From Peru to the ‘Peg

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/12/2010 (5575 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THOUSANDS of settlers coming to Western Canada once bustled through the old Union Station on Main Street.

Fast-forward almost a hundred years and its majestic rotunda still buzzes with people, but most aren’t waiting for a train. Many who frequent it now are newcomers learning English at a Red River College satellite training centre.

Inside the station, encouraged by friends who have themselves survived incredible challenges, one student decides to tell her story.

“Winnipeggers think (crime is) bad here, but think of other places where it’s more bad,” said Josefina Jara, originally from Peru. Almost six years ago, she and her two daughters left South America, reuniting with her husband who had arrived in Canada six months before.

Her journey to Winnipeg began 16 years ago in Maracay, Venezuela. Jara was carrying her then-infant daughter Daphne, now 17, to the store outside their apartment. Suddenly, a man pushed his bike against them, pinning them to the wall.

“I thought to myself, if they want to take my daughter, they will have to kill me first,” Jara said.

Her blood pumping with adrenaline, Jara tightly shielded Daphne with one arm and with a swift kick knocked the “bandito” to the ground. “All my life I was a fighting person; I have four brothers,” said Jara, laughing.

Free of her attackers, Jara clutched her daughter and ran across the street screaming. A car drove by. Bullets whizzed by her head.

It was a snatch-and-drive setup.

“I always heard about this in the news, but I never thought this would happen to me because I am higher status, I lived in a safe place,” said Jara, who recalls news stories of South American parents murdered while trying to protect their children from being stolen and trafficked.

Guards from Jara’s apartment scared off the attackers, whom Jara believes were from a child sex trafficking ring. Police told her Daphne had specific features clients of child traffickers were looking for.

“I was afraid, sick, nervous all the time after this happened. I moved back to Peru because I couldn’t feel myself again,” Jara said. “Even today when I’m with my daughter someplace and she’s out of sight, I get nervous and a sick feeling like I’m going to die.”

After moving back to Lima, Peru, Jara and her husband owned a boutique and a video store, and life was prosperous.

But that came crashing down mere days after Christmas in 1997, when Jara’s husband was carjacked. The attackers pointed a gun to his head and held him on the floor of his Honda Accord as they drove around Lima.

Four hours later, after they took his cash and cleaned out his credit cards, Jara’s husband was freed. She believes her husband’s life was spared because of “a whole lot of praying.” He was lucky, she says, because such petty crimes in Peru normally end in brutal murder. After these two close calls, Jara’s family started looking for a safer place to live, and discovered Winnipeg. They have been here since 2005. Last April, Jara was granted Canadian citizenship.

However, she insists, “Peru is not bad, it’s beautiful.” What happened to her family was by chance, she says, and if they could, her family would still live down south.

But the tragedies have changed her. She is cautious when making decisions, and no longer takes life for granted. “I try to do better in my life,” said Jara, who hopes her story will inspire newcomers with hope, and open Canadians’ eyes to the newcomer experience.

Jara knows how hard the transition can be. “Many people I know have lost their confidence in life. But when they come here, they already made a big choice in their lives, so they have to try hard to learn a new language, to fit in the society,” said Jara, who encourages others like herself to stay positive.

crystal.greene@freepress.mb.ca

Dropping In is a ‘random act of journalism’ that starts with a thumbtack on a city map and ends with a story from the street.