The Spinner December 8 2022

President Jackie chaired the meeting.

Kathleen introduced her guest Art Brown, father of the guest presenter Debbie Brown who was formally introduced later.

Rotarians will again be asked to bring $25 gift cards or to give Paula cash so she can buy the gift cards. The gift cards suitable for older children will be given to the Salvation Army to be included in Christmas hampers.   

Program - chair Kathleen introduced Debbie Brown.

Debbie is the coordinator of Diversity and Public Education with the Association for New Canadians and is based in Corner Brook.  

Her presentation is entitled: Cultural Intelligence Lens on Ukrainian Newcomers. 

This presentation explored several aspects of cultural intelligence and how our cultural values shape our interactions with others.

In particular, the presentation focused on how we can better relate to people arriving from Ukraine by gaining an insight into the cultural values of each country.

Debbie began by speaking about the Association for New Canadians, ANC, and her role in mainly speaking to businesses and institutions to help immigrants feel more welcomed.  As her talk focussed on immigrants from Ukraine, she continued by giving basic information about Ukraine including its political history with Russia. She then commented on those coming to Canada and how resilient, and proficient in getting things done these immigrants are. Ukrainians coming now include many families with children and mostly are women.  

Debbie went on to look at the different stages of integration which are firstly the honeymoon stage, then initial culture shock, a sense of mental isolation followed by adjustment and then adaptation. She continued by looking at the different characteristics of culture and two main dominant characteristics which are individualism and collectivism and how these vary from place to place. For Ukrainians the culture is collectivism, thinking of the group but that is changing as the younger generation tend to be more individualistic.  This affects communication with Ukrainians as they value a direct communication style and traditions are very important.  She continued by looking at resources available to new Canadians and how small things might help people feel at home. Sharing of different foods, common pastimes and hobbies help people integrate and for children participating in sports and activities help.

She continued by looking at the different effects of trauma and finished by asking Canadians to be aware of cultural awareness practices when interacting with new immigrants.

Debbie answered a couple of questions before being thanked on behalf of the club by Jackie before the meeting adjourned.