Today’s Globe and Mail (G&M) reports on a story about a young Christian woman who converted to Islam as a teen, without her parent’s knowledge. She empathizes with Aqsa Parvez and other teens who are not in step with their parents beliefs. She wishes she had someone to talk to when she was navigating/negotiating her beliefs with her parents.
The story tells us that such help is available: a help line, called Naseeha, or “advice” in Arabic has been in existence since 2005 and operates out of Mississauga. Ostensibly, like the Kids Help Phone line (est. 1989) the advice line provides advice and support, but specifically support to Muslim youth who are, according to the story experiencing “the pull between two worlds”. The now 27-year Muslim convert says the murder of Aqsa Parvez and other so-called “honour killings” are not Muslim issues, but cultural issues and that phone lines like Naseeha respond to the specific issues experienced by newcomer children and youth.
If you surf over to Kids Help Phone, you can see that among the FAQ kids pose are questions related to discrimination, prejudice, diversity and inclusion. The G&M says that Tarek Fatah, a frequent critic of Fundamentalist Muslim practices in Canada, calls the advice line “anti-Western” and believes advice provided would be critical of Canadian ways.
In response, the co-founder of Naseeha defends the need for a separate advice line: ‘You have a Mercedes, you take it to a Mercedes mechanic’. Further: “We lead them to the facts in the Koran, and to what they want to do. We don’t decide on someone’s behalf”.
What do you think? Do immigrant/refugee children and youth need a separate advice help line?
Category: Multiculturalism
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Naseeha: The Muslim kids help line
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Call for proposals: CIC & Multiculturalism
Inter-Action is the new Multiculturalism Grants program, administered by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC).
From the latest funding call:“The Program supports CIC’s mandate and the Canadian Multiculturalism Act by assisting the socio-economic integration of individuals and communities and their contributions to building an integrated and socially cohesive society”.
“Priority areas under consideration for this call are: Youth, including youth at risk; Faith communities and organizations; Immigrants. Themes focus on: Citizenship rights and responsibilities; Facilitating positive interaction among different cultural, ethnic and religious communities in Canada”.For more information, including application forms and details on applying, see the CIC site and the Settlement At Work site.
Deadline for applications is Oct 15, 2010. -
Conference call: Migration and the global city, Toronto
It looks like Ryerson University is working to launch a research institute devoted to immigration and settlement issues. Good luck to them. As part of this initiative, they are calling for proposals for a conference entitled “Migration and the Global City”. The conference, a launch to the proposed research centre, tentatively called the Ryerson Institute on Immigration and Settlement (RISS), will be held on the Ryerson campus from October 29-31, 2010.
A call for papers has been released here. Of particular interest to immigrantchildren.ca, conference themes include; Children and Youth; Citizenship, Migration and Identity; Precarious and Temporary Status; and Settlement Services.
The conference will feature a range of activities, including day-trips to local immigrant/settlement locations, a film-documentary screening and art-show, and a possible “CIHR-funded pre-conference on immigrant and refugee children and youth” (Source: Ryerson website). Ryerson – do let us know at immigrantchildren.ca how we can support this important inclusion!
Deadline for abstract submission is June 15, 2010. -
FRP Perspectives in Family Support (Spring 2010) special issue on immigrant families
The Canadian Association of Family Resource Centres (FRP Canada) has released a special edition of their journal, Perspectives in Family Support with a focus on immigrant families:
In “The Participation of Immigrant Families in the Activities of Family Resource Programs”, Marie Rhéaume reports on a research study conducted in Québéc that examined the issues and “distances” between immigrant mothers and Québécois mothers and found that, overall, family resource centres because of the “values that underlie the work of these community-based organizations, particularly the climate of respect, help build bridges between the two groups”. For more on the study, see here.
In “Taking an Advocacy With Approach”, as opposed to an advocacy for approach, Lianne Fisher argues for the importance of self-reflection of family resource practitioners who work with newcomers to recognize and resolve possible stigmatizing and marginalizing that may occur when practitioners seek to help newcomers.
An excerpt of “Phase 2 of FRP Canada’s Welcome Here Project: A Summary Report of Lessons Learned”, also available on the FRP Canada website welcomehere.ca.
The issue of cultural adaptation and/or interpretation v. simple translation is covered by Betsy Mann in “Reflecting on Issues of Translation and Interpretation”.
Researcher Dr. Judith K. Bernhard writes on “What are the Essential Elements of Valid Research? The Problem of ‘Data’ and their Collection in Cross-Cultural Contexts” from a personal viewpoint as both an immigrant to Canada and now a practicing academic in immigrant-family related studies. -
Call for NAME conference proposals: Empowering children and youth
The theme for the 2010 NAME (National Association for Multicultural Education) conference is “Empowering Children and Youth: Equity, Multiculturally Responsive Teaching and Achievement Gaps”. The international conference runs from Nov 4-6, 2010 in Las Vegas NV.
Deadline is April 17, 2010. For more information and to access the online submission form, see the conference website. -
Toronto's Hot Docs festival offerings on multiculturalism, integration, equity, racism & child rights
Among the showings at Toronto’s annual Hot Docs film festival, running from April 29-May 9, 2010 are:
In the Name of the Family ~ about Aqsa Parvez and her so-called honour killing
Listen to This ~ Pianist Thompson Egbo-Egbo starts a music program at his former school in Toronto’s Jane-Finch community
Babies ~ just babies in settings around the world (also see film website)
Grace, Milly, Lucy … Child Soldiers ~ the lives of Ugandan child soldiers
The Day I Will Never Forget ~ about female genital mutilation in Kenya
Made in India ~ about tourist surrogacy and the reproductive industry in developing countries. -
Children's books: anti-bias, multicultural, multilingual
Two more sources for children’s books about immigration, culture, and etc., following on three of the most popular posts on immigrantchildren.ca:
Children’s books about immigration, originally posted January 2008
Children’s books about immigration II, originally posted March 2008
Children’s books about immigration III, originally posted Oct 2008.See the page “Anti-Bias and Multicultural Books for Children” on the website by A World of Difference. Also recommended on the NAME listserv is an annotated bibliography by Gresilda A. Tilley-Lubbs, of the Second Language Education program at VirginiaTech. Here is the bibliography in PDF.
We’re building quite a comprehensive selection of multicultural, multilingual books for young children to learn about culture, multiculturalism, anti-bias and equity. Please add more! -
Call for papers: Special edition on ethnic minority children
The Society for Research in Child Development journal Child Development Perspectives is seeking papers for a special issue focusing on “positive development of minority children. This special issue will feature emerging trends and new conclusions that have advanced the understanding and knowledge base of positive development with regard to ethnic minority children”.
Deadlines for abstracts is May 15, 2010. For more information, see the SRCD website. -
Empowering children and youth ~ Call for proposals for the annual NAME conference
The (US-based) National Association for Multicultural Education will hold its next – and its 20th – conference November 4-6, 2010 in Las Vegas, NV. The theme is Empowering Children and Youth: Equity, Multiculturally Responsive Teaching and Achievement Gaps. From the call:
“Since the founding of NAME, it has become clear that empowerment of children and youth, and the urgency of addressing achievement gaps, dropout rates, and the larger equity issues within which they are embedded, includes marginalization on the basis of race, class, language, sexual orientation, gender, disability, and religion. In fact, rather than being separate and distinct communities, they overlap in complex ways, suggesting that teaching should be multiculturally responsive. … Further, these issues transcend concerns within the U.S., inviting international dialog about diversity, equity, multiculturalism, and justice”.
“The vitality of NAME flows from its diverse membership. Thus, it is NAMEs policy to ensure presentations by and about diverse ethnic, racial, gender, language, religious, socioeconomic, sexual orientation, disability, and geographic groups. Presentations by teachers, school administrators, community activists, government and organization officials, higher education faculty, and others interested in the conference theme are encouraged. Students (high school, undergraduate, and graduate) and international scholars, practitioners, and activists are also encouraged to submit proposals”.For more information, and to submit an online proposal (deadline is April 17th), visit the NAME website.
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Metropolis conference: Immigration and diversity. Crossroads of culture, engine of economic development
The 12th annual Metropolis conference will be held March 18-20, 2010 in Montreal. The theme this year is Immigration and Diversity: Crossroads of Culture, Engine of Economic Development. immigrantchildren.ca is pleased to see so many workshops and roundtables addressing issues related to newcomer families and young children, including:
Transnational Families: Where race, culture and adoption intersect, by Susan Crawford, lead for the Halton Multicultural Council project “Transracial Parenting Initiative”. From the abstract: “This workshop presents research on transracial and transnational families created through adoption across Canada. Presentations examine cultural enrichment through adoption, gaps in delivering pre- and post-adoption services and the needsof transracial familites; and adult adoptees’ complex experiences and understandings of ethno-racial identity”.
Conflict and Violence in Immigrant Families, by Madine VanderPlaat, St. Mary’s University. From the abstract: “This workshop will examine issues related to gender, conflict and violence within immigrant families. Participants will discuss the factors that contribute to stressors as well as the challenges and opportunities for culturally competent social responses”.
Health and Access to it for Migrants after Birth, by Anita Gagnon, Denise Bradshaw, Marlo Turner-Ritchie. From the abstract: “Tri-city (Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal) data on the health and service needs of refugee, asylum-seeking, non-refugee immigrant and Canadian-born women and their infants during pregnancy, at birth and during the first four months after birth will be presented in conjunction with potential policy responses to these date”.
School, Community and Collaborative Practice: Fostering the Integration of Immigrant and Refguee Youth in the Canadian School Context, by Sophie Yohani, N. Ernest Khalema. From the abstract: “Creating welcoming communities in educational settings is vital for newcomer students who may have a history that hinders adaptation. This workshop brings together academic researchers, non-profit practitioners, a government program officer, and a graduate student who share expertise in community-based collaborative practice to address the adaptation of refugee and immigrant students in the Canadian school context”.
Taking Care into Consideration: Local and Transnational Implications for Families, Children and Youth, by Alexandra Dobrowolsky and Evangelia Tastsoglou. From the abstract: “Familial networks, local and transnational, are critical to immigrants’ decision-making processes. The accommodation of care concerns (care of children, elderly parents, etc). also becomes a key consideration for migrants, especially for women. This workshop explores the repercussions of familial networks, and the complex negotiation of care concerns vis-a-vis attraction and retention”.
For more details on the above, see the conference program page.