Beatrice Watson

Pink Tea Politics returns on May 28

Join the Council of Women of Winnipeg for some pink tea and friendly conversation at its Pink Tea Politics fundraiser on May 28 at 1 p.m. at the Norwood Hotel (112 Marion St.).

The annual event has returned after a few years hiatus owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. Historically, ‘pink tea’ events, hosted by women for women, were a perfect cover for meetings to discuss strategies for getting women the vote and the right to own property. Renting halls for women’s meetings in the early 20th century was difficult because men controlled access to community resources.

The Council of Women of Winnipeg was founded in 1894. Nellie McClung was a former and was very much involved with organizing pink teas. The organization has revived the historic name for its fundraising events.

“It was difficult for them to rent a hall or even a church basement to hold their organizing meetings because many of the men… didn’t want to ‘encourage’ this activity,” said Arlene Jones, an organizer of this year’s event. “But it was OK to have a tea. So, when they planned an organizing meeting, they said they were holding a ‘pink tea.’”

Local artist creates unique and vibrant works

Meleyna Bighorn is a work-at-home mother of five — three boys and one girl of school age. Her eldest adopted son, not much older than her, lives on his own. That’s enough work for any normal person, but she is also a committed community champion involved in youth development work. On Saturdays you can find her with a group of youth and children engaged in elevated activities and discussions that build character and instill positive behaviours, virtues, and a sense of responsibility towards community improvement through volunteering, and creating, service projects.

Somehow, Meleyna also finds time for her passion — creating art. Using acrylic paints Meleyna creates beautiful, intricate, unique, and interesting artworks on varying size of canvas.

An introspective, unassuming, accomplished self-taught artist, Meleyna has a style that defies definition, and she likes to incorporate her love of history into her creations. You can easily mistake her work for needlework, as I did.

Before she begins a painting, Meleyna diligently researches cultural and historic crafts from her cultural and family background, including her baba’s crocheted design. She studies the colour combinations and attempts to recreate the essence of the pieces with paints instead of needle and thread.

Kenny Daodu tells her incredible story

Kenny Daodu is a force of nature. Once you meet the president of the Congress of Black Women of Manitoba, it’s hard to forget her sparkling personality. She always has the biggest smile and a positive outlook. Beneath her smiles hides many secrets, pain and trauma that she had to overcome to be where she is today.

Reassessing your new year’s resolutions

So how are you doing with your new year’s resolutions? Every year we make resolutions we do not keep, yet we keep on making them. It’s a great conversation starter.

A surrogate mother’s story

What kind of a woman would undertake to carry a child for another family out of the goodness of her heart? A special woman who understands the gift of motherhood and wants to share the experience with those who long for it but cannot do it for themselves.

South Osborne’s curiosity shop

What’s in a name? Everything. Even without knowing much about it, people conjure up ideas of what a business is about by its name.

Defining movement in new ways

Dammecia Hall, founder of Define Movement, is passionate about dance, leadership development and mentoring small businesses.

Reconciliation of the spirit

What if unresolved trauma is messing with your life, creating all kinds of illnesses — even Alzheimer’s disease.

A principled man with no regrets

Having high moral standards can make one feel like an alien. Dr. Sobharam Singh is living proof doing what is right pays off in the end.

At close to 90 years old, Dr. Singh has a healthy brain and a healthy body for a man his age and he can proudly look back on his life and say to himself: “I did it my way.”

Born and raised in the former British colony of Guyana, in South America, to parents of modest means of South Asian descent. He attended public school and won scholarships to attend the University of Wales, where he obtained a B.Sc. honours degree in geology in 1959 and went on to get his master’s and PhD degrees (the latter in 1963) before returning to Guyana.

Dr. Singh landed a job with the Geological Survey of Guyana as an exploration geologist and quickly rose to the top of his field, becoming commissioner of Geological Surveys and Mines. He was very knowledgeable and contributed almost singlehandedly to the mapping of Guyana’s geological topography. He represented Guyana at many international conferences, wrote and presented more than 80 research papers and was the chief and trusted adviser in his field to the Guyanese prime minister.

Indigenous law should be part of Canadian law

The Working in Search of Equality (W.I.S.E.) Equality Breakfast re-emerged after two years on Friday, April 29, and equality-seeking people got to make or renew their annual trek to the breakfast at the ungodly hour of 7 a.m. but people loved it. You feel part of something bigger, maybe a movement.

I cannot remember missing an Equality Breakfast. I love the energy and the fact that hundreds of women and men arrived at the Convention Centre when traffic is clear and parking easy to find. It is where you meet up with old friends and colleagues, and there is optimistic buzz about change being around the corner.

Even though two years had gone by without a breakfast there was still a sizeable crowd but not to the level of previous years.It was not the topic that drew me nor the fact that my friend Brenlee Carrington Trepel had gifted me with a ticket, it was the anticipation of taking up space with like-minded people, finding out how they spent the pandemic years and just catching up with friends. I was starved for this sort of connection and networking. It was exhilarating

Kathleen Mahoney, University of Calgary law professor and partner of Phil Fontaine, former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, was the keynote speaker. Even though she is a dynamic speaker, I was not thrilled with the topic, which was about women’s equality journey in Canada, where we seem take one step forward and two steps back. So I was delighted when she announced that she had pivoted after reading an article written by André Bear, a young Indigenous lawyer, for CBC Saskatchewan titled “Indigenous Peoples must create their own legal system in Canada.”

The accidental doctor

As a child Dr. Andre Coleman did not know what he wanted to be when he grew up. All he knew was that he wanted to finish high school and get a post-secondary education, get a job and make his parents proud. It turned that he gravitated towards science subjects and found himself in a medical program at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies in Jamaica, his home country.

“In the first month of my residency to become a family doctor, I worked in the palliative care ward and that was a game changer for me,” he said. “I then knew this is what I wanted to do. I wanted to work with people who are facing the most important and at the same time the most painful aspect of life. I wanted to help make a difference to these people.”

Almost a year ago, after completing his residency, André came to Winnipeg to do his fellowship in palliative medicine at the University of Manitoba and to also join his parents and sister, who had already migrated and settled here.

“I love it here at the University of Manitoba, it has great palliative-care training, great staff and a positive culture that I like a lot,” he said.

‘You will know when it’s time…’

I have joined “the club.”

I was one of those people who aspired to work until I could not physically or mentally work anymore. I loved what I did so much that work did not feel like work — but then the pandemic hit.

The fear of catching something, the haphazardness of working at home and in the office and my inability to help people with COVID-related issues weighed heavily on me. Explaining the human rights connection to COVID-related questions left me feeling that I was living in Groundhog Day. It got to me. In addition, I have always prided myself on keeping up with my workload but no matter how hard I worked once the pandemic hit, I was behind. I did not like that. At that point, I could not wait to leave.

Retirement is not so bad. Everything points to the fact I made the right decision to leave when I did. With the Omicron variant running rampant, I could safely sit at home and wait it out. During the worst winter we have seen in years, getting up and looking outside and then returning to my bed and curling up in my warm blanket brings smile to my lips. I don’t have to go out anywhere if I do not feel like it. Life is wonderful.

Breaking the mould with yoga, meditation

People migrate for many reasons, most to improve their lot in life economically, others to find peace from war and others to find themselves after being rejected by family and others because they did not fit their idea of what it is to be human.

Serge Salvador, a yoga meditation instructor at Yoga Public, did not fit the mould, so he took off to find a place where he would be accepted for who he is. Canada fits that bill.

“I feel like a child, I don’t want to grow up. I live in a fantasy world where people love each other. Discrimination makes me very sad” Salvador said.

Originally from a small town in France, Vic-la-Gardiole, near Montpellier. When Serge first came to Canada he received the news that both his parents had died in a car accident. His partner accompanied him home for support.

‘Habari gani’ – what’s the news?

The Congress of Black Women of Winnipeg has hosted Kwanzaa for more than 20 years to the delight of children of all ages and their parents.

This Afrocentric celebration occurs from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1 each winter and has been around for more than 50 years.

Kwanzaa originated in United States of America. It is a combination of the ancient African celebration of First Fruits or Thanksgiving and an exploration of the continuing freedom struggle of African-Americans. The celebration is designed to celebrate African cultural values, to reaffirm what it means to be of African heritage and to honor the ancestors upon whose shoulder the current generation stands.

Kwanzaa centres on seven principles.  They are: unity; self-determination; collective work and responsibility; purpose; co-operative economics; creativity; and faith.

A mental health tool kit for the Black community

Mental health has become a front-and-centre health issue during the COVID-19 pandemic. People who had never experienced mental illness are reporting stress, anxiety and loneliness.

The Black community has also began talking about mental illness — a topic that had never gained much traction in the past.

However, since the United Nations declared 2015-2024 The Decade of Peoples of African ancestry, many opportunities for funding have become available in Canada to explore new and emerging issues for Blacks.

In 2019, a coalition of Black and other community organizations in Manitoba collaborated in a successful proposal to promote health equity in Canada.

Winnipeg musician returns to tribal roots

By all definitions, singer/songwriter and music producer Ndubuisi Okwumabua, popularly known as Ndu, meets the criteria for having the “it factor.”

In 2007, I spoke with Ndu as an upcoming young rapper. He had big dreams of becoming an international performer. He worked hard to meet his goals in Canada and his work did not fully give him the payoff he expected.

Now in his 30s, Ndu has abandoned his materially comfortable existence in Fort Rouge and now splits his time between Delta State, Nigeria - his ancestral homeland - and Winnipeg to focus on his music. Ndu now lives among his Anioma people, between the state capital Asaba and his village of Issele-Uku. He often reflects on the banks of the Niger River, praying to realize his dreams.

Born and raised in Winnipeg, Ndu has the blessing of his family in the pursuit of his musical ambitions.  Unlike the usual migration to Toronto, New York City or Hollywood, Ndu opted for Nollywood, the third-largest movie capital in the world and is now getting the opportunity to write background music for movies coming out of Nigeria.

Musician realizing musical dreams in Nigeria

By any definition, Ndubuisi Okwumabua, popularly known as Ndu, meets the criteria for the tall, dark and handsome guy with the “it” factor of being a singer/songwriter/music producer.

In 2007, I spoke with Ndu as an upcoming young rapper. He had big dreams to become an international performer. He worked hard to meet his goals in Canada and his work did not fully give him the payoff/satisfaction he expected.

Now in his 30s, single and still searching for that special romantic connection, Ndu has abandoned his comfortable existence in Fort Rouge and split his time between Delta State Nigeria — his ancestral homeland — and Winnipeg to focus on his music. Ndu now lives comfortably among his Anioma people between the state capital Asaba and Issele-Uku, his village. He often reflects on the banks of the Niger River, praying to realize his dreams.

Born and raised in Winnipeg, Ndu has the blessing of his family in the pursuit of his musical ambitions.

Black conductor waits for an orchestral break

Orchestral conductor Larry Strachan is one of Manitoba’s best kept secrets. He has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music; he is one of very few black conductors in Canada and he has been on this journey for more than 20 years.

Larry has had some opportunities with orchestras in Nova Scotia, Prince George, B.C., and in Vancouver but a full-time, regular job has eluded him so far.  

Son of immigrant parents from Grenada, Larry said he was not naturally drawn to music:

“My parents enrolled me and my sister Leisha in piano classes as part of our extracurricular activity,” he said. “I had to be pushed and prodded to practise. I was more interested in drawing.”However, as he progressed with piano lessons, Larry said he came to love music by the time he was in high school.

Challenges and opportunities of aging

Life is indeed an incredible and interesting journey. It’s as if you are on a conveyer belt moving in one direction – to end of the arc of life. Yes, there is an end.

I never thought seriously about aging until I began noticing that  some of the people around me were here one minute and gone the next. Life as I know has become a place where things disappear. Intellectually, I knew these losses are natural – until their cumulative emotional impact hit me like a ton of bricks.

Losses start early in life. The first loss for me was when my children left home to follow their calling. It felt strange at first but, being younger, there was lots to engage me. I had friends and we did things. It was OK.

Recently the authorities cancelled a good friend’s driving license because of age-related issues. It hit me how different my life would be if I could not drive. We did a lot of stuff together but, since the pandemic began, that has dwindled to almost nothing except phone calls. I felt sad and thought of my own day coming and how that will change our lives. 

A STEM gem at the U of M

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is the new path to a wildly successful career according to the pundits. 

STEM education could also advance women’s equality and level the playing field for BIPOC youths. Unfortunately, STEM daunts many youths who see these subjects as difficult and so, shy away from them.

I was ecstatic to speak to Daniella Archer, who’s in her final year of a civil engineering degree at the University of Manitoba, and who is excited about the prospect of making the world a better place.

Daniella’s father Brian is an electrical engineer and is a manager at Hydro.  He is one of 18 siblings, many of whom are engineers and other professionals. Daniella said her father definitely influenced her choice.

“Let’s talk about sex…”

Sex is supposed to be one of the best and most powerful treats the Creator has given to us and we have made it into a complicated mess. In many cultures, it is taboo for women to talk freely about sex and the lid of sex education is tightly shut and controlled.

Susan Wenzel is a certified sex therapist, relationship expert, clinical sexologist, and psychotherapist with years of experience working with individuals and couples and leading seminars and workshops.

 She is also a regular guest on Global TV, CBC Radio, CTV, and CJOB radio on topics of relationships and sexuality and she has written numerous articles on the subjects.

Susan was born and raised in Kenya. She moved to Canada in 1999 and currently lives in Winnipeg with her husband and two teenaged children. She said she has been interested in the human body since she was a child.

Lessons learned during the pandemic

The popular conversation in the coffee room is about COVID, the horrible, evil COVID. People have taken to personalizing the pandemic and they hate it with a vengeance, cursing it at the most heinous villain on the planet. 

I wonder if our collective hatred of this virus is what gives it its staying power. As the saying goes — “what you feed grows and strengthens.”

For me it is a good time  to invoke the serenity prayer:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;

Guided by her mother’s touch

Mothers are real angels and sometimes they reach across the veil that separates the visible from the invisible world to lend a helping hand to their family and friends.

Such was the experience of Rose Zimmerman in her Caribbean cooking journey.

Rose was born in sunny Jamaica but raised in Canada. Her mother cooked Jamaican food and Rose loved her mom’s cooking.  Even though she knew vaguely what were in the dishes and dainties her mom prepared she did not pay much attention.

Unfortunately, Rose’s mother died an untimely death and left a gaping hole in her life in many ways. Rose had expected her mother to be around for a long time, so she did not know the subtleties of Jamaican cooking. She inherited her mom’s baking pan “the big shiny pan with two circle handles and an iron spoon.”

Rock art and the Baha’i faith

Winnipeg stones began rocking Keith Bloodworth‘s imagination three years ago, after he picked up a nicely painted rock on a picnic table at Assiniboine Park. 

He was having a leisurely stroll around the park with some friends from China, unaware that a rock would fire a passion in him so strong that  they would take up space in his life in a big way. 

A tall, distinguished gentleman, Keith said he admired and examined the rock.

“There were instructions written on it, to take a photo of the rock, post the photo on the Winnipeg Rocks Facebook page, then either re-hide the rock or give it to someone,” he said, adding that he did as instructed and presented the rock to his friends to take home to China.

The challenge, joy of foster parenting

Desiree Williams-Richard is one of the few Black foster parents in Winnipeg. Fostering is not something many Blacks appear to gravitate towards but it is no surprise to those who know Desiree that she would undertake this venture.

Desiree is the 11th of 12 siblings. She said her parents always welcomed strangers in their home and even though they were many, there was always room at the table for an extra plate.

Desiree has been fostering children of all backgrounds for some 22 years. She said she first started out working in group homes to earn extra income while maintaining a full-time job as an education assistant to children with special needs in the Winnipeg School Division job, where she has worked for 28 years. 

Working at group homes and in the school with children/youth with a multitude of acting-out behaviours who really just needed love and structure was the deciding factor for Desiree’s start as a foster parent.

Not that kind of ‘soulmate’

A business called Soulmate Events Planner caught my attention recently. It conjured up images of a matchmaking enterprise with a difference — perhaps planning events for soulmates to find each other. But that turned out to be far from the truth.

When I asked Folake Akinpade to tell me about her business, she told me it is an event planning enterprise. When I told her that the name suggested a matchmaking outfit, she said “No, no I am not into that kind of business”. 

We both chuckled.

Originally from Nigeria, Folake came to Winnipeg with her husband Oludare and daughter Oreoluwa in 2008. The family grew with two children born here, Daniel and Kikiope.

COVID-19 socializing

For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, I ventured to an outdoor gathering of more than 30 people for a pot luck barbecue in Kenny Daodu’s Bridgwater backyard. I would have jumped at the chance immediately prior to COVID but attending this event took a lot of thinking.

Kenny, current president of the Congress of Black Women of Winnipeg generously invited members to a fun evening. I was thrilled by the thought of seeing and being in the company of a group of cool, interesting women. Anyone who knows me knows I am a social being. I wanted to see what everyone was up to, especially my African Caribbean sisters, and former restaurateur Kenny is a great cook and her jolof rice and fried plantain are to die for.

Thinking of all that could go right — good company, good food, good times — and weighing it against the risk of contracting the novel coronavirus at this large event, challenged my decision making skills. 

In the end, I went with my gut instinct, which was to face my fears intelligently. I needed to face the new normal and I cannot hide from people I love. Kenny said there would be masks available for those who needed them, hand sanitizer and social distancing. 

Adjustment can be hard for immigrant professionals

If you are new in Canada, finding a job is paramount to settling and integrating but many newcomers say employment applications they fill out ask for Canadian experience.

To get that experience, mentors and family members encourage them to engage in volunteer work to help them land their first paid jobs to get crucial Canadian experience.

Agencies such as Success Skills Centre help foreign professionals acquire skills and experience that will be valued in the Canadian employment market. 

Titilola Oluseyi-Oshin, whom friends call Titi, was fortunate to become a Success Skills Centre client and through their efforts got an internship at the Manitoba Human Rights Commission for a little over three months. She was among the last batch of clients Success helped before the federal government pulled its funding, forcing Success Skills Centre to close its doors as a free service.

Systemic discrimination must end

George Floyd’s murder was the trigger that ignited a fire of global pandemic proportions against systemic discrimination.

The viscerally dehumanizing scene of a white man squeezing the life force out of a Black body over eight agonizing minutes in  plain sight sent the fear of COVID-19 flying out to left field as people gathered en masse to protest.

In Manitoba it was no different. People came in droves — between 15,000 and 20,000 of them from our multicultural mosaic — to a rally at the Legislature on June 5 organized by Justice 4 Black Lives.

Every time events like this happen many white folks says they don’t understand what is going on. What is going is systemic racism that rewards white folks with privileges denied to Blacks.

Cautiously opening the gates

This pandemic has changed our human blueprint in many ways. We were horrified at being told to stay indoors and to shut down the town.

We were heartened when we learned that the government was there for us and money would be flowing to our bank accounts to get us through the hard times.  For many, especially those who work in horrible conditions and with horrible bosses, this has been a welcome reprieve. For many others the pandemic stress is overwhelming.

I think about the new businesses that sprung up in South Osborne in the last year or so and wonder how those businesses will recover, or if they will die with the pandemic. That would be a big loss to my community, as having those coffee shops, small bakeries and little unique grocery stores livened up and brought people into the area and made life a little better. I hope that the government will help these small businesses back on their feet. We need them.

The government now tells us it is time to begin to open up the economy and many people around me are saying “it is too soon” or “we are not ready yet.”

This Pepper is still quite spicy

June (Pepper) Harris is more than a musical icon in Winnipeg’s jazz, blues and R&B communities — she is Black history in Winnipeg.  The local Black History Month committee recently honoured June with a lifetime award of recognition for her artistic contributions to the community in general and the Black community in particular at its 2020 Community Awards banquet and gala.Originally from Chicago, Ill., June arrived in Winnipeg as a young woman and burst on to the jazz scene. She captivated Winnipeggers as a pianist and with her smoky voice. She worked with the best of the best musicians in Winnipeg and played at venues from the Fort Garry Hotel to the Pembina Hotel and everywhere in between.In early 2019, June performed at the Women in Jazz and Women in Blues concerts at the Park Theatre to full houses, and her peers celebrated her as the most senior artist in the house and as a role model for everyone else. June is a multi-talented artist. In addition to being a musician, she is a writer, dancer, playwright and teacher. She touched many young people’s lives through her music teaching and coaching and gave back to the community as much as she received from it.A practising Buddhist, June has generously given herself to the Black community. She volunteered to teach an immigrant women’s group to sing and she frequently sang at Congress of Black Women’s events and at Black History Month events over the years.   June wrote, produced and composed the musical score for the highly successful play Journey to Freedom, based on the life of Harriet Tubman. With a cast of local actors, the play opened at the Burton Cummings Theatre and later was showcased at the Manitoba  Museum, engendering great community pride.    Currently recovering from a bout of ill health, June still has the ‘pepper’ in her personality. She is spunky, opinionated and always good for the funnies. She has a healthy sense of humour and a sense of history.     Pat Moore, a director of the Jamaican Association of Manitoba, nominated June for the Black History Month award because “she was the first person who came to my mind,” he said.  Many attendees at the Black History Month Awards lined up to congratulate June on her recognition and love poured from the community to her as she wheeled up to the front of the stage to receive her award from Black History committee chair Mavis McLaren.In her acceptance speech June urged people to “pursue your passion and it will come alive in your spirit.”  Thanks, June (Pepper) Harris.Beatrice Watson is a community                 correspondent for Fort Rouge.

June (Pepper) Harris is more than a musical icon in Winnipeg’s jazz, blues and R&B communities — she is Black history in Winnipeg.  

The local Black History Month committee recently honoured June with a lifetime award of recognition for her artistic contributions to the community in general and the Black community in particular at its 2020 Community Awards banquet and gala.

Originally from Chicago, Ill., June arrived in Winnipeg as a young woman and burst on to the jazz scene. She captivated Winnipeggers as a pianist and with her smoky voice. She worked with the best of the best musicians in Winnipeg and played at venues from the Fort Garry Hotel to the Pembina Hotel and everywhere in between.

Why celebrate Black History Month?

FORT ROUGEEvery year we have to justify to some black folks why we (still) need to celebrate Black History Month.  Well. let me make it clear for anyone with this question. Black History Month gives the black community time to pause and reflect on how far we have come and how far we yet must go.  While calling attention to past wrongs, may seem like an attempt to create conflict, Black History Month demands that we give an account of how we are using our sacrificial ancestral blood. Are we using it to uplift one another? Are we using it to serve our people and the world at large in a good way? Are we using it to create a better life for those that follow? How are you honouring the legacy of our ancestors?  Like the stories of the Holocaust, of residential schools, of world wars — Black History Month compels us to consider important history. We must remember these events — not to create conflict or engender sympathy — but to remind the world of the path it has travelled.Black History Month gives us all the opportunity to ensure that the buck stops here; that our workforce is more representative of the population. It reminds us that we pay out millions of taxpayer dollars to redress past wrongs because it is the right thing to do.When I celebrate Black History  Month, I am celebrating all black people — not black Americans, black Canadians, black Caribbeans, black Asians or black Europeans.  Most blacks living outside Africa are descended from those who arrived as slaves in the Western world.  We are from Africa and African blood runs deep in the world. I cannot separate myself from any black person in the Western world. The cord of slavery and oppressions of the worse kind bind us together forever. We must remember. In the process of establishing white supremacy while colonizing slaves, we were taught to hate our beautiful blackness, we were taught to doubt our inherent brilliance to aspire to work in the master’s house rather than in the field,  we were taught to be suspicious of and to hate each other, we were taught we were inferior.  We are now carriers of that inferiority virus. We must immerse ourselves in the refreshing waters of knowledge, self-knowledge, and our history before slavery. We have to do the work.  We have to be able to look back at slavery and acknowledge our fore parents for their strength and resilience, for their courage and the hope they dreamed for us.   We have to have gratitude for what they did but at the same time, we have to shine as we have never shone before to give wings to their dreams to honour their suffering. Black History Month is the time to celebrate in memory of and gratitude to our ancestors for never giving up.Beatrice Watson is a community correspondent for Fort Rouge.

Every year we have to justify to some black folks why we (still) need to celebrate Black History Month.  

Well. let me make it clear for anyone with this question. Black History Month gives the black community time to pause and reflect on how far we have come and how far we yet must go.  While calling attention to past wrongs, may seem like an attempt to create conflict, Black History Month demands that we give an account of how we are using our sacrificial ancestral blood. 

Are we using it to uplift one another? Are we using it to serve our people and the world at large in a good way? Are we using it to create a better life for those that follow? How are you honouring the legacy of our ancestors?  

Kids’ book inspired by desire to own our stories

Sirissa Rawlins is a woman whose passion for her culture bubbles up in her words and emotions as she explains why writing Miss’ Market Friends was the most important work of her life after giving birth to her four children, ranging in age from five to 21 years old. (She is also the proud grandmother of a toddler.)

Sirissa migrated from St. Kitts and Nevis to Canada in 2002, giving up her career as a news anchor and reporter at Nevis Television. She then completed Red River College’s creative communications program.

“The confidence in myself to design and write this book came from completing the course,” she said.Miss’ Market Friends is a packaged set of a storybook, activity book and colouring book, based on Sirissa’ s experience growing up in St. Kitts — but she used her five-year-old daughter Azalea’s character to represent her in the book.

“Caribbean mothers are different from North American mothers. I had to make a lot of adjustment to integrate and settle in Canada.  I did not always feel the pride of where I came from; you can easily get lost in the sea of a new culture, especially one that is as overwhelming as Western culture,” Sirissa said.

Craftsman motivated by love of music

Have you ever had a hobby that took over your life and your home?

Meet the handsome craftsman Eric Napier Strong, who is giddy about working with his hand and creating beautiful and interesting objects. He is a man with music on his mind and creator of the instruments he likes to play.

“I grew up playing the piano and a few different folk instruments but I fell in love with the bamboo flute but the high quality ones are pricey and that led me to start making bamboo flutes so that I can have a collection in the different keys” he said adding, “I bought my first one at a Winnipeg Folk Festival market some years ago and a proper can cost hundreds of dollars.”  He does not aspire to produce the best flutes in Winnipeg because quality bamboos are difficult to find and importing the material will add to the cost.

Born and raised in Winnipeg, Eric say he likes anything that can be hand-made. “One of my favourite instruments to make is the mbira, which originates in Zimbabwe”.  The mbira is a small handheld instrument played with the thumbs. It is a common instrument in many countries in Southern Africa.The quality of any instrument depends on the quality of the materials. Eric said he buys raw materials for his work from the local lumber stores but for fine instruments, one needs quality bamboos, which you can import from Japan “But that’s costly and I cannot afford a lot of that.”

O Station Café a dream come true for owner

Coffee shops are my favourite stomping grounds. They are great places to dream, to write, to meet new people or just quiet spaces to sit and people-watch.  

O Station Café is such a place. I wandered in the coffee shop on one of my days off and was pleasantly surprised by the rich ambience, light and festive essence of the place.

All at once, I was in a coffee shop in Paris or Italy and it gave me a comforting feeling.  I sat facing Osborne rapid transit station and watch people hustling by back and forth and cars whizzing by in a steady stream. Most of all I got a kick watching our space age, new age Osborne bus station which camouflages an underground station above ground, if that makes any sense.

Once the current road works are complete this will be the perfect spot for a coffee shop. I had to ask the owner, Felicia Lundgren, a young woman in her 30s, perhaps, how she landed this ideal location.  

Winnipeg will always be home for my daughter

My daughter, Maiko Munroe, has lived away from Winnipeg for more than 15 years but still considers Winnipeg and in particular the Fort Rouge area home.

No stranger to the Winnipeg entertainment scene, Maiko, a former member of platinum award-winning pop group Sugar Jones, said she enjoys returning here to perform.

“It brings back a lot of happy nostalgic memories, walking through my old neighbourhood,” she said. “I pass by my elementary school, Lord Roberts, and reminisce about playing in the schoolyard. I remember going to the Park Theatre to watch movies as a child, and later on, doing gigs there.”

Maiko is back in Winnipeg for the second time this year for work.

Caribbean Seniors Group looking for new members

It’s that time of year when the geese head south, children resume school and life returns to its natural pace. So it is with the Caribbean Seniors Group, which begins its new season each September and plans its activities for the next 10 months

The group was founded about 25 years ago by former registered nurse and pastor’s wife Jackie Phills, who saw a need and mobilized some 60 Caribbean seniors to form a social group to provide an outlet for seniors to get together, have fun and learn together. She had access to space within the Lutheran Church near Polo Park and the rest is history.

The Caribbean Seniors Group meets monthly at the Free Methodist Church at 928 Cavalier Dr.

Members network and share information with each other, there is a planned activity, such as exercise or a speaker, followed by a four-course Caribbean-flavoured lunch that the members take turn preparing — and which is the meeting’s highlight. There are a lot of jokes and friendly banter among members and no one is left out.

Meet Gord, the farmers’ market sharpener

Farmers’ markets are exciting hubs in the city during the summer months and great places to meet new friends and network.

The South Osborne Farmers’ Market on Kylemore Avenue at Cockburn Street South is one such place. A hotbed of activities on Wednesdays from 3 to 8 p.m., the market attracts people from all around the city. You can get anything from smoked fish to crafts and fresh vegetables — you can even have your knives sharpened.

Gord Hymers has been a regular at the farmers’ market since it opened. His white vehicle, from which sparks fly, grabbed my attention. He sharpens all kinds of knives and his mobile workshop has everything to get the job done.

I own a machete that can barely cut butter, so I asked Gord if he could sharpen it. He said he’s asked that question all the time and that it would depend on the length. I promised to return with my machete the following week.