NOW LUNENBURG COUNTY_MAGAZINE_56PGS_JUNE2018

SAMIR UPADHYAY
nova scotia
BRIDGEWATER, LUNENBURG COUNTY
here to stay
BY MARGARET HOEGG
INTERNATIONAL STUDENT FINDS
OPPORTUNITY AND CONNECTION
IN LUNENBURG COUNTY
How did Samir Upadhyay, a young business student from India,
find himself waist deep in snow in St. John’s, Newfoundland?
“If I tell you, you won’t believe me,” said Upadhyay, “but I
literally opened [a] map and ended up going there.”
“I came to Canada as an international student in 2010,” he
said. “I finished my studies in Toronto…[and] I wanted to move
somewhere outside of Ontario to start my life after my studies.”
Tina Hennigar photos
said Upadhyay. “I try to make them feel the same about what I
feel about this town. I tell them about how welcoming it is.”
Connecting with newcomers comes naturally for him, since he
understands many of the challenges they face. He helps them
decide the best area to live, find suitable employment, and
settle their children into school.
He tells them about multicultural festivals, cultural gatherings,
and invites them to meet other newcomer families. People move
here from India, China, Germany, Russia, Mexico, and other
places - when they connect with new and familiar communities,
he said, “they get a good feeling.”
When one of his clients wants to start a business, Upadhyay
supports them however he can. He has helped someone open a
laundromat in Bridgewater, an Indian restaurant in Caledonia,
and has a client who wants to open a Syrian restaurant in the
area.
Upadhyay has lived in Toronto, Newfoundland, Halifax, and
Ottawa. His career advanced quickly in Halifax, but he wanted to
live in a smaller town.
So, when he was offered an opportunity to manage a cell phone
business in the Bridgewater Mall, he decided to give it a try.
He stayed for two years by himself, returning to India to get
married, and eventually was able to bring his wife to live with
him in Bridgewater. They both enjoy the town and the friendly,
welcoming community.
Upadhyay enjoys connecting with people and giving back to the
community. His third job is substitute bus driver for the public
transit service in Bridgewater, and he recently joined the fire
department as a volunteer.
Community connections make all the difference for newcomers
who are deciding whether or not to stay. “When you see that
someone is new,” said Upadhyay, “it doesn’t harm to just say ‘Hi.
Hello. How are you?’...It always helps.”
Every day Upadhyay meets locals and newcomers who come to
his mall kiosk to get set up with cell phones. This is where he
connected with a woman who worked as an Outreach Settlement
Staff person with the YMCA. She was about to go on maternity
leave and suggested that he apply for the position. It was a
perfect fit.
“My work is to provide a settlement service to the newcomers,”
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