Connections PDF - Reena

News, cont’d...
We Are The Face Of Toronto: A Mosaic Of The World
By Renske Connell and Wendy Dyke
As we began talking about diversity at
Community Living Toronto for this issue of our
newsletter, we started by counting the different
countries that the individuals in our services and our
staff were born or their parents immigrated from. The
more we researched, the more proud we became of
how well we reflect the face of Toronto and the
mosaic of the world. The count is well over twenty
countries and to our knowledge, the only part of the
world not represented by continent is Australia. The
smorgasbord includes: Iceland, India, Punjab,
Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, China, Philippines,
Cyprus, Tibet, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Nigeria, Ethiopia,
Rwanda, Lebanon, Poland, Korea, Jamaica, Israel,
Italy, Greece, United Kingdom, Holland, Czech
Republic, Russia and the West Indies. We are sure that
we are missing some countries.
With this enormous diversity naturally come many
different religious beliefs and cultural practices which
we endeavor to treat with the utmost respect and
consider a window of opportunity to learn about and
incorporate in our daily lives. Some of the best
conversations have occurred among staff helping each
other understand our various backgrounds and those of
the individuals in service. We encourage families to
share their cultural traditions and customs by inviting
them to participate in the residential celebrations. We
support the individuals in our services to learn about
their own religions, cultures and backgrounds and if
desired to practice. Examples of these supports are
staff accompanying residents to their place of worship
and specific cultural celebrations. At times even gifts
have been exchanged at Eid al Fitr, Hanukah, or
Christmas. During holiday parties at the residential
homes, decorations of various religions are equally
displayed and foods of many different countries are
shared. The North American traditional turkey goes
really well with curried goat, West Indies’ sweet
potato, Polish sausages, German potato salad, chow
mien, latkes, prutas, and baklava.
This mosaic of culture not only has opened us to
new experiences but also has enriched our lives and
created an atmosphere of respect, caring and
inclusion.
Short Film Documentary ‘Tying Your Own Shoes’
Featured On International Down Syndrome Day
On Sunday March 21, International Down Syndrome Day, the National Film Board’s
Mediatheque on John Street held a screening of the award winning short film ‘Tying Your
Own Shoes’. The day included hands on workshops, enabling those in attendance to
participate in the artistic techniques used in the making of the film.
In attendance for the event were all four artists and director, Shira Avni. One of the feature
artists, Daninah, is a participant of the North York Employment Training Services’ Big
Dreams Arts Company. She worked at the National Film Board for two and a half months
during the making of the film. Daninah paints and makes jewellery. Her dream is to be an
actress with the Famous People Players Theatre.
At the end of April, Daninah and a support staff will be traveling to New York for the
Sprout Film Festival where ‘Tying Your Own Shoes’ will be shown again. We will be
featuring an article in a upcoming newsletter about Daninah’s adventures in New York.
The film uses animated art work done by the four participating artists, who have Down Syndrome, to explore
their lives and provide a glimpse into how they feel. To learn more about the film go to their website:
http://films.nfb.ca/tying-your-own-shoes.
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