen Rostmoff 14

nutrition 16

recipes 17

community life 18

interviewNumber One Woman 20

neighbourhood eventInternational Women’s Day 22

healthWomen’s Health: Creating Balance

& Renewal in 5 Easy Steps 23Стресс: пора меняться и двигаться вперед 24

Kaleidoscope Mini-Guide:General ESL and LINC programs 26

events calendar 31

COMMEMORATION Helen S. Rostmof (read the interview on page 14)

2 | spring 2010 | bathurst-finch kaleidoscope

career strategy

Know YourRights at Work

Kaleidoscope Spring 2010, Volume 3, Issue 2

©2008 by Action for Neigh-bourhood Change. No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior permission. Kalei-doscope is published four times per year by Action for Neighbourhood Change. The articles in this newspaper are contributions of individual residents and do not neces-sarily reflect the views of the publisher.We would like to thank all our contributors and our dedicated Newspaper Committee: Nina Zaslavsky, Leonid Predein, Joss Brandt, and Nina Shenhav.

We would greatly appreciate your input. We invite you to send your comments onthe newspaper and your submissions to Action for Neighbourhood Change

ANC staff in Bathurst-Finch are Julie, Hannah, Victoria, Oleg, and Tara.

Please visit us in our office.Action for Neighbourhood Change5987 Bathurst StreetSuite 104 (2nd Floor)Toronto, ON M2R 1Z3Phone: 647-436-0385E-mail: [email protected]: www.newheightshealth.org/anc

Under the Em-ployment Stan-dards Act, the

practice of charging workers a fee to find work is illegal. This so-called “job finding ser-vice” takes advantage of workers who are desper-ate to find work. Often these workers are new immigrants. Be careful, watch out for scams!

If you are working...

Once you find a job, it is important to make sure your employer is treating you appropri-ately. The first step is to make sure you have been hired according to stan-dard practices. Make sure your boss provides a contract outlining the job description, your rate of pay, vacation time and benefits (if any), and any other specific de-tails you think should be included.

You are considered an employee of an organization when:

» You receive training from the company » The company

supervises your work » Your boss gives you a

schedule and sets your rate of pay » You work with

company tools and equipment » Your work is clearly

part of the businessIf these points do not

apply to your current job, you should seek advice.

As an employee of an organization, you have certain rights that are protected by the govern-ment and the law. If you have a problem at work, you are protected under the Employment Stan-dards Act, the Human Rights Code and the Oc-cupational Health and Safety Act. You may be eligible for benefits from the Employment In-

surance (EI), Canadian Pension Plan (CPP) or the Workplace Safe-ty and Insurance Board (WSIB).

You could also choose to be self-employed. You are self-employed when:

» You can control how your work is done » You can negotiate your

pay and when your work has to be done » You own some of your

tools » You take the full profit

or loss from the workIf you are self-em-

ployed, make sure to sign a contract for every job you do, with the same details as the con-tracts described above.

In all employment situations, the most im-portant thing to do is to protect yourself. You can do this in a number of ways, below is a list of suggestions:

» Keep a record at home of all dates, hours and wages paid to you » Obtain all your

employer’s contact information – name, phone number, address, car licence plate numbers, name (and/or number of the corporation, if appicable), etc. » Always get a pay slip or

record of all your pay » If your boss is paying

you less than minimum wage, keep a record of it » Calculate how much

you should be paid by minimum wage standards » If your boss is paying

everyone less than minimum wage, talk to the other staff. Organize a meeting at the Workers’ Action Centre to discuss how to improve your working conditions

Contracts and temporary employment

Frequently, employ-ers offer short-term con-

Finding a good job is extremely important. As we all know, bills pile up and it can be challenging to keep on top of finances. Sometimes people take jobs that are outside their field or below their usual pay rate, in order to make ends meet. Unfor-tunately, sometimes people are taken advantage of in their jobs. The purpose of this article is to inform you about your rights at work and what to do when your man-ager breaks the law. Knowing your rights is only the first step. This article also gives you resources to contact, in case you need advice on your particular situation.

By Victoria Khardas

bathurst-finch kaleidoscope | spring 2010 | 3

career strategy

tracts. This often means there will be no bene-fits and that you will be looking for a job again. However, contracts can be a good idea, if you are looking to add to your resume and increase your experience. They can also lead to perma-nent positions within the same organization/agency. Decide wheth-er you would rather wait for full- time permanent employment, (which could take longer and be more difficult), or try to take a couple of contract positions – in the end it is up to you.

As a contract worker you still have rights. For example, you have the right to paid public holi-days or to take another day off with the equiva-lent amount of pay.

Please see the sum-mary below for your rights as an employee –

either permanent, con-tract or self-employed. » General minimum

wage is $10.25 » You do not have to

work more than 8 hours in any one day (except if you have a written agreement with your employer) » You do not have to

work more than 48 hours a week (except if you have an agreement and approval from the Ministry of Labour) » After 44 hours per

week, you should get paid overtime, which is 1.5 times your regular pay (except if you have a written agreement to take paid time off instead of overtime pay) » Every time you leave

a job, your boss must give you a Record of Employment (ROE), which includes your name, the name of the company, the total hours worked,

the total gross wages earned and the reason for leaving

Termination of work: » You can be fired

without notice, if you have worked for less than 3 months

» After the third month, your boss must give you written notice or termination pay instead

» You are entitled to a work place free of discrimination and harassment If you are facing harassment, you can make a complaint to the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal at www.hrto.ca

» If you are injured at work, you need to fill out the proper (WSIB) forms and then y ou can receive compensation for your injuries

Under the Employment Standards Act, the practice of charging workers a fee to find work is illegal. This so-called “job finding service” takes advantage of workers who are desperate to find work, often these workers are new immigrants. Be careful, watch out for scams!

ResourcesDo you need additional information? Please

contact the resources below for follow up

questions. Also, feel free to contact New

Heights Community Health Centres, at

Bathurst and Finch, to organize a workshop

on Workers’ Rights. Call 647-436-0385. » Ministry of Labour: 1-800-531-5551

» Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB): (416) 344-1011

» Canada Pension Plan (CPP: 1-800-277-9914

» Employment Insurance (EI): 1-800-206-7218

» Toronto Workers’ Health and Safety Legal Clinic: (416) 461-2411

If you are facing a problem at work,

contact the Workers’ Action Centre at (416)

531-0778,

or visit the website at www.

workersactioncentre.org, for information

on how they work and what they do.

The beginning of this Spring festival fell on March 29 and 30 this

year. It is an eight-day festi-val which celebrates the free-ing of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt. Families in-vite friends and strangers to celebrate the festival together. The first two evenings are Seder nights on which the Haggadah

is read, which tells the Passover story. It tells of the hasty jour-ney from Egypt, at which time they were unable to bake their bread properly and baked Mat-zot – unleavened bread – in-stead. The youngest child in the house reads the four questions.

During the eight-day festi-val, only unleavened bread is eaten and no foods containing

leaven are allowed. Before Pass-over, the whole house is cleaned and on the night before Pass-over starts, a symbolic search is made throughout the house for Chametz – leaven. It is custom-ary to place ten pieces of bread in various places, so when the search is carried out, leaven will be found. On the morning after the search, the remain-

ing leaven is burned. Before the search, a candle is lit and a blessing is recited. Special sets of dishes, cutlery, and cooking utensils, are used - one for meat and another for milk.

Typical Passover foods are those using matzo meal, pota-to flour and lots of eggs.

Happy Passover!

Almond Pudding – a favourite Passover dessert

By Joss Brandt

Ingredients: » 3 eggs

» 4 oz. (1/2 cup) castor sugar

» 3 oz. ( ¾ cup) ground almonds

Whisk egg yolks and sugar together until thick and creamy. Fold in the ground almonds. Whisk the egg whites until stiff and fold in gently. Transfer to a greased 4- cup pie dish. Bake in the oven at 350oF for 45 minutes. Serve immediately after removing the pudding from the oven. Serves 4. (Source: Jewish Cooking. Carr & Oberman)

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celebrations

The Passover seder is one of the most widely observed of all Jewish customs, and at the center of every seder is a seder plate. Because of the popularity of the Passover seder, and because of the seder plate’s central position in its observance, the plate has become a very common outlet for Jewish artistic expression.

Most seder plates have six dishes for the six symbols of the Passover seder. These are:Maror (bitter herbs)

Bitter Herbs (usually horse-radish) symbolize the bitter-

ness of Egyptian slavery. The maror is often dipped in char-oset to reduce its sharpness. Maror is used in the seder be-cause of the commandment (in Numbers 9:11) to eat the pas-chal lamb “with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.” Karpas (vegetable)

Vegetable (usually parsley) is dipped into salt water dur-ing the seder. The salt water represents the tears shed dur-ing Egyptian slavery. The dip-ping of a vegetable as an appe-tizer is said to date back to bib-lical times.Chazeret (bitter vegetable)

Bitter Vegetable (often let-tuce) is often used in addition to the maror as a bitter herb. The authorities are divided on the requirement of chazeret, so not all communities use it. Charoset (apple, nut, spice and wine mixture)

Apple, nuts, and spices ground together and mixed

with wine are symbolic of the mortar used by Hebrew slaves to build Egyptian struc-tures. The charoset is sweet be-cause sweetness is symbolic of God’s kindness, which was able to make even slavery more bearable. Zeroa (shankbone)

The Shankbone is symbolic of the Paschal lamb offered as the Passover sacrifice in biblical times. In some communities, it is common to use a chicken neck in place of the shankbone. Beitzah (egg)

The Roasted Egg is symbol-ic of the festival sacrifice made in biblical times. The egg is also a traditional symbol of mourn-ing, and has been interpreted by some as a symbolic mourn-ing for the loss of the Temple. It is also a symbol of spring – the season in which Passover is al-ways celebrated. The egg should be baked or roasted if possible.

Passover Seder

Passover: Celebration of Freedom

Наступает ночь, сгу-щаются сумерки… Двор перед храмом

наполняется людьми. Все то-мятся в тревожном ожида-нии… Две тысячи лет назад в такой же тревоге и полном смятении небольшая группа людей пряталась в Иеруса-лиме, опасаясь гонения вла-стей. Они не были разбойни-ками, они не совершили ни-чего противозаконного, они были свидетелями. Мысли о смерти наполняли ум и раз-рывали сердца. Умер тот, кто был с ними последние годы, тот, кто наполнил их жизни смыслом, правдой и чудом. Эти люди были учениками Христа – сейчас мы называ-ем их апостолами, что в пере-воде с греческого обознача-ет посол, посланник. Но в ту ночь они были на грани от-чаяния и даже представить себе не могли, что их жизнь, начиная с этого мгновения, изменилась коренным обра-зом, раз и навсегда.

Смерть для человека зани-мает слишком важное место в жизни, чтобы можно бы-ло об этом не думать. Страх смерти – это неотъемлемая часть нашего сознания. Каж-дый человек инстинктивно

ощущает это странное несо-ответствие от осознания сво-его я и того, что это я долж-но умереть и кончиться… Мы чувствуем, что смерть – противоестественна для нас и это рождает страх. Особен-но этот страх усиливается, когда на твоих глазах уми-рает самый близкий для те-бя человек. Именно в таком страхе и растерянности пе-ред грядущими событиями находились ученики Христо-вы в те пасхальные дни.

Для человека естествен-но хотеть всего того, что не противоречит человеческой природе. Но вот смерти, ис-чезновения, растворения, не-бытия – этого никто не хочет. Смерть всегда остается неко-ей тайной, которая застав-ляет нас всерьез задуматься и, порой, пересмотреть свои жизненные приоритеты. По своей сути, вся жизнь чело-века – это осмысление того, как наша жизнь соотносится со смертью, это поиск смыс-ла этого таинственного кон-ца. И глубина христианства в том, что оно дает ответ на этот вопрос: настоящее хри-стианское вдохновение не в примирении со смертью, а в борьбе с ней и победе над ней.

Первый раз мы встречаем-ся с темой победы над смер-тью в Евангелии во время рассказа о воскресении Лаза-ря. Христос был далек от Ие-русалима, когда умер его друг – Лазарь. В Вифании Христос оказался только спустя четы-ре дня. Здесь он встречает се-стер Лазаря: сначалаМарфу, а потом и Марию. Обе гово-рят Христу: «Господи! Ес-ли бы ты был здесь, не умер

бы брат мой…» И Христос отвечает: «Воскреснет брат твой!» Но когда Христос уви-дел Марию плачущую и при-шедших с ней иудеев плачу-щих, «Он,– пишет евангелист Иоанн,– возмутился духом и пришел в волнение»… И вот подходит он к гробнице и сам плачет, и окружающие говорят: смотри, как Он лю-бил его. Христос приказыва-ет снять камень, лежавший на гробнице. Когда сняли ка-мень, Он, по словам еванге-листа, «воззвал громким го-лосом: Лазарь, выходи!... И вышел умерший обвитый по рукам и ногам погребальны-ми пеленами…»

Как совместить печаль, слезы Христа и эту силу вос-кресить мертвого? Христос плачет потому, что в этой смерти своего друга Он со-зерцает торжество смерти в мире, смерти, которой Бог не сотворил, но которая во-царилась и царствует в ми-ре, отравляя жизнь, претво-ряя всю ее в бессмысленное чередование дней, неумоли-мо стремящихся к пропасти. И вот этот приказ: «Лазарь,

выходи!» Это – чудо любви, торжествующей над смер-тью, это – вызов смерти, это – объявление ей войны Хри-стом, это утверждение, что разрушена, умерщвлена должна быть сама смерть! И для того, чтобы разрушить смерть и ее тьму, сам Хри-стос – и это значит сам Бог, сама любовь, сама жизнь – сойдет во гроб встретить-ся со смертью лицом к лицу, и разрушит ее, и дарует нам вечную жизнь, для которой создал нас Бог.

В пасхальную ночь, когда крестный ход, обойдя цер-ковь, останавливается у за-пертых ее дверей и насту-пает одна, последняя мину-та молчания перед взрывом пасхальной радости, в на-шем сердце невольно возни-кает тот же вопрос, который был в сердце женщин, при-шедших рано утром ко гробу Христа. Вопрос этот: «Кто от-валит нам камень от гроба?» Совершится ли еще раз это чудо? Станет ли еще раз ночь светлее, чем день? Наполнит ли нас еще раз эта ничем не объяснимая, ни от чего в ми-ре не зависящая радость, ко-торая всю ночь и еще столь-ко дней будет звучать в этом обмене пасхальным привет-ствием: Христос Воскресе! –Воистину Воскресе!

Минута эта всегда при-ходит. Двери открываются. Мы входим в залитый све-том храм. Мы вступаем в ли-кующую пасхальную заутре-ню. Но где-то в душе вопрос остается. Что все это значит? Что значит праздновать Пас-ху в этом мире, наполненном страданием, ненавистью, ме-

Смерть, где твое жало? Прот. Александр Шмеман

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лочностью, войнами, что зна-чит петь «смертию смерть поправ» и слушать о том, что «мертвый ни един во гробе», когда смерть остается все еще, несмотря на всю жиз-

ненную суету, единствен-ной абсолютной земной до-стоверностью... Надо пря-мо сказать, что окончатель-ного, общеобязательного от-вета, такого, который мож-

но было бы напечатать в ви-де научного объяснения пас-хальной веры, – такого отве-та нет. Каждый здесь свиде-тельствовать может только о своем собственном и живом опыте и говорить за себя.

В живом и личном опыте, когда всматриваешься и вду-мываешься в него, вдруг на-ходишь то, на чем все осталь-ное зиждется, что вдруг все освещает таким ослепитель-ным светом, в котором дей-ствительно, как воск от ли-ца огня, тают сомнения и во-просы. Всякий раз, когда я открываю Евангелие и чи-таю о Нем, читаю Его слова, Его умение, я мысленно, от всего сердца и от всего есте-ства, говорю то, что сказали посланные фарисеями, что-бы арестовать Христа, и вер-нувшиеся, не арестовав Его. Они сказали: «Никогда не го-ворил человек так, как этот говорит!». Таким образом, первое, что я знаю, это то, что учение Христа живо, и нет ничего в мире, что мож-но было бы сравнить с ним. Но учение это о Нем, о жиз-

ни вечной, о победе над смер-тью, о любви, побеждающей и преодолевающей смерть. И я знаю даже, что в жизни, в которой все кажется та-ким трудным и будничным, единственное, что никогда не изменяет, никогда не остав-ляет – это внутреннее созна-ние, что Христос со мной.

Для меня Пасха – это не воспоминание о событии прошлого. Это – реальная встреча, в радости и счастье, с Тем, в Ком наше сердце дав-но узнало и встретило жизнь и свет всякого света. Пас-хальная ночь – это свиде-тельство о том, что Христос жив и Он с нами, и мы жи-вы с Ним. Вся она – призыв увидеть в мире и жизни зарю таинственного дня Царства света. Поэтому так радостно наша душа откликается на пасхальный стих (тропарь): «Христос воскресе из мерт-вых, смертию смерть поправ и сущим во гробех живот да-ровав».

Христос воскресе!

Easter in Canada

celebrations

Easter is celebrated in Can-ada at the same time and in

much the same way as it is in other Western countries, like the U.S. This year, Good Fri-day fell on Friday, April 2, 2010, and Easter Sunday was Sunday, April 4, 2010. Both of these days are statutory (public) holidays in most Canadian provinces.

Easter Sunday is the Sun-day immediately following the first full moon after the ver-nal (spring) equinox. It can fall anywhere between March 22 and April 25.

Good Friday is two days be-fore Easter Sunday and Eas-ter Monday is the day after Easter Sunday. Almost every-thing is closed Easter Sunday; it’s a popular day for attending church, getting together for a big family meal, and staging an Easter egg hunt.

What’s Open and Closed during Easter:

Both Good Friday and Easter Sunday are statutory, or pub-lic holidays in Canada, which means that almost everything is closed, including government

offices, banks and schools. Some exceptions may apply to restaurants or tourist attrac-tions. Call ahead to confirm holiday hours.

On Easter Monday, most people return to work and retail establishments re-open. Gov-ernment offices, schools and li-braries remain closed. Again, call ahead to restaurants, shop-ping malls and tourist attrac-tions to confirm holiday hours.

This giant Ukrainian Easter Egg (pysanka) was built in 1975 in Vegreville, Canada by (then) University Utah Computer Science Professor,

Ronald Resch. The Vegreville Pysanka was the first physical structure completely designed with computer-aided geometric modeling software.

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celebrations

The haft sin table includes seven items specificly start-ing with the letter S or Sîn. The items symbolically correspond to seven cre-ations and holy immortals protecting them.

Traditionally, families attempt to set as beautiful a Haft Sîn table as they can, as it is not only of traditional and spiritual value, but also noticed by visitors dur-ing Norouzi visitations and is a reflection of their good taste.

The Haft Sin items are: » sabzeh – wheat, barley or

lentil sprouts growing in a dish – symbolizing rebirth

» samanu – a sweet pudding made from wheat germ – symbolizing affluence

» senjed – the dried fruit of the oleaster tree – symbolizing love

» sîr – garlic – symbolizing medicine

» sîb – apples – symbolizing beauty and health

» somaq – sumac berries – symbolizing (the color of) sunrise

» serkeh – vinegar – symbolizing age and patience

While traditionally in-correct, sometimes a missing Sin is exchanged with another item starting with an S. For ex-ample: sonbol – the fragrant hyacinth flower (the coming of spring), sekkeh – coins (pros-perity and wealth).

Other items on the table may include: traditional Iranian pastries such as baghlava, toot, naan-nokhodchi dried nuts, ber-ries and raisins (Aajeel), lit can-dles (enlightenment and happi-ness), a mirror, decorated eggs – sometimes one for each member of the family (fertility)– a bowl with goldfish (life, and the sign of Pisces which the sun is leav-ing) a bowl of water with an or-

ange in it (the earth floating in space), rose water for its magic-al cleansing powers, the national colors, for a patriotic touch the Quran, the Shahnama and/or the Divan of Hafez.

The holiday celebrates the re-newal of life through a number of customs, such as a “spring cleaning” of the home, and par-ties with family and friends, where special dishes and sweets are generously served. The be-lief is that the conduct of a per-son during the holiday will re-flect how the year will unfold for them. Affection and for-giveness are encouraged, as we turn over a new leaf to welcome the spring.

According to legend, Jam-shid, a king of the Gold-en Age, subjugated all the de-mons of the world. He then or-dered these demons to raise

his throne to the sky. From his throne “floating in the heav-ens,” Jamshid presided over the first celebrations of Now Ruz.

This holiday is celebrated not only in Iran, but also in Afghanistan, Kurdistan, and many countries in the Caucasus and Central Asia. Throughout history there have been many attempts to abolish Now Ruz, but people have been so resili-ent about this ancient holiday that it is still very much alive, inspiring a number of belov-ed traditions. Among these is the “Sofreh Haft Seen,” literally, the “Tablecloth with the Seven Things,” which shows the let-

ter “Seen” (a letter in the Per-sian alphabet),”a table set with a number of items that symbolize the holiday.” Every home has a sofreh on display throughout the holiday. These items typ-ically include: a green plant (sabzi), vinegar(serkeh), apples (seeb), hyacinths (sonbol), su-mac (somaq), coins (sekkeh), garlic (sir), goldfish, hard boiled eggs painted in bright colours, candles, and a clock.

Sometimes a book is also placed on the sofreh. Often the book is the Diwan (poetry

collection) of Hafiz, the great 14th century mystical lyric poet. There is another tradition often followed during this holi-day – to make a random selec-tion from the Diwan. The poem chosen this way, is believed to offer advice on a challenging situation, or even foretell how the upcoming year will unfold.

In its celebration of renew-al, and its invitation to start life anew, Now Ruz offers a univer-sal message of hope as a new day approaches, leaving behind a winter of discontent.

An Ancient New Year

By Ariel Balevi

Haft Sin Table

Now Ruz (New Day), the Persian New Year, fell on March 20 this year. It is probably one of the oldest holidays in the world, dating back several thousand years.

8 | spring 2010 | bathurst-finch kaleidoscope

Holi is celebrated at the end of the winter sea-son, on the last full

moon of the lunar month. ‘Pal-gune’ in (Feb/March), is cele-brated as a harvest festival, and welcomes spring in India. In this colorful festival, people use colored water and wear col-ored flowers.

Holi is also known as Dhul-heti or Dhulandi. Bonfires are lit the day before; also known as Holika Dahan (burning of Holika) or little Holi. The boni-fires are lit in memory of the miraculous escape of young Prahlad, son of demon king Hiranyakashipu.

The Hindu mythology be-hind it is: the demon king pun-ished his son Prahlad in a var-iety of ways, to denounce Lord Naraayana. He failed in all his

attempts. Finally, he asked his sister Holika, to take Prahlad on her lap and enter a blazing fire. Holika did as her broth-er asked, and walked through the fire. She miraculously re-mained unscathed. But Holika’s luck ended by an act of supreme sin against the Lord Devotee, and she was burnt and died. Prahlad, a staunch devotee of God Vishnu, escaped without any injuries, due to his unshak-able devotion.

During this festival, people throw colored water and col-ored powders on each other. Colored water is prepared using Tesu flowers, which are first gathered from trees, dried in the sun and then ground up. Later they are mixed with water to produce orange–yellow col-ored water, which has medicin-

al properties. The belief is that during the spring season, when the weather is changeable, viral fever and colds are common. Thus, the playful throw-ing of natural col-ored powder has a medicinal signifi-cance. On this day, people come out wearing pure white clothes and gather in a familiar place, where they play with gay abandon.

For this celebra-tion, food prepar-ation begins in ad-vance of the holi-day. Some of the dishes served are: gnjia, papads, kanji and various kinds of snacks, which are served to guests. Tradition-ally, on the night of Holi, the baitak turns into an event of preparing ‘bhnag’ (cannabis), to make intoxicating milk shakes and collective dance takes

place. The focus of the festival is to eliminate the cast differences in their society. It is celebrated without any distinction of cast, creed, color, status or gender. This festival, celebrated with a feeling of brotherhood, breaks all barriers of discrimination.

Holi FestivalBy Neelam Kapur

When we celebrate the Holi festival in India, love is carried on a breeze, every field is green, trees are covered with leaves, and flowers and soil are fragrant.

celebrations

A house full of red colors, with fruits to share and a

big feast to enjoy. A celebration of the arrival of the new moon and the Year of the Tiger, after the winter solstice. This holi-day brought all of us together to celebrate the festivities and the reunion of our family. Of course with all this happen-ing, there were traditions to be adhered to. Lunar New Year is celebrated over the course of three to 15 days, depending on

the family. It all started with cleaning the home as much as we could, prior to the first day of the New Year, to symbolize the cleansing of last year’s bad luck from the home. The broom and dust pan are tucked away on the first day, so that the New Year’s luck would not be swept away. After all that prep work was done, the fun started. Spe-cial feasts were one of the ma-jor points in all the festivities. It truly brought joy to all of us

as we spent time chatting to our heart’s content. It renewed our sense of family. With all our

bellies full, red envelopes of luck given to the young ones, as we celebrated the New Year!

Lunar New YearBy Tara Ma

It was recently Lunar New Year!

bathurst-finch kaleidoscope | spring 2010 | 9

The remembrance was founded in 1926 by U.S. historian, Carter G.

Woodson. Woodson chose the second week of February, be-cause it marked the birthdays of two Americans who great-ly influenced the lives and so-cial condition of African Amer-icans: former President, Abra-ham Lincoln and abolition-ist and former slave, Frederick Douglass.

Each year at Rockford Pub-lic School, we plan activities to celebrate the achievements of people of African descent. Every morning during Feb-ruary, students from various classes read interesting articles about famous North Amer-ican heroes of African ances-try, over the public address sys-tem. For the first time, we had the Zillionaire contest, which is similar to the television game show, “Who Wants to be a Mil-lionaire.” Students in grades 5 and 6 competed in this exciting game, by answering questions about famous African Can-adian heroes.

On Friday afternoon, Febru-ary 26, 2010, there was a Black History Celebration Assem-bly in our large gym. In attend-

ance were School Superintend-ent, John Chasty, Principal, Gladys Beaton, and Vice-Prin-cipal, Christopher Rzepa. This exciting and fun-filled cele-bration commenced with the singing of the Black Nation-al Anthem. The Guest Speak-er was Mr. Robert Small, the famous African American art-ist responsible for creating the annual Black History poster series called “Legacy.” In his speech, Mr. Small motivated the students by assuring them that they can achieve any-thing they want in life, if they dare to dream. He also pro-duced sketches of famous tele-vision characters, and allowed students to guess the names of these characters.

Students from various class-es performed songs and danced to the music of famous African American musicians, such as Michael Jackson. Guest per-formers included students from the Africentric Alterna-tive School and a dance group called “Keeping it Real.”

Overall, the staff, students and parents in attendance were enlightened by the presenta-tions and we anticipate an even bigger celebration in 2011.

Black History Monthat Rockford Public School

By Hugh Reynolds

Black History Month is the remembrance of important figures and events in the history of people of African descent. It is celebrated annually in the United States (U.S.) and Canada in February, and the United Kingdom (UK) in October.

celebrations

Phot

os–O

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gan.

com

10 | spring 2010 | bathurst-finch kaleidoscope

neighbourhood buzz

Me: Well, are you getting ready, or what?Daughter: Or what.Me: Come on, we’re late for your swimming class.Daughter: Not interested. Told you before I hate swimming.Me (to my husband, who has just entered the living room): She’s giving me attitude!Husband: The girl hates to swim. Don’t you remember what happened last time?Me: I didn’t mean to almost let her drown. I saw Sharon, and so I left her just for a second…Daughter: Mommy? Am I adopted?Husband: Enough already. She’s not going, that’s all.Me: Okay. So can you watch her?Husband: Where are you going, if you don’t mind me asking?

Me: To the swimming class. Without her there, I’ll have more time to make new friends.Husband: Wouldn’t the other Moms be surprised to see you coming by yourself?Me: Most of us come without kids. Daughter: Mommy? Am I dis-turbing your life?Husband: Nina, you don’t need those ladies. You’re constantly beefing about them. You said they’re a bunch of losers.Me: They’re no losers, I tell you.Husband: Anyway, I’m not watching the girl, I have things to do.Daughter: Daddy? Am I adopted? Husband: Just the other day, you told me all about Sharon’s

previous husbands. Mind you, I couldn’t sleep for days.Me: And so you shouldn’t. We sleep at night.Husband: That woman is a real loser.Me: Just so you know, that loser has met a very, very rich guy.Husband: So you admit she’s a loser.Me: He well may be her third husband, God willing, so bite your tongue. We may have a new very posh friend soon.Husband: Not holding my breath. Me: He’s already bought her diamond earrings!Daughter: Daddy? Are we very poor? Will I have a roof over my head? Husband: Give me a break, Nina. I don’t want you near a

person who pays no attention to her kids.Daughter: Daddy?…Husband: Hush, we’re talking here!Me: It’s not her fault her kids are such savages. They really liked Barry… Husband: Barry? The second husband?Me: Barry, the hamster, which the first husband accidentally killed.Daughter: Mommy? Who got killed?! Who?!Me: Know what? Never mind! Don’t watch her. I’m not in the mood anymore. I’m staying home.Husband: Very good. It’s ex-tremely important for a child to have her parents there for her!

By Nina Shenhav

I look at my girl glued to the TV. She doesn’t seem to be planning to leave it any time soon.

If you want to spoil me, just draw me a bath. But not just any water running bath. It needs luxurious bath oils, bath salts, bath bombs, and sensual candles lit all around.

By Nina ShenhavTalks from the Community Centre

How ’bout some bath tips?I could be a fury of the world,

but a good expensive bath adventure would ease my nerves almost completely. (Pour me a glass of good Cham-pagne, throw in some Richart chocolates, and I’m yours for-ever. Well, at least for a few nice moments.)

So, going into a bath prod-ucts store is a real treat for me (and next time we’ll talk exten-sively about creams and lotions. Can’t wait).

“Gosh! I love this bath oil,”

gasps my friend, Sarah, as she grabs a beautiful bottle in a posh beauty shop. “And I sim-ply adore this bath salts,” I add excitedly and take the green aromatic glass jar.

I know my friend Sarah. She’s a “bathoholic” much like me. So imagine my surprise when I find those same products al-most as good as new when I vis-it her a month later. “How?” I ask gaping at her. “How come you have all the goods and I’m left with almost nothing. What,

have you stopped bathing all of a sudden?”

Sarah hugs me ever so lightly and laughs: “So that’s what you think?” she says, then explains: “The expensive oil we bought? I simply used half the bottle and then added inexpensive cook-ing oil. What’s good for my in-ner body is great for the out-side too. It smells the same, it looks the same, and I save a lot of money. When I’m done with the bottle, I don’t throw it away. I simply buy another one, pour

half into the old one, and mix with the canola cooking oil. I get two for the price of one.”

I groan in admiration when she continues: “Same goes for the bath salts. I put half of regu-lar kosher salt that costs like a buck, and I’m good to go same texture, same aroma, same col-or, well maybe a bit brighter, that’s all.”

So, how ’bout my Sarah? Some would say she’s a penny pincher. I say: “Why not give it a try?”

bathurst-finch kaleidoscope | spring 2010 | 11

neighbourhood buzzD

raw

ings

–Nin

a Sh

enha

v

Spring Brings Happiness to Most of Us Let’s take a look at four more moments of joy… When the boss

decides to take a vacation…

When you feel Mommy and Daddy are proud of you…

When someone tells you he had a dream about

you…

When you find your perfect outfit, in an additional color…

12 | spring 2010 | bathurst-finch kaleidoscope

youth page

They are men’s best friends, they are always by our side, and they

help the blind. Dogs.Did you know that Collie

dogs are a good, balanced, so-ciable, and smart breed of dogs? The Collie gets along with any-one, even with strangers, and it makes a great pet. It is also very sensitive. The Collie needs a lot of attention and love from its owner. The Collie dog real-ly likes to spend time with the family. I guess it thinks it’s one of the siblings.

Did you know that Huskies were first used as sled dogs by a man named Martin Frobisher? It was in 1577. The Huskies can run very fast for a long period of time.

Did you know that the Ger-man Shepherds are actual-ly so smart, that they help the blind to get along with life with-out needing the help of other people? The German shepherd dogs are also very strong and can rescue people in need.

Dogs can be very helpful. Some dogs even help the police.

Dogs can save people’s lives. For example, when there is a fire,

they can rescue people from burning houses. We should ap-preciate them for that.

When I first came to Can-ada, two and a half years ago, we lived at our friend’s house, and they had three dogs. I loved them so much I felt they were my own. Their names were: Lacky, Shooky, and Laxy. They were so cute. Back then I didn’t know any English and didn’t feel comfortable to try and speak with other children. But the dogs spoke my language. Dogs can understand all the languages in the world. Do you know why? Because dogs speak the language of love. See, I didn’t have to know English to talk to them.

Another thing I learned about dogs while living with our friends was that as much as they want to be polite, they wouldn’t resist eating the food that you left on the table, even if you left it just for a moment… So pay attention.

Remember that if you ever need a true friend, who would love you unconditionally and stay with you in times of need, you’ll find that friend in your dog.

DogsBy Maya Shenhav

By Tommy ShenhavWhenever Passover comes, I get all giddy, because I adore the sweet treats this holiday has to offer.

Orthodox Jews are not al-lowed to eat yeast dough

throughout the holiday, so we eat lots of Matzos, and dish-es with Matzo dough (dough without yeast).

Back in Israel, my aunt Pnina, baked two kinds of cookies for us, and I’ll let you have the reci-pes. We’ve tried it at home our-selves, and they turned out very tasty.

For10 coconut mini maca-roons, you’ll need: » 1 egg

» 2 tbs. sugar

» Pinch of salt

» 3.5 oz. Baker’s Shredded Coconut

Blend the first three ingredi-ents until they’re creamy and then stir in the coconut.

Place the spoonfuls on a greased cookie sheet and bake in a preheated oven at 3500F for 15 minutes. Remove them im-mediately from the tray.

The other kind of cookies, are the amazing brownies. For 24 cookies you’ll need:

» 3/4 stick unsalted butter, softened

» 3/4 cup sugar

» 5 eggs, separated

» 6 oz. bittersweet chocolate

» 6 oz. finely ground almonds

» Pinch of salt

Cream butter and sugar together, then mix in the egg yolks.

Melt chocolate over a double boiler. Cool, and add it to the butter mixture.

Add ground almonds.Beat the egg whites until

they’re stiff, but not dry. Fold into the batter. Now pour into

a 9” sq. greased baking tin, and bake in a preheated oven at 3500F for 45 min.

Cool and cut into squares. Hope you’ll enjoy these treats. And for those of you who celebrate–Happy Passover!

Passover Cookie Recipes

bathurst-finch kaleidoscope | spring 2010 | 13

youth page

Her hair was blowing in the wind, reflected in the sun shining on

the glowing blades of ever-green grass. The sun was shin-ing on her eyelashes, lighting her face. The clouds were slowly flying through the endless sky, reflected by her thoughts and dreams.

As a gentle breeze was tan-gling the soft leaves of spring, my grandmother was remem-bering the lost events of her un-forgotten childhood. She was slowly reciting an old rhythm of a lullaby as I sat near her. The abstract barrier of sound danced freely, like a cobalt blue bird opening its delicate wings. As the song kept flowing, a gen-tle, sad hint made me decide my dream to be a writer. But some-thing was holding me back from my resolution – a strong feeling of inability. I told my grand-mother. For a few seconds she watched the small nightingales above us as they sang. It felt like an emotional veil of mel-ancholy. She calmly looked

at me, asking how the night-ingale is able to fly and why. I didn’t know the answer. My grandmother observed a bird again as it f lew to the vast depths of the empty sky. Then she told me the answer in one word, ‘’will.’’

Later on, I understood the true meaning of her explana-tion about the nightingale. At first it is a weak golden spot of floss, unable to raise its silky wings, or spread its profound voice. As time passes, it starts to learn by taking small steps. It advances as time rushes by. The spirit that keeps it go-ing is its perseverance, hopes and dreams of succeeding. The bird’s will keeps its ambitions alive until its dream comes true.

I realize my grandmother’s message now, and always try to remember it when I’m de-pressed and when I wrote this story. I am going to work to-wards my dream like the night-ingale, persevering and learn-ing from my mistakes, with a misty thought of inspiration...

InspirationBy Andy Oprescu

By Nikita Kaisar

Earth Day CanadaDuring Earth Week – April

16 to April 25 this year – there are many events taking place across the country. Earth Day Canada is a national organiz-ation which informs people of our impact on the planet and how to reduce it.

This organization reach-es people of all ages through Eco-action teams. The Forest Hill Zen Fashion Show 2010 is

taking place on April 22, 7:00–8:30 pm at Forest Hill Collegi-ate, 730 Eglinton Avenue West, in Toronto. The Forest Hill So-cial Action Club and the En-vironmental Club have joined together to educate students through eco-fashion, at Forest Hill Collegiate Institute. The Forest Hill Zen Fashion Show uses clothing made from fair trade brands. April is the time

to begin our spring clean-ing, when the weath-er gets warm-er. Check out our summer issue to see photos from this event.

faces of bathurst-finch

14 | spring 2010 | bathurst-finch kaleidoscope

В прошлом номере Калейдоскопа мы опубликовали работы детей, которые были присланы на наш конкурс. Первое место заняла работа ученика Helen Rost-moff. Сегодня мы в арт-студии Hermitage беседуем с Helen.Я вижу потрясающие рабо-ты Ваших воспитанников. Как Вы поняли, что хоти-те преподавать детям?

Каждый человек проходит в своей жизни через разные периоды. Сначала ты только учишься, работаешь над со-бой, выбираешь свой жиз-ненный путь, потом ты зани-маешься своим любимым де-лом, к которому ты призван, и, в какой-то момент, начина-ешь понимать, что хочется не только пассивно принимать участие в выставках, но и пе-редавать свой опыт другим.

Расскажите немного о себе. Где Вы выросли, какое у Вас образование?

Я выросла в Санкт-Петербурге, и, хотя, тогда он назывался Ленинградом, этот город для меня всег-да был Петербургом. Я за-кончила академию искусств им. В.И. Мухиной в Санкт-Петербурге. Каждый день, на протяжении пяти лет, мы за-нимались по четыре часа ри-сунком или живописью плюс композицией и историей ис-кусств. Я до сих пор помню моего первого преподавате-ля – Юрия Соломоновича Ле-вина. Он давал возможность

раскрываться нашим талан-там и, при этом, был очень требовательным. Например, за лето в течение трех меся-цев, мы, дети 12-14 лет, долж-ны были нарисовать и сдать сто законченных работ и мои родители практически каж-дый день вывозили меня на финский залив, чтобы я мог-ла рисовать эти прекрасные пейзажи, а когда лил дождь, то я работала дома над на-тюрмортами. Это очень силь-но помогло. Все, кто учился у Юрия Соломоновича, стали потом известными и талант-ливыми художниками.

А как Вы начали преподавать?

Когда я стала членом Сою-за художников, я начала пре-подавать живопись и рису-нок в Детской художествен-ной школе. Это было как бы обязанностью. Например, члены Союза театральных деятелей и кинематографи-стов организовывали бес-платные концерты или по-могали ставить спектакли во Дворце пионеров и школьни-ков. И вот здесь я начала по-нимать, что учиться и тво-рить – это одно, а препода-вать – это совсем другое. Каждый ученик – это твор-ческая личность и, поэтому, к каждому нужно находить свой подход.

Можно ли говорить о том, что существует метод Helen Rostmoff?

Я училась у педагогов, ко-торые закончили Академию Художеств и учились у таких знаменитых художников,

как Петров-Водкин и Фило-нов, которые, в свое время, учились в Италии.

Мой подход к обучению можно назвать модернизи-рованным методом препо-давания русской классиче-ской Академии художеств. Мои уроки для детей длятся не более двух часов, один-два раза в неделю. Мои ученики приобретают серьезную ба-зу для того, чтобы дальше развиваться, если они захо-тят посвятить себя живопи-си или скульптуре.

Что является основой Вашего метода преподавания?

На мой взгляд, самое важ-

ное для каждого ребенка – это познание самого себя и выражение себя в творче-стве. Каждый ребенок – это самостоятельная личность. Моя задача – помочь детям раскрыться и вселить в них веру в самих себя. Когда че-ловек уверен в себе, то ему легко жить, легко общать-ся с другими. Такой человек несет в наш мир позитив-ную энергию и делает дру-гих счастливыми.

Какие качества Вы разви-ваете у детей?

Видение красоты ми-ра, веру в себя, целеустрем-ленность, нацеленность на успех.

Эрмитаж Helen RostmoffBy Oleg Morgunov

MEMORY Helen S. Rostmof

faces of bathurst-finch

bathurst-finch kaleidoscope | spring 2010 | 15

Что Вы изучаете с детьми?На моих занятиях мы изу-

чаем историю искусств, осно-вы композиции, основы ри-сования и построения фигу-ры человека. Мы занимаем-ся лепкой для развития про-странственного мышления. Мы изучаем различные на-правления и стили, начиная с русских народных традиций (Палех, Хохлома, Жостово, Дымковская игрушка, Гжель) и вплоть до творчества Шага-ла или Сальвадора Дали. Мы делаем работы в стиле им-прессионизма и кубизма.

Когда мы изучаем живо-пись я учу своих воспитан-ников работать в разных жанрах: натюрморт, пейзаж, портрет, фэнтази. Мы ис-пользуем разную технику: акварель, акрилик, пастель.

Дети какого возраста при-ходят к Вам на занятия?

Я занимаюсь не только с детьми, поэтому возраст мо-их учеников иногда сильно отличается: от 5 до 65 лет…

Скажите, а Вы сами учи-тесь чему-нибудь у детей?

Да, безусловно! Я учусь у них раскованности, само-выражению, беспредельной фантазии и безбоязненности в образах…

В каких выставках Вы и Ваши воспитанники при-нимаете участие?

Мы в основном участву-ем в местных выставках, ко-торые проходят в библио-теках, Civic Centre, Bernard Betel Centre.

Кем становятся Ваши ученики?Архитекторами, график-

дизайнерами, дизайнера-ми по интерьеру, фашн-дизайнерами, мультипли-каторами, арт-директорами, преподавателями арт и, са-мое главное, замечательны-ми, отзывчивыми и успеш-ными людьми.

Каким видом искусства Вам нравится заниматься больше всего?

Мне очень нравится при-митивистская живопись. Пожалуй, самые близкие мне художники – это Гюстав Климт и Одилон Редон

Давно ли Вы приехали в Ка-наду и что повлияло на Ва-ше решение остаться здесь?

В Канаду я переехала из Израиля в 1996 году, получив статус landed immigrant as a distribution culture to Canada. Климат здесь гораздо ближе к тому, где я выросла. В То-ронто нет такой удушающей жары, как в Тель-Авиве и, са-мое главное, – здесь нет во-енных действий. В Торонто, да и в Канаде в целом, живут милые спокойные и воспи-танные люди, здесь нет опа-сений, что однажды в твой дом вдруг попадет ракета…

Вы скучаете по Петербургу?Недавно со мной произо-

шел удивительный случай. Мне приснился один из пей-зажей на Финском заливе, который я когда-то рисовала.

Я проснулась с удивительной легкостью и рука сама потя-нулась к кисти. Я очень бы-стро восстановила по памя-ти этот пейзаж. Наверное, это можно назвать носталь-гией… Я назвала эту карти-ну Memory.

Над чем Вы сейчас работае-те? Какие у Вас планы?

Я хочу закончить большую картину «Зебра» в технике арт-декор.

Что бы Вы хотели поже-лать нашим читателям?

Я желаю всем видеть наш мир красивым и удивитель-ным и наслаждаться этим. Посмотрите как прекрас-ны розовые тучки на фиоле-товом небе во время заката. Когда вы гуляете по парку, обратите внимание на то, ка-кие интересные деревья во-круг и как красива игра све-та и тени.

Будьте счастливы, будьте успешны и радуйте ваших близких !

Моя задача – помочь детям раскрыться и вселить в них ве-ру в самих себя. Когда человек уверен в себе, то ему легко жить, легко общаться с другими. Такой человек несет в наш мир пози-тивную энергию и делает других счастливыми.

Art Studio Hermitage owner, Helen S. Rostmoff, with her students

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nutrition

16 | spring 2010 | bathurst-finch kaleidoscope

We talked about so-dium in greater de-tail in the Fall 2009

issue of Kaleidoscope, so if there are any faithful read-ers out there, you may remem-ber that 2300 mg of sodium is our upper limit of sodium for the day; however, we should be shooting for a lower target of 1500 mg per day for health.

If you don’t know what your daily limit of sodium should be, you can use the (%DV) to quickly tell if a product has a little or a lot of sodium; a (%DV) of 5% or less would be considered low in sodium, while a product with 15% or more would be considered high in sodium.

What about those carbs? Health Canada says that 45-65% of the calories in our diet should come from carbohy-drates, (from different types of foods, like grains,fruits, dairy and some vegetables). So, the 9% value that you see on our example food label tells us how much the serving size contrib-utes, if 60% of your calories were coming from carbohy-drates. For the most part, we do not need to worry about this value, unless you have dia-

betes. It is important for those with diabetes to determine how much carbohydrate they eat, so as to control their blood sug-ar levels, by dividing carbo-hydrate evenly into meals and snacks throughout the day. For those without diabetes, and keen to know how to use this information, it can help you to know how many servings of carbohydrates you are hav-ing. One carbohydrate serv-ing is equal to 15 g – our ex-ample food label shows that two slices gives us about 2 servings of carbohydrate (15 g x 2 = 30 g, our product serving is approxi-mately 2 servings). This infor-mation can help to compare our intake to Canada’s Food Guide, and make informed food choices about our serving siz-es of carbohydrates. A practical

use for this would be to take a look at bagels. A bagel that has 55 g of carbohydrate (a typical coffee outlet bagel) will give you about 3 ½ servings of carbohy-drate. According to Canada’s Food Guide, this would provide half of the recommended num-ber of carbohydrate servings for a female aged 14 and older.

Fibre is a part of plant-based foods that can’t be digested by the body; benefits of hav-ing enough fibre in the diet in-clude regular bowels and great-er satiety value, as higher-fibre foods take longer to digest and help people feel fuller, and bet-ter blood sugar control, because foods with more fibre take long-er to break down and enter the blood stream. The % DV for fibre on nutrition labels is based on a reference amount of 25 g of fibre. However, recommenda-tions for fibre vary among age groups – for example, males aged 14-50 are recommended to have 38 g fibre/day. Use the (% DV) to quickly tell if a prod-

uct has a little or a lot of fibre. You may wonder why there isn’t a (%DV) next to the sugar on nutrition labels. This is be-cause a recommendation hasn’t been established yet. How-ever, current advice is to lim-it added sugars (like the kind in pop and desserts, not fruit or dairy products) to 10% of daily calories. This works out to about 10 tsp of sugar/ day – the amount in one can of Coke. There is also no % DV value for protein; this is because the amount of protein that people are eating is not a public health concern – most people are get-ting enough protein. A (%DV) is only required if a claim is made that a product is high in protein.

Finally, you will notice that there is only a % DV for vita-min A, vitamin C, calcium and iron. This is because vitamin and mineral recommendations are expressed in many differ-ent units of measurement, so it’s less confusing to have just the (%DV) shown. How should you use the (%DV) for these nutrients? Compare products and get more of these nutrients – 15% or higher means that the product would be considered high in these nutrients.

Nutrition Labels – Get the Facts

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By Jenny Lyttle, R.D.

In the December 2009 issue of Kaleidoscope, we looked at nutrition labels found on food packaging, specifically fat and cholesterol. Let’s take a look at the sodium, carbohydrate (fibre, sugar), protein and the vitamins and minerals that appear on the nutrition labels.

“It’s not what you eat that you should be concerned about, it’s what you are not eating that should concern you.” (Dr. Joe Schwarcz, McGill University)

recipes

bathurst-finch kaleidoscope | spring 2010 | 17

Mediterranean Asparagus and TomatoThis recipe is from Foodland Ontario. Spring is here, and so is Ontario asparagus come May.

Simple is often the best treatment, particularly when you have freshly picked Ontario Asparagus. Try to buy similar sized stalks for an attractive presentation and for even cooking. This can be doubled or tripled and served at an early summer buffet or barbecue. It’s wonderful with all grilled meats.

ingredients » 2 tbsp (25 ml) red wine

vinegar

» 1 tsp (5 ml) dijon mustard

» 1 tsp (5 ml) liquid honey

» 1/2 tsp (2 ml) each of salt and dried basil

» 1/4 cup (50 ml) olive oil

» 1 lb (500 g) ontario asparagus

» 1 ripe ontario greenhouse tomato, seeded and diced

» 1/4 cup (50 ml) freshly grated parmesan or asiago cheese

» fresh basil leaves (optional)

directionsIn small bowl, whisk together vinegar, mustard, honey, salt, basil and pepper; slowly whisk in oil until smooth. Set aside.Break asparagus. In large pot of boiling water, cook asparagusuntil bright green and tender-crisp, 2 to 4 minutes (depending on thickness of stalk). Drain and chill under cold water. Drain well and place in shallow dish.Sprinkle tomato over asparagus. Pour vinaigrette over top and shake dish to coat. Let stand at room temperature for up to 1 hour. Garnish each serving with Parmesan and fresh basil leaves (if using).

nutrients per serving » protein: 5.0 grams

» fat: 13.0 grams

» carbohydrates: 8.0 grams

» calories: 169Check out http://www.foodland.gov.on.ca/ for availability of other Ontario produce.

Tasty TofuTofu is soybean curd that results from a process similar to cheese or yogurt making.It is used in stir-fries, vegetable dips, bread spreads and fruit smoothies. It is very healthy and easy to digest, very high in protein, low in calories and fat and is economical. The beauty of tofu is that because it is relatively flavorless, it can be used to take on the flavors of the ingredients it’s cooked with. It comes in various consistencies, (soft to extra-firm). It can be used as a dairy and egg alternative when cooking or baking. It will keep for a week if submerged in fresh water and refrigerated. Change the water daily. (Vegetarian Times, April, 1998)

tofu cutlets or chunks » 2 x 8 oz. tofu cakes ¼ teaspoon basil

» l large onion, diced ¼ teaspoon oregano

» 2 cups tamari l cup nutritional yeast

» l-2 teaspoons cooking oil 2 cloves garlic, diced

» 2 teaspoons lemon juice

directionsDrain tofu well. Cutlets – cut tofu into slices ¼ inch thick. Chunks – cut into 1 inch cubes. Saute onions and garlic until golden brown. Make a mixture of tamari, oil, spices and sauteed onion and garlic. Place tofu in mixture to marinate, then dip into nutritional yeast until thoroughly covered. Oil a cookie sheet. Place tofu pieces on sheet and bake 325 F for 5-7 minutes on each side, then broil until crispy. Can be cooked in frying pan.(Paulette Eisen – A Diet for All Reasons)

lemon-lime cream tofu pie » 11/2 lbs. tofu 1/3 cup limeade concentrate

» 1 cup sugar or honey 2 t vanilla

» ¼ cup oil 1 teaspoon ginger powder

» 1/3 cup lemon juice 1 t constarch

» crust: l pkg. graham crackers, crushed

» 2 t. sugar or honey

» 1 cube melted butter (enough to mix)

directionsBlend together tofu, sugar, oil lemon juice, limeade concentrate, vanilla, ginger powder and corn starch until smooth and creamy. Combine crust ingredients and push evenly into 9-inch pie plate. Pour tofu blend into crust. Bake at 350 F for 25 mins. or until lightly brown. Don’t overbake. Cool and top with fresh fruit or fruit topping. (M. Obis, Food Editor, Vegetarian Times)

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neighbourhood networks

For more information please email [email protected] or call 647-436-0385, and you will

be notified of the next community garden meeting

community garden update By Joss Brandt & Hannah Bontogon

Spring is just around the cor-ner and the Community Gar-den will be opening soon for the 2010 season! The Steering Committee invites you to at-tend their Opening Dig-In in early May. The date for this event is to be announced.

Community Garden mem-bers did some planting last fall. There was a long delay in getting started, due to the City of Toronto strike, but we were lucky to catch the end of the season and planted spring bulbs, garlic, rye, raspberry bushes, and strawberry plants

donated from a resident in the neighbourhood. Many more plants, herbs and veggies will be planted this season.

Volunteers are welcome. You can be involved as a garden-er and register for a plot in the garden, or also be part of the steering committee. The com-mittee helps with the plan-ning and organizing of various garden events, and gardening workshops.

The garden is a wonderful way to access fresh fruits, herbs and vegetables while beautify-ing the neighbourhood.

bathurst-finch kaleidoscope | spring 2010 | 19

neighbourhood networks

The membership has grown to roughly 16 members, includ-ing committee members. NAG members are volunteers who are residents in the neighbour-hood. Members attend regular monthly meetings and other planning meetings, if neces-sary. Some are also committee members of either the:

1) Events Committee, 2) Training Committee, or 3) Communications Committee.

The issues the NAG is cur-rently working on are: 1) improving snow removal on the sidewalks, and 2) improv-ing road, traffic and pedestrian safety.

Residents have come for-ward to share their dangerous experiences as pedestrians or drivers. On January 21st, 2010, The Toronto Star highlighted intersections in this neigh-bourhood -- including Bath-urst and Steeles, and Bathurst and Finch – as being considered amongst the most dangerous in Toronto. Residents also shared their frustrations with inad-equate snow removal in previ-ous years.

This neighbourhood has a higher percentage of senior cit-izens than any other in the City of Toronto. Many residents live in high rise apartment build-

ings and do not have vehicles. Mothers and caregivers walk with their children in strollers and have expressed their con-cerns about safety. The NAG has agreed that walkability is very important in order to re-main mobile and walk safe-ly. They have declared their commitment to addressing this issue and advocating for improvements.

The NAG will be leading a Jane’s Walk Event on Sun-day May 2, 2010, to gather the community together and talk about how walking conditions in the neighbourhood can be improved.

This event will celebrate the neighbourhood and also inves-tigate the walkability and po-tential for improvement. The event began in Toronto in 2007 and spread to many other cities, including New York, Ottawa, Calgary, Halifax, Salt Lake City and many more cities. It is also a tribute to Jane Jacobs, who was a leader in the area and championed the interests of lo-cal residents and pedestrians.

For more information about the Jane’s Walk Event,

or if you are interested in joining the NAG or a com-

mittee, please contact Han-nah at: 647-436-0385.

Neighbourhood Action Group UpdateBy Hannah Bontogon

Welcome to the Bathurst-Finch Network

About six months ago, a group of people met to

discuss the development of a community network for the Bathurst-Finch neighbour-hood. Some of us are residents in the neighbourhood. Many of us are workers from commun-ity agencies, the City of Toronto and the Toronto District School Board who are connected in some way to the area.

Today, our network, which we call the ‘Bathurst-Finch Network’ (BFN), has grown a lot. We have a general member-ship, a steering committee and several sub-committees. One

example is our seniors com-mittee, which is working on issues like improved transpor-tation for seniors in the Bath-urst-Finch neighbourhood and a guide to seniors services. An-other example is our food com-mittee, which is working on bringing a second community garden to the area.

We’re also very excited about our events committee, which is planning a big community event for Sunday, April 18th from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm at Northview Heights Secondary-School (550 Finch Avenue West at Bathurst and Finch). We’re

calling it Bathurst-Finch Com-munity Day, and here’s what we have planned. All activities are free of charge:

» Free community cafe.

» All day live music.

» Opportunities to talk one-on-one with settlement and employment counsellors.

» Workshop on tenants rights.

» Summary legal advice about landlord/tenant issues;

» Employment insurance and social assistance.

» Information about services and programs in the Bathurst-Finch neighbourhood.

» Free child care upon request and activities for children.

Please add this to your cal-endar! If you have questions or suggestions, or would like to request child care for the event, please email at [email protected].

Would you like more information about the

Bathurst-Finch Network? Are you interested in

attending a general meeting, joining a sub- committee or receiving

our email newsletter?

Please contact Amy Katz at

[email protected]

The Bathurst-Finch Network (BFN) is a growing community network in the Bathurst-Finch neighbourhood. Here is some information about our recent activities!

By Amy Katz

The Neighbourhood Action Group (NAG) is an emerging Resident Council in the Bathurst-Finch area, working together to form a stronger neighbourhood. They began meeting in October, 2009 to address issues and concerns, and began a planning and organizing process to take action on these issues.

20 | spring 2010 | bathurst-finch kaleidoscope

interview

And when at last you re-ceive a detailed an-swer to this emotion-

ally trite question, another one arises: “Why does this person - who already has both recog-nition and prosperity - need to work 24 hours a day, take on re-sponsibility for huge amounts of money and people’s fate, worry about projects and not live the life of a simple person?” Why would anyone do that, es-pecially a young, beautiful woman - fluent in English, with Canadian management experi-ence. Why not settle down and enjoy the pleasures of Canadian life?

These questions passed through my head and van-ished during my hour-and-a-half interview with Svet-lana Dvoretskaia, founder and president of “Show One Produc-tions.” To me, she is the number one producer in Toronto.

In three years, I have never missed any of her shows. At first I did not know who was behind this production com-pany, but always knew that it guaranteed a high level per-formance. Vladimir Spivakov, Yury Bashmet, Saint-Peters-burg Ice Ballet, Michel Leg-rand and other celebrities al-ways received standing ova-

tions. When I first met the or-ganizer of “Show One Produc-tions,” I was amazed by her beauty and energy.

Canadians first recognized Svetlana Dvoretskaia and the English-speaking press showered her with compli-ments on the Internet – a new immigrant from Saint-Peters-burg, daughter of a well-known pianist, who chose Toronto as her new home in 1998. In rec-ord breaking time, Dvoretskaia took a worthy place in a well-functioning industry. The at-titude of the majority of show business sharks changed from guarded to respectful, and a former competitor, Svetlana gradually became a friend and business partner for many of them. She may seem like the embodiment of the Cinderella story – look at all the stars she is working with, in the best con-cert halls in Canada. However, words like “luck” and “success” are not in her vocabulary. She works hard.SD: If I was told two years ago that I would work with Geor-giev, Hvorostovsky, or the Rot-terdam Symphony Orchestra, I would not have believed it… In the next eight weeks I have 12 projects, and that is a lot for one producer.

I believe you have more than enough stress in your life, not everything goes smoothly when you work with a lot of people …The most terrible thing hap-pened during the ice ballet tour, with their performance of Sleeping Beauty.

We ordered the compressor and attendants from the United

States. (In Canada, theatres work with trade-union work-ers. The way it works is, in the morning 100 people come – 50 are there to work, and the others are present just in case. They receive $50-60 per hour and do not work overtime. At 8 a.m. I got a call that the truck had overturned and the compressor had been slight-ly broken, but hopefully every-thing would be fine. Another truck had been sent and we just had to be patient.

We knew that the press had to be cancelled, but we didn’t have time to call everyone. Journalists came, the ice was not on the stage, and the truck was stuck at customs. Embar-rassment and bad publicity! I was up all night with the dir-ector. We invited the best ex-pert on compressors from far away. Eventually at l a.m. the truck came. The expert looked at the broken compressor and said that if it worked, he would believe in miracles. During those 15 minutes of trying to start the compressor, my whole life f lashed before my eyes! At last the compressor start-ed working, but instead of 24 hours for preparing the ice, we only had 16. So everyone start-ed to work as if in an acceler-ated film. Night changed in-to day and all of us at the the-atre worked until 7 p.m., with-out sleep or rest. When the cur-tains opened, we were anxious about the performance because the ice was far from ideal. But the public did not notice any-thing, and the performance was a great success.NZ: Who agrees to work with you under so much pressure?

I work with very profession-al people, I do not save on P.R. I have a magnificent produc-tion manager because I don’t understand any of the technic-al issues. There are always great women and men around who are sincerely willing to help. Lately I had to restructure my work because I can not simul-taneously be engaged in sign-ing a contract for half-a-mil-lion dollars and speaking with people about tickets. You can go mad. I believe that the best way to do things is to do them yourself, but it is necessary to delegate duties, otherwise you will never be able to expand your business.

Is it true that you once sold more than 1,000 tickets in a week?Yes, I was distributing them myself at night, but then it was my only project, and I staked my future on it.

Did you have 1,300 phone numbers?SD: Of course, not! We adver-tised, but people would call to say they were in the store and there were tickets for “row B” only and they would like to have “row C.” So I would prom-ise them to deliver the tickets. I was working in the office dur-ing the day and at night de-livered the tickets. There were times when I distributed flyers near Roy Thomson Hall, talked to people in the street and in-vited them to concerts. I know every single job in the pro-ject. You just have to try every-thing once. Now I am not en-gaged in as many functions as before, but I keep asking people

Number One Woman Quite often when I see successful, extraordinary people, I am besieged by questions: “Why does one person get everything in life and others, either very little or absolutely nothing? How can one person be so bright, attractive, charming, and focussed?”

By Nina Zaslavsky

bathurst-finch kaleidoscope | spring 2010 | 21

interview

to write about what they think of my concerts, what they liked and what they didn’t like…”

What’s your attitude towards competition?SD: Positive! Although I was pretty concerned when the con-servatory opened. I was worried I’d get trampled. I am a small producer. Later, I found out they were afraid of me as well! And not just them. A lot of big organ-izations with administrative re-sources, well-oiled mechanisms and professionals, were watch-ing my work to see how I, an im-migrant without solid financial support or connections, could fill huge concert halls. Recent-ly one serious person admitted that my presence in this mar-ket had been irritating him for a long time, however, but now he knows that I am not that big – they have 300 projects a year, while I have only five. Now he realizes that since I already exist, it’s better to be friends with me – and we are friends.”

So how can you become part of an already developed structure?I dreamed of a normal career. But I would become bored at any job in a month. I am a fast learner and I react badly to idiocy. I longed for flexibil-ity. I have changed now. When you're in business you under-stand the importance of com-promising. In 1998, I gradu-ated from a university in St. Petersburg with a degree in show business, which I never used. I got a job in a fashion magazine and at first I was very happy. Then I got bored; I was planning to go back to school, but the bills were piling up and they had to be paid. At some point I was hired as a manager in a corporation, and it was a

great experience. Before that I wasn't able to work the West-ern way - 16 hours a day. Even though nobody was forced to work those hours, without that you just couldn’t make it. All around, there were girls and boys with their own problems, conflicts and fights. It was far from my dream job. At a cer-tain point, I realised that if no-body was offering me a worthy job, I should create one myself. I must say that I have lots of friends in show business, and at some point I went with my very close friends on a tour in America, made a few contacts, organized small concerts, and then met Vladimir Spivakov. I was lucky. He studied with my Mum, they had a very warm re-lationship, and so he gave me a chance. He introduced me as a serious American-agent, and I could not let him down. That’s when I sold 1,300 tickets. From that point on, my serious ca-reer began. It took off like a rocket, and my uncertainties vanished! Though, to tell you the truth, I probably didn't have time to even develop them. I work a lot, I make ser-ious decisions on my own, and I communicate with people who have reached the top. But I am very critical of myself and never tell myself «good girl,» even after a very success-ful concert. All my happiness lasts as long as the concert goes on. Thank God, my shows are usually packed. When people see that, they say “this is how producers make millions!” Try to explain that you need to sell at least 2 300 seats out of 2 600, simply to pay off the performers and trade unions, and all your profit is from 300 extra tickets. But only those who work in this business can understand that.

Where do you usually feel more comfortablee - among Canadians or Russian-speakers?

I'm somewhere in the middle. Most of my friends speak Rus-sian, of course, but professional-ly, I tend to be more comfortable in a Canadian environment.

Do you regret leaving Russia?Never! As I don’t regret working in a store for 16 hours. Immi-gration is such a big experience, such happiness, I could never reject it - despite all the diffi-culties. Was I lucky, was I in the right place at the right time with a genius and a nice person like Spivakov? What if we accident-ally met, he would remember my Mum and think what a good girl I was, we would have had coffee and parted. If I was still working at a store at that time and was dreaming of whatever, he would have told me to call him when I was ready… And then what if he did not remember me if I called? The blessing falling from the sky - it’s not for me. I have to work very hard and a lot, and when I do it, I am seen and heard.

So to achieve something, one needs?...Just no matter what, do what you want to do and believe in, then everything will come together. In this country it is ne-cessary to work a lot, if there are no savings. But imagine wasting nine hours of your day. It is the scariest thing for me.

Who do you want to thank for support?Everyone: friends, they know themselves, and enemies. No-body is a mistake in our lives. Thanks to all!

... And when the enormous Roy Thomson Hall explodes with applause, compliments in English return you to reality – you’re not in Russia, this is a tour. Deep inside my twice immigrated soul, there is a feeling of pride for my roots. And I mentally send a sincere thank you to this tiny woman for everything she does. “Spasibo,” from all of us Russian-speakers in Canada.

If two years ago I was told that I would work with Gergiev, Hvorostovsky, Rotterdam Symphony Orchestra, I would not have believed it… In the next eight weeks I have 12 projects, and that is a lot for one producer.

22 | spring 2010 | bathurst-finch kaleidoscope

neighbourhood event

Representatives from dif-ferent communities, most of them women,

came to support the first fund-raising initiative for the North York Women’s Shelter by the Successful Woman’s Council.

This non-profit organiza-tion founded by Nina Zaslav-sky, Tatiana Predeina and El-mira Ibraimova, has a strong membership, comprised of im-migrant women who share a wealth of knowledge and ex-perience between them. Under the leadership of Executive Director, Lada Tarasova, the women came together to learn, grow and support each other. They also believe that it is im-portant to support those who are less fortunate. With this in mind, the group decided to organize a fundraising event in honour of Internation-al Women’s Day. The mem-bers felt that the North York Women’s Shelter would be the perfect recipient, because the group meets in North York, many of its members live there and the shelter is in North York.Tatiana, Elmira and Nina, who

started the Successful Woman’s Council, put all the pieces in place to organize a success-ful event. They asked Nan-cy Oomen, a member of their club, to chair the event, and as word spread, it became clear that many people were happy to participate.

On March 8, everything fell into place perfectly, with an ex-citing program led by the Mas-ter of Ceremonies for the even-ing, Councillor Karen Stintz. Nancy Oomen, who chaired the event said, “we called tonight’s event the BLOSSOM fundrais-er and each letter stands alone in meaning, and reflects what the shelter gives each resident.”

“You will learn to BELIEVE in yourself as you learn to LAUGH through the tears on a road to OPTIMISM which will teach you to SHINE. Your SMILE will light up a room and so OPPORTUNITY will come your way because of the hard work by the North York Women’s Shelter staff, who guided you toward new be-ginnings and a future full of MAGIC.” She went on to say,

“these words truly give mean-ing to what women and chil-dren are helped to achieve, as they go to the shelter to find their way out of unfortunate circumstances.” Nancy added that for the Successful Woman’s Club, “tonight’s cause has creat-ed a stronger bond and given all our members that “feel good” feeling.”

Charlene Catchpole, Execu-tive Director of the North York Women’s Shelter, and all of her staff, do an incredible job in helping women gain confi-dence and put them on the path to a new life, free of abuse. In 2004, a Statistics Canada report showed that 95,000 women and children, were admitted to 473 shelters across the country in a one year period. It takes a lot of strength and courage to break through the many emo-tions and challenges to ask for help. The North York Women’s Shelter is open 365 days a year and operates a 24-hour emer-gency hotline, offering hope and guidance for a better life to those who come to the door or call.

The event was reflective of the multicultural flavour of our wonderful City, and the gener-osity of many local businesses. Patrons were greeted by won-derful music played by violin-ist, Victoria Dickushina, and pianist, Oksana Samokhina. Later on in the evening, Rena Green, a Canadian-Russian designer, convinced Nancy Oomen and Councillor Stintz, to participate in an impromp-tu show of her handmade jewel-lery, shawls and hats.

Without the help of our volunteers and the generos-ity of our donors, musicians and artists, we would not have achieved this level of success. Thanks goes out to all of them.

The Successful Woman’s Council is pleased to have been part of helping to raise aware-ness, along with the support of its sponsors, volunteers and attendees, and is looking for-ward to an even more success-ful event in the future.

More information about the organization is available at: www.swcouncil.ca

international Women’s dayBy Elena Ivanova

On Monday, March 8, approximately 100 people came to celebrate International Women’s Day at the Columbus Centre. Representatives from different communities, most of them women, came to support the first fundraising initiative for the North York Women’s Shelter by the Successful Woman’s Council.

bathurst-finch kaleidoscope | spring 2010 | 23

neighbourhood event

monte kwinter and ken dryden annual skating party

24 | spring 2010 | bathurst-finch kaleidoscope

health

Стресс: пора меняться и двигаться вперед

Стресс – это часть на-шей жизни, это сиг-налы, что пора ме-

няться, двигаться вперед. Но к сожалению, типичная

реакция подавляющего боль-шинства искать причины во вне и эмоционально реагиро-вать на происходящее. Огля-нитесь вокруг, сколько сре-ди нас людей живущих в не-гативе, критикующих всех и вся.Порой это вполне логич-ные аргументированные рас-суждения, но которые в кон-це концов приводят к пара-нояльным заключениям ти-па «существуют психическое воздействие на иммигрантов через определенные часто-ты», «всюду специально соз-даны барьеры, жизнь имми-грантов обречена» или вооб-ще аппокалипсическое «мир

управляется невидимыми силами». И «ЧТО ЖЕ ДЕЛАТЬ?».

Типичный ответ «Да ниче-го, разве со всем этим спра-вишься, это не в наших си-лах.» К сожалению, подоб-ные рассуждения появляют-ся как оправдание собствен-ного бессилия, неспособно-сти справиться с одной ситу-ацией, затем с другой и в кон-це концов просто опускают-ся руки. На тренингах по управ-лению стрессом я прово-жу простое упражнение, даю участникам задание: внимательно посмотрите друг на друга, и посчитай-те, сколько одежды черно-го цвета на присутствую-щих. Будьте очень внима-тельны, смотрите на все

вещи и не упустите ниче-го. Затем я прошу закрыть глаза и ответить, сколько светлых вещей на присут-ствующих. Ответы как правило неточные. Мне ча-сто возражают, что зада-ние было посчитать чер-ный цвет. Но в условии бы-ла фраза «быть очень вни-мательными и смотреть на все вещи...».

Суть упражнения состоит в том, что участники видели все вещи, но поскольку дана была установка на черный, выделяли только этот цвет,– все остальные цвета просто ускальзали мимо, хотя и бы-ли в поле зрения. То же самое происходит и в нашей жиз-ни. Потерпев неудачу мы на-ходим оправдение, мы сни-маем с себя ответственность и находим «виноватых». Воз-можно так оно и есть, но это не важно, важно то, ЧТО в качестве установки мы по-местим в свое сознание. Если мы создаем установку «люди ужасны» (как в упражнении – посчитайте черный цвет), то осознано или нет мы бу-дем замечать вокруг ужас-ные вещи, ужасные собы-

тия, ужасных людей, мы их будем выделять и, более то-го воволекаться в эти ситу-ации. В результате получа-ем подтверждение собствен-ному заключению и сраст-но всем доказываем на ре-альных примерах что «люди ужасны». А ведь вокруг есть все цвета и желтые, и белые, и розовые. Но установка на черное, уводит наше внима-ние, также как уводит она от позитивных событий, лю-дей, ситуаций. И наоборот, если мы настроены позитив-но, мы фильтруем обстоя-тельства, соответствующие нашим установкам. Пример позитивной установки - уме-ние принимать любую ситуа-цию, видеть в ней не пробле-мы, а пути выхода из нее, ис-кать новые возможности для осуществления своих наме-рений . Такая позиция воз-можна, если есть вера в се-бя. Как только мы научаем-ся принимать себя, мы ста-новимся способными при-нимать других и решать лю-бые обстоятельства. Но это длительный процесс и тре-бущий огромного желания и усилий. Об этом будет в сле-дующих выпусках.

Организаторы Bathurst & Finch community Center провели семинары на тему «Управление стрессом» Целью этих встреч было показать как воспринимать стрессовые ситуации, как строить отношения, как научиться принимать и любить себя. Фасилитатор этих встреч Эльмира Ибраимова поделилась в этой статье своим мыслями о стрессе.

By Elmira Ibraimova

название рубрики

bathurst-finch kaleidoscope | spring 2010 | 25

health

Jen Quinlan & Julia FursovaAs modern women

living in a big city, we often find ourselves jug-gling multiple responsi-bilities; be it upgrading our studies, working or searching for work, caring for our family, or responding to the needs of our friends.

In Toronto, we often have to battle with immigration stress as well; the stress of learning to speak a new language, navigat-ing unfamiliar streets, strug-gling with understanding the school system, or trying to find a family doctor. Sudden-ly things that were so easy in our home countries become enormously challenging in a new environment. Remember the first time you tried to ex-change an item in the super-market? Suddenly you realized you had to speak to the person behind the counter…in Eng-lish! You had the phrase pre-pared, but unexpectedly your lips felt stuck together. When your son brought a note home from school you weren’t able to read it. You understood each word but what did they all mean together? At the end of the day, your husband con-fessed he thought he’d failed the job interview you so hoped for. Needless to say, there are days when we feel everything is too much for us.

So often, while taking care of others, we forget about the most important person. Let me introduce you to that import-ant person ...

Please stand up and go to the mirror, look at your reflection and say “Hi (your name) nice to meet you. You are such a won-derful person. From now on I am going to take care of you, every single day. I promise.”

But in order to do this, what are the things any woman can

do to take better care of her-self? Unfortunately, there is no magic pill that can instant-ly make us healthier and more resilient. However, if there was one, that magic pill would in-clude the following: supportive relationships, self-care, com-munity involvement, taking ac-tion and asking for help. Supportive relationships:

Why are they important? Be-cause if we live, work and spend time with people who genuine-ly care about us, we are bet-ter off physically, mentally and emotionally. Seek and nurture relationships that make you feel good. Try to limit inter-action with people who regu-larly disappoint, frustrate or hurt you. In other words, be se-lective about people in your life. Of course, it is not always pos-sible to avoid all negative inter-actions, that’s why it is espe-cially important to rely on your positive relationships during difficult times.Self Care:

It literally means taking care of yourself, the same way you care for others. When your family member gets flu or sim-ply has a bad day, perhaps you make a nice cup of herbal tea for him or her. So, do it for yourself when you feel tired or lack ener-gy. Here are a few examples of how to pamper yourself: » Take some time to relax and

decompress

» Drink a cup of tea

» Listen to your favorite music

» Go for a walk

» Have a bubble bath

» Start a hobby

Do something that makes you feel good and happy, and add other activities to the sug-gested list!Community Involvement:

Perhaps it is part of common wisdom -- in difficult times try to help others who are in an even worse situation than yours. A shared burden is half a burden. Shared joy is double joy. Getting involved in activ-ities can relieve stress, and al-lows us to take a break from our hectic schedule, to do some-thing else and refocus. Volun-teering is a great way to get in-volved. A number of organ-izations are always looking for volunteers including: New Heights CHCs, Host Program and North York Women’s Cen-tre. It is also an additional op-portunity to receive profes-sional training and stay active professionally if you are un- or underemployed, or to try new professional directions. Taking Action/Control:

It is never good for your health to feel powerless. Con-cerned about safety, cleanli-ness or snow removal in the neighbourhood? Concerned about something else? Instead of passive complaining, take charge of a situation! Join the Neighbourhood Action Group (NAG) and start making a change in your neighbourhood. There are three types of people – those who watch things hap-pen, others who complain when things happen, or those who make things happen. The lat-ter group is so much more fun!And finally, ask for help.

While it is important to feel strong and be in charge of your

life, it is also equally important to recognize our limitations and admit when we need help. Asking for help is not a weak-ness, it shows wisdom.

Below is a list of resources for women in the Bathurst-Finch neighbourhood. Remember, you can ask for help and offer help, depending on your par-ticular situation. Often, people who come to the organization to ask for help, later become volunteers offering their help to others.

New Heights Commun-ity Health Centres, Bathurst-Finch Satellite, 5987 Bathurst Street, unit 104: call 647- 436-0385 to ask about health pro-moting groups and programs. Book an appointment with the Social Worker or Dietitian, or access our Family Doctor and/or Nurse Practitioner.

North York Community House, HOST Program – 638 Sheppard Avenue west, unit 220: call (416) 636-2600 to ask about programs for new Can-adians, volunteer opportun-ities, ESL groups and more.

North York Women’s Cen-tre – 201 Caribou Road, (near Bathurst and Lawrence inter-section): call (416) 781-0439 to ask about a consultation with a Lawyer regarding Family Law, women’s personal development and support groups, or facilita-tors’ training program.

Griffin Centre, 24 Silverview Drive, (closest intersection Yonge and Cummer), call (416) 222-1321 to access services sup-porting youth, also adults and their families on the issues re-lated to mental health.

Women’s health: creating balance & renewal in 5 easy steps

26 | spring 2010 | bathurst-finch kaleidoscope

mini-guide

general esl (tdsb) open to all – no immi-gration restrictions$7.00 registration fee

WEST DON APARTMENTS6250 Bathurst St. (Bathurst and Steeles)(416) 338-4300

Mon/Wed 1 –3 pm – High Beginner Tues/Th 10 –12 am – Beginner

FISHERVILLE JHS425 Patricia Ave. (Bathurst and Patricia)(416) 338-4300

Mon to Thurs 4:30–6:30pm – literacy, beginner, im-mediate and multi-level Mon/Wed 7–9:30 pm – ESL literacy, intermediate Tues/Th 7–9 pm – begin-ner multi-level

JIAS (JEWISH IMMIGRANT AID SERVICES)

15 Hove Street and 4600 Bathurst St. (Sheppard/Bathurst and Bathurst/Finch)(416) 635-7044 or (416) 338-4300

Classes are offered Mon –Fri in at various times amongst all levels

BARBARA FRUM LIBRARY20 Covington Rd. (Bathurst and Lawrence)(416) 395-4980

Tues/Th 9:00 am to 1:00 pm – Beginner (bench-marks 1 to 4)

BATHURST HEIGHTS ADULT LEARNING CENTRE

640 Lawrence Ave. W (Lawrence and Allen Expressway)(416) 395-4980

Classes are offered Mon –Fri in at various times amongst all levels includ-ing computer skills, con-versation, TOEFL, and conversation specialty classes

BATHURST PLACE3036 Bathurst St. (Bathurst and Lawrence)(416) 395-4980

Mon/Wed/Fri – 9:00 –1:00pm – Beginner Tues/Th – 9:00 – 12:00pm – Beginner

DREWRY PLACE33 Drewry Ave. (Drewry and Yonge)(416) 338-4300

Tues/Th 9:30 am to 11:30 am – beginner Tues/Th 1:00 –3:00pm – Intermediate

EDITHVALE COMMUNITY CENTRE

7 Edithvale Dr. (Finch and Bathurst)(416) 395-4980

Mon –Fri 8:30 –1:30pm – TOEFL Mon –Fri 8:30 –12:30pm – Intermediate/Advanced Mon –Fri 2:00 –4:00 pm – TWE

KEMPFORD APARTMENTS

5430 Yonge St. (Yonge and Finch)(416) 338-4300

Tues/Th – 1:00 –3:00 pm – multi-level

MITCHELL FIELD COMMUNITY CENTRE

89 Church Ave. (Yonge and Finch)(416) 338-4300

Tues/Th – 8:30am –12:30 pm – beginner Mon/Wed/Fri – 8:30am –12:30 pm – intermediate

NEWTONBROOK UNITED CHURCH

53 Cummer Ave. (Yonge and Finch)(416) 338-4300

Mon/Wed 9:30 –11:30 am – Beginner Mon/Wed 1:00 – 3:00 pm – intermediate

NORTH YORK SENIORS CENTRE (FOR SENIORS OVER 55 YEARS OLD)

21 Hendon Ave. (Finch and Yonge)(416) 338-4300

Mon –Fri 9:30 –12:00pm – multilevel

NORTH YORK CENTRAL LIBRARY

5120 Yonge St. (Yonge and North York Civic Centre)(416) 338-4300

Tues/Wed/Fri 9:30 –11:30 am – beginner, intermedi-ate, advanced Mon 9:30 –12:00 am – beginner Mon 6:00 –8:30 pm – Citizen Preparation Tues/Th 6:00 –8:30 pm – TOEFL

Please note: the guide is a work in progress, and is not comprehensive. This is our first set of listings, and it won’t be our last. We are looking for your input! If there are agencies, groups or programs you think we should add to our guide, please contact us at:[email protected] ESL and LINC programs listed below are for the Bathurst/Finch Community and surrounding areas. ELT, SLT, Workplace Preparation, Special Needs ESL and Talk English Cafes listed below are city-wide as many of these programs are not offered in all areas. This information is current with the websites and publications of the organizations that offer them, however they may be subject to change and it is always best to call the organization for course dates and times.

A big thank you to Sarah Crossley from Toronto Employment and Social Services for compiling this information!

kaleidoscope mini-guide: general esl and linc programs

list of abbreviationslinc – language in-struction for newcom-ers to canadaesl – english as a second languageclb – canadian lan-guage benchmarksft – full-timept – part-timetdsb – toronto dis-trict school boardslt – specialized lan-guage trainingelt – enhanced lan-guage trainingtoefl – test of eng-lish as a foreign language

By Sarah Crossleyz

bathurst-finch kaleidoscope | spring 2010 | 27

general esl and linc programs

SHEPPARD PLACE4455 Bathurst St. (Sheppard and Bathurst)(416) 338-4300

Mon/Wed 9:00 –12:00 am – multi-level

ST. PATRICK’S ANGLICAN CHURCH

1087 Lillian St. (Steeles and Yonge)(416) 338-4300

Mon to Thurs 9:00 – 11:30 am – multi-level

language instruc-tion for neWcomers to canada (linc) tdsbclasses are offered ft mon-fri amongst all lev-els - must be assessed at ymcano fees, open to con-vention refugees and permanent residentscan apply for transpor-tation bursary ( will give for one way only) childcare: from 6 months to 5 years

CUMMER LINC500 Cummer Ave. (Bayview and Cummer)(416) 395-4820

KENTON LEARNING CENTRE LINC

34 Kenton Dr.(416) 395-8486

WILLOWDALE LINC250 Sheppard Ave. E. (Willowdale and Sheppard)(416) 395-8214

JIAS (JEWISH IMMIGRANT AID SERVICES)

15 Hove Street and 4600 Bathurst St. (Sheppard/Bathurst and Bathurst/Finch)

(416) 635-7044 or (416) 338-4300

Transportation Bursary: one way fare for single people, two way fare for students with children Childcare: from 2/12 years to 5 yearselt (enhanced lan-guage training) tdsb for employment - en-gineering, it, account-ing, sales/marketing and administration sectors. classes are of-fered ft (m-f 9:00am-2:30pm) and last for 8 weeks which includes mentoring and work placement.no fees. transportation bursary: ttc provid-ed. open to convention refugees and perma-nent residents

CUMMER CENTRE500 Cummer Ave. (Bayview and Cummer)(416) 395-3669

JONES AVE. ADULT CENTRE

540 Jones Ave. (Dan-forth and Jones)(416) 395-3669

SHEPPARD CENTRE170 Sheppard Ave. E (Yonge and Sheppard)

CONSUMERS ROAD515 Consumers Rd. (Consumers and Vic-toria Park)(416) 350-8270

ELT for Financial Services

FOUR SEASONS PLACE17 Four Seasons Place (Burnhamthorpe and East Mall)(416) 394-2241

ELT for Financial Services -

MIDLAND AVE. 3660 Midland Ave. (Midland and Mc Nicoll)(416) 396-4434

ELT for immigrant Women - Focus on the retail, administration and customer service professions.

ST.WILLIAM ADULT ESL CENTRE

343 Jones Ave. (Jones and Gerrard)(416) 397-6959

Requirements: minimum of CLB 7 in each of the 4 language areas (read-ing, writing, speaking, listening)ELT for ESL Instructors - Classes run for 10 weeks and are offered twice a year and are FT 9:00am to 2:30pm.

CORVETTI EDUCATION CENTRE

(provides by COSTI)760 College St. (Col-lege between Ossing-ton and Bathurst)(416) 534-7400

Requirements: an ad-vanced level of English and occupational training/ex-perience in the professionELT for Childcare - Class-es are 10 weeks in duration and include 2 weeks of pre-employment preparation workshops and 8 weeks of assisted job placement and support.Language and Skills Train-ing Services (provides by COSTI)Transportation Bursary: one way fare provided

SHERIDAN MALL (provides by COSTI) 1700 Wilson Ave. Ste.#206(416) 244-9980

Requirements: an ad-vanced level of English and

occupational training/ex-perience in the professionELT for Office Admin-istration/Customer Ser-vice - Classes are 10 weeks in duration and include 2 weeks of pre-employ-ment preparation work-shops and 8 weeks of as-sisted job placement and support. ELT for Account-ing and Finance - Class-es are 10 weeks in duration and include 2 weeks of pre-employment preparation workshops and 8 weeks of assisted job placement and support.

JVS NORTH (A JOINT PROJECT WITH ACCESS, MICROSKILLS, JOBSTART,HUMBER COLLEGE AND SENECA COLLEGE)

1280 Finch Ave. W Ste #607 (Finch and Keele)(416) 661-3010, ext. 358

Requirements: at least LINC level 5 or CLB level 6 with educational back-ground/ work experience in home countryELT for IT- FT classes in-clude sector specific coach-ing and job development. ELT for Finance/Banking - FT classes include sector specific coaching and job development. ELT for En-gineering -FT classes in-clude sector specific coach-ing and job development.

JOBSTART (A JOINT PROJECT WITH SKILLS FOR CHANGE)

219 Dufferin St. (King and Dufferin)(416) 231-2295

Open to permanent Resi-dents and Convention Refugees over 18 years old and are internationally trained in IT with relevant experience. Must have at least CLB level of 6/7.ELT for IT Professionals - FT course with 6 weeks of

sector specific IT language training, up to 8 weeks of IT work placement. Also includes a referral to the Mentoring Partner-ship and job development support.

SKILLS FOR CHANGENo Transportation Bursary provided.Funds may be provid-ed for childcare791 St.Clair Ave. W (St.Clair W be-tween Bathurst and Dufferin)(416) 658-3101 ext.211

Requirements: CLB levels 7-9 required.ELT for Engineers, En-gineering Technicians and Technologists - FT, 9:30am to 3:00pm 5 days a week for 8 weeks. Includes mentoring, work place-ment and job development support.

slt (specialiZed lan-guage training) provider:tdsbopen to all – no immi-gration restrictions

TDSB1641 Pharmacy Ave. Room 212 (Pharmacy, south of the 401) (416) 396-2904

slt for hospitality - training is in 2 phases, each 9 weeks long with 10 hours of training per week. Curriculum covers CLB level 4 and 5, work-shops will run from work-place sites wherever pos-sible (TDSB training site available if employee can-not provide space). SLT for Skilled Trades - open to those in Electrical or Carpentry Trades, train-ing is in 2 phases, each 9 weeks long with 10 hours of training per week. Cur-riculum covers CLB level 4

general esl and linc programs

28 | spring 2010 | bathurst-finch kaleidoscope

and 5, workshops will run from workplace sites wher-ever possible (TDSB train-ing site available if employ-ee cannot provide space). no fees

JONES AVE. ADULT CENTRE

540 Jones Ave. (Dan-forth and Jones)(416) 393-9645

slt for internationally trained nurses - Pre-bridging program for internationally-trained RN’s and RPN’s. Course is designed to upgrade Eng-lish language requirements to enter a bridging pro-gram for nurses.$7.00 registration feeMust Call for Locations and times

(416) 397-6219Open to all - no immigra-tion restrictionsSpecialized Language Training for Childcare - Classes run both FT (12 weeks) and PT (30 weeks) for people interested in go-ing into the fields of home daycare, ECE or ECA. Pre-vious experience/qualifica-tions not required. CLB as-sessment is required. Spe-cialized Language Train-ing for Home Healthcare - Classes run PT (4 hours a week) for people interest-ed in or currently work-ing in the fields of person-al support worker, home support worker, and home cleaners. CLB assessment is required. $7.00 registration fee

Workplace preparationprovider:tdsbopen to all - no immigra-tion restrictions.

OVERLAND LEARNING CENTRE

55 Overland Dr. (Law-rence and Don Mills)(416) 395-5080

Requirements:CLB level 5.ESL Home Healthcare Worker Program - 9 week program combining co-op placement in real work set-ting and relevant ESL in-struction. First Aid certifi-cation included in course.$7.00 registration fee

ST. WILLIAM ADULT ESL CENTRE

343 Jones Ave. (Jones and Gerrard)(416) 397-6070

Requirements: CLB lev-els 4 to 7. ESL Hospital Volunteer Training Program - For clients interested or with experience in the Health-care professions who need language upgrading, in-cludes volunteering in a hospital setting. Childcare: ages 31 months to 72 months

SKILLS FOR CHANGE791 St.Clair Ave. W (St.Clair W be-tween Bathurst and Dufferin)(416) 658-3101

ESL Clerical Accounting - to improve langauge skills relevant to the profession. ESL Retail and Customer Service Skills - to improve langauge skills relevant to the profession. ESL Ad-vanced English for Inter-nationally Educated Pro-fessionals - to improve lan-gauge skills relevant to the profession. ESL Language Upgrading for Internation-ally Trained Teachers - to

improve langauge skills relevant to the profession. no

CORVETTI EDUCATION CENTRE

Provider: TCDSB/COSTI760 College St. (Col-lege between Ossing-ton and Bathurst)(416) 534-7400

Open to Convention Refu-gees, Permanent Residents, and Canadian Citizens. CLB levels 5-8.ESL Business English and Computers - to improve langauge skills relevant to the profession. no fees

esl for special needs programs/provider: tdsb$7.00 registration fee

CANADIAN CENTRE FOR VICTIMS OF TORTURE

194 Jarvis St. 2nd Fl. (Jarvis and Dundas)(416) 363-1066

Open to all - no immigra-tion restrictions however specifically for victims of torture who are unable to attend regular ESL classesClasses run from M-Th, 12:30-3:30pm and are for high beginner and inter-mediate level learners.

HONG FOOK MENTAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION

260 Spadina Ave. Ste. #408 (Spadina and Dundas)(416) 493-4242

Open to all - no immi-gration restrictions how-ever is for the Chinese/South Asian Commun-ity who are unable to at-tend regular classes due to mental health or emotional difficulties.

Mon/Tues/Th- 10:00am-12:00 pm - beginner/intermediate Wed/Fri - 10:00am-12:00 pm - Can-tonese Beginner

conversation cafes

ACCES EMPLOYMENTVarious Locations(416) 921-1800

Open to all - no immigra-tion restrictions.Classes are led by a quali-fied ESL instructor as well as informal group discus-sion, to develop skills in making small talk; build-ing relationships with cli-ents, co-workers and man-agers; working effective-ly in teams; and under-standing the nuances of workplace culture. Gives the opportunity to prac-tice and enhance your pro-nunciation, grammar and vocabulary.

ENGLISH CONVERSATION CAFE FOR JOB SEEKERS

Where: YMCA North York Employment and Newcomer Programs4580 Dufferin Street, 2nd Floor, (North West corner of Finch/Dufferin)

When: Every Monday, 5:30 to 7:30 pm

Requirements: (Minimum level 3 English). Registra-tion not required

Contact: Noa Lipton at (416)635-9622 ext. 24

ENGLISH CONVERSATION CAFE FOR EVERYONEPractice your English in a casual, friendly setting over a cup of coffee.

Where: Antibes Com-munity Centre, 140 Antibes Drive , (off Bathurst, north of Finch)When: Every Wednes-day, 6:00 to 7:30 pm

Requirements: NoneContact: Joanna at (416)630-6481 ext. 30

ENGLISH CONVERSATION CAFE FOR EVERYONE

Where: Gales Family Pavilion, 4600 Bath-urst Street, (new building next door to Lipa Green Building)

When: Every Thursday, 7:00 to 8:30 pmRequirements: None

Contact: Joanna at (416)630-6481 ext. 30

bathurst-finch kaleidoscope | spring 2010 | 29

When it comes to dif-ferences between men and women,

everyone agrees they exist: we look different, have differing values and do not enjoy the same activities. Moreover, men and women provide particular social roles in achieving a suc-cessful family life. These are stereotypes, but that’s the way it is … Immigration to Can-ada is often a turning point in one’s life. A new start challen-ges many aspects of traditional views and stereotypes.

Each family has its own unique history of immigration. Although with most families, the idea of moving to another country was initially more wel-comed by adventurous men, but questioned more carefully by women. Stereotypically, and rationally, it is easily explained by natural instincts – a desire to expand the “hunting territory,” on one hand, and to make sure the “nest” is comfortable, on the other hand. Strategy is what men have always been good at, leaving tactical questions to me-ticulous women.

Getting reestablished in our new home country is the next, and most challenging step of the immigration process. If you are prepared to adapt to change, it will define your success. But most importantly, it will make the transition that much easier. Those who are ready to sacrifice their stereotypical social roles and modify their traditional lifestyle, may find themselves

more at home in Canada, than those who stick to their former model of living. Quite often, women are less demanding in terms of career, and more ori-ented to supporting their hus-bands in career building dur-ing the first year. They start do-ing odd jobs in order to provide their partner with more oppor-tunities to professionally es-tablish themselves. Thus, for a time, women turn into bread-winners, unconsciously ques-tioning the traditional status of men. Eight out of ten women interviewed in a survey, admit-ted that for them integration in-to a new reality was much easi-er than for their husbands: more flexible by nature, women quite often succeed in learning and building a strong network in a shorter period of time, and start

appreciating the Canadian ex-perience in both professional and personal terms.

Although these changes en-rich women with great experi-ences, they may completely turn their family life upside down. Fear of the future, depression and frustration – all these prob-lems may be felt by a man who is not yet established. It could cause misunderstandings in a family if he forgets about the temporary nature of these changes. Most importantly, this period is great in terms of observing new op-tions: What if two people real-ize that being self-employed is more interesting for them than working for a well-known com-pany? What if a man, while hav-ing this short break from money-making, figures out that baby-sitting is what he has uncon-

sciously dreamt about all his life, but never had a chance to think about? What if…?

The last and most thrilling step of immigration is sim-ply to enjoy your life! Mov-ing to another country cre-ates great opportunities to be happy. Although this sounds vague, it is still the most com-mon feeling. Although men and women think differently, we are alike when it comes to the de-sire to be happy – whatever that means! The “what if” question may arise in any family, creat-ing numerous opportunities for both sexes. The Canadian reality is about breaking stereo-types – so by being open-mind-ed and changing their ideas about stereotypical social roles, they might actually enjoy the journey!

neighbourhood buzz

Men & Women: Challenging Stereotypes

By Vera Samarkina

30 | spring 2010 | bathurst-finch kaleidoscope

neighbourhood buzz

Childcare TrainingProgram: a Success

Communication Skills Training

Have you ever thought to yourself ‘I’d like to work with children,

but don’t know how to get start-ed?’ If so, you are in good com-pany at Bathurst and Finch. For three months, a group of 26 dedicated women have at-tended New Heights Com-munity Health Centres’ Child-care Training Program. This program was designed specif-ically for people who are inter-ested in working with children in either a day care or home day care setting. Participants found this program incredibly helpful and worthwhile. Below, please read a comment from one of our participants, Ms. Teresita Tajanlangit.

New Heights Health Com-munity Centres, Bathurst and Finch Satellite, launched a

Childcare Training Program in December, 2009. The program lasted for 9 weeks, meeting twice a week for 2½ hours. The program also included 10 hours of practical placement. The course provided the 26 trainees with the knowledge, skills and attitude to ensure the holistic development of children in day cares. Subjects covered in the course included the Day Nurs-eries Act, child development, children with special needs, content and methods of fun learning, caregivers health and welfare, effective communi-cation, and how to start a day care. The training ensured that trainees are more than ready to take on the challenge of provid-ing quality child care services as well as increased their em-ployability. To boot, CPR and First Aid training certified the

“would be” day care providers, thus arming the trainees with the right tools to work with day care centres or to start a home day care.

The dynamic duo and the ever-supportive Julia Fursova and Jen Quinlan were hands on, as they ensured child care services for parents with kids, provided healthy snacks, con-ducted workshops, provided encouragement, critique and evaluation.

The training impressed up-on me the importance of treat-ing children as individuals with

natural characteristics that can be nurtured for optimum de-velopment at home, in day cares, and in formal schooling. As a trained child care provid-er, I have the responsibility to create an enabling environment for a child and to contribute to the full development of his or her potential.

Are you interested in be-ing part of this training pro-

gram? If you live in the Bath-urst and Finch commun-

ity, please register! Call Jen or Julia at 647-436-0385 for

more information.

Over 20 residents have com-pleted a 4-day Communication Skills Training in late March. This training covered a range of topics including: » Effective Communication Skills

» Learning about Diversity, Intercultural and Inclusive communication

» Communication skills in Relationships and addressing Conflict

» Communication Skills in the Work Place.

This training was planned by the NAG Training Committee who identified communication skills as a neighbourhood-wide

matter. By offering this train-ing community members can build their skills and be able to work together for a strong-er neighbourhood.

Each of the sessions was fa-cilitated by Community En-gagement Worker, Hannah Bontogon along with resident committee members, Babur Beg, Anuradha Balasubra-manian, and Elmira Ibraimova.

Babur is an active volun-teer in the community with the Neighbourhood Action Group (NAG) who has previ-ously worked with Multilat-eral agencies and governments in development work. Anura-

dha is also an active volunteer with the NAG and received training from the United Way, in their Community Builders, Train the Trainers Program. She used this learning to co-facilitate this training. Elmira is a foreign trained psycholo-gist who has done workshops in stress management, and self help, and contributed to the session on Communication in Relationships.

The last session on Com-munication Skills in the work place was facilitated by the YMCA Employment Centre. Many new comers who are still orienting themselves to Can-

ada found it helpful and will hopefully be able to apply their newly learned skills through-out their involvement in the community.

Congratulations to the com-mittee members on a success-ful training, and all the partici-pants who received a Certificate of Attendance for completing all four sessions!

We will be offering this training again in the sum-

mer. If you are interest-ed in participating or

would like more informa-tion please contact Hannah

647-436-0385

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events calendar

antibes rhythmic gymnastics

140 antibes drive 416-823-3017www.antibesrg.net

year round lessons

summer camps shows for parents every month

bathurst-finch kaleidoscope | spring 2010 | 31

Women’s GroupsJoin these groups to meet new friends, widen your social networks and receive new information. We invite various guests-speakers; some of the sessions are facilitated by women participants. Re-freshments and childcare provided on site for some of our groups.

Victoria - Russian speaking Women’s Group Dates: ongoingDay: fourth Monday of each monthTime: 6-8 p.m.Location: Bathurst-Finch Community Office (5987 Bathurst St. unit 104/106).For more information, contact: BF Community Office at 647-436-0385

English Conversation CaféWe invite all residents who would like to improve their English to attend English Conversation Café. Refreshments are provided.Dates, Times and Location: To be determinedFor more information, contact: BF Community Office at 647-436-0385

Knitters’ Night Out Dates: ongoingDay: TuesdayTime: 6:30-8 p.m. Location: Centennial LibraryThe knitting group invites everyone regardless of age, gender and skill level.For more information, contact: BF Community Office at 647-436-0385 or Centennial Library at 416-395-5490.

Seniors’ Health Club Second Wind Sessions include gentle fitness exercise, healthy snacks and information-al talks with various health specialists, including registered dietitian, stress management consultant, and meditation specialist.Dates: ongoingDays: Tuesday and Thursday Time: 1-3 p.m. Location: 6250 Bathurst St., meeting room.

Newcomer and Health Workshops A workshop for community members who are interested in receiv-ing more information on the health care system (including access and rights) in Canada. Workshop will be delivered in English, however, in-terpretation will be available. Date, Time and Location: TBAFor more information, contact: BF Community Office at (647) 436-0385

Youth Chill Zone Drop-in space for youth Dates: ongoingDay: WednesdayTime: 3-6 pm. Location: Centennial Library. For more information, contact: BF Community Office at 647-436-0385 or Centennial Library at 416-395-5490.

Youth Media Club For youth interested in different aspects of media, includ-ing writing, photography, art and graphic design, news-paper publishing and blogging. Dates: ongoingDay: alternate MondayTime: 3:30-5 pmLocation: Bathurst-Finch Community Office (5987 Bathurst St., unit 104/106). For more information, contact: 647-436-0385

Youth Health Ambassador Program is a workshop series for youth who want to become peer leaders in health promotion.When: Every other WednesdayWhere: Centennial Library (578 Finch Ave West, basement)Time: 4-6pmContact Jen Quinlan for more information at 647 436 0385

Neighbourhood Action Group (NAG)Bathurst-Finch Resident Association working on planning and organ-izing neighbourhood activities, events and projects. Membership con-sists of anyone living, working or attending school in the BF neighbour-hood. NAG has four working groups to address different priorities in the neighbourhood: communications committee (working on Bathurst-Finch Kaleidoscope community newspaper and website), events com-mittee, capacity building committee and youth committee. For more information on how to get involved and meeting dates, con-tact Hannah Bontogon at (647) 436-0385

Community Advisory Panel (CAP) A group of residents and other stakeholders in the Bathurst-Finch neighbourhood who advise New Heights CHCs on various matters con-cerning the development of Bathurst-Finch Community Hub and Satel-lite Community Health Centre. The group meets on a second Monday of every other month and welcomes new members. Dates: May 10, July 12, September 13, November 8, 2010Time: 5 p.m.Location: Bathurst-Finch Community Office (5987 Bathurst St., unit 104/106).

For more information, contact: Bathurst-Finch Community Office at 647-436-0385

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