Summary of what people told us... |
Indo Canadian Women’s Group
GR Pearkes Recreation Centre
Sunday, Sept 25th, 7:00-8:30pm.
Overview of group:
A social gathering of approximately 60 women, ages ranging from mid 30’s to over 80 years. Group gathers together in (jammed into) a relatively small room containing folding chairs and approximately 10 seats on cushioned couches / chairs. Sink and serving counter in the room with access to electrical. Intergenerational.
Some were mothers and daughters. Others were newcomers to Victoria. An evening of conversation, laughter, sharing of food, singing and dancing. Many of these women work / have worked full time in the food industry / housekeeping in Long Term Care / Acute Care. Some in other jobs. Many have 2 and 3 children (and adults) living at home and they manage their households and FT work. Some are ‘retired’ and still work part time. Others still stay home to look after family, and adult children.
Observation was that the Indo-Canadian women have a very strong culturally knit community. The language barrier was evident within the older community.
A facilitated and well organized group. Food donation, prep, serving and clean up by attendees. No charge for attending but donations accepted. Phone tree reminder goes out to everyone. Space is at no cost.
Dinner served was brought (proudly) from home, guests warmly welcomed and appreciated. Tea served and large cake candle-lit presented to birthday participants who cut same. VERY Social!
Facilitators circulated within in the group and informally chatted with individuals. It was a social event. Many of the older ladies did not speak English, or very little, and relied on daughters for translation.
What do you like/enjoy about this group? Why do you enjoy attending?
- I like being with other women and friends. I am very busy, work full time and have children and this is a fun time. Its nice to have dinner provided and eat with friends. We sing and dance. The women are very nice. Pam (Parminder) does a great job bringing everyone together.
- It’s a social time for me with other women. I don’t do much of that as I don’t have time.
- At least 6 mentioned it was their first time.
- The people; friends; women; eating together – must have food!
- The key to this most successful group () was the ‘volunteer leader’, Parminder. Every ‘focus group with whom I spoke within the larger group reported this fact.
- Additionally, we noticed that Parminder continually recognized others in the group for their various talents and contributions. Flowers were presented and cake for birthdays, among other things. She took up a ‘collection’ to cover costs which she herself had incurred (paper plates/cups etc.)
- The ‘informal’ formal leader coming from within the ethnic community and understanding the issues important to these women and her ability to speak both Punjabi and English
- SOCIALIZATION and getting together to be with WOMEN outside the home “where we can be ourselves” and “be free”. What do you mean by that….”Well you know (laughter) without our husbands…where we can tell dirty jokes (more laughter and ‘just kidding..you know’) but we can be free and laugh and have fun.”
- We meet new people and make friends – “I went to see the Duke and Duchess yesterday at Government House and took 3 of these women with me – we have just met here….”
- We dance and sing here and that is fun for us….we share life stories and how we got to Canada; other people share their ideas with us
- “I come to preserve my culture because there is a lot of interracial marriage in my family”
- This is the only place where we can meet with others from our culture
- We learn things like cooking and sewing, we help each other with problems we are having
- We are like a family here
- RESPECT – “We respect each other” – The issue of respect was repeated to me over and over again
- We are “laughing like heck”
- “It gets me out – I am not watching TV”
- I am so BUSY at home I need to get out and be with friends to socialize
What activities do you participate in? (Including social, recreational, arts, spiritual activities). Where do you go for these?
- Few ladies liked to swim and water exercise. All used the Gordon Head pool; they felt Commonwealth was too big.
- None used the recreation centres for other activities. One told me her children came to Pearkes to skate, another that her children were enrolled in the Summer Park programs. All told me they liked coming to Pearkes for their Sunday night meetings.
- Yoga with this group on other Sunday evenings
- Exercise (with this group)
- Discussion Topics of interest to the group
- All are held as a component of this group
- When prompted, several said they walk a bit. Others swim at the pool (mostly Commonwealth Place).
- Activities – at the Sikh Temple (sometimes yoga)
- Prefers to spa treatments to treat herself as opposed to going to a recreational center.
- Not interested in going out – be it to recreational centers or engaging in social activities. Happy staying at home and taking care of her family.
This group meets weekly but for this week (once a month) a much larger Indo-Canadian group of women come together because of the social, intergenerational and ‘fun’ elements.
Question – how does the Intergenerational interaction work? ‘
- We like to sing and dance and talk with the younger women and they with us.’ One woman’s daughter in her early 20s volunteers with the group and wants to involve more of her age-group in volunteering with this initiative.
Why is Pearkes welcoming - what can Parks & Recreation Centres do to be more welcoming? (interviewers’ responses based on observation and listening to conversation)
- Garner ‘informal’ leaders from within the ethnic community, support them to work with their community members, make decisions regarding the programs that would best fit their needs, and provide some recognition (this response was embedded in what I observed and heard)
- time with other women who are friendly, welcoming and accepting to all. They like the segregated time where they do not need to focus on the rest of their family. They also really enjoy the intergenerational connections with youth people (20-30’s) and older adults. While there, Parminder gave two recognitions of flower bouquets, the first to a youth who volunteers with the older adults to help them, and to an older women who had been a long time supporter of the other women, always helping and volunteering her time, and who often led them in song and dance. It was a wonderful recognition of how they valued all ages in the group.
- my observations are that Saanich needs to provide ‘space’ for these groups to meet in a social environment and means to provide food to their group. Without this group, many of these ladies would be very isolated, without support from other women who experience is the same. This group is very self-sufficient, organized, open to any woman regardless of ethnicity, and needs free/low cost space so they can focus on the food and social aspects of the group. They currently meet 3x/month in the Flipside Teen Centre (Pearkes Recreation Centre) and once/month for their women only dinners (like tonight) in Saanich Neighbourhood Place (free of charge). They bring dishes and also prepare food in the SNP kitchen, and clean-up in there as well.
- OAS initiative is welcome and felt that it would benefit a lot of people in the Indo- Canadian community – and perhaps her mum because she has been very lonely ever since her husband passed away. She said that her mum does not like to do anything or go anywhere but has a lot of family support.
What are the barriers for you to participate in recreation programs?
- Noted that it is difficult adapting to the Canadian culture. Everything is different and it’s just difficult.
- TIME – family and work commitments
(Transportation – How could we make parks & recreation centres accessible? Could outreach, taking programs to residents or home context be beneficial?)
- Transportation not mentioned as a barrier.
- As mentioned above, the ability to have affordable, welcoming meeting spaces is of key importance to ensure isolated groups/cultural groups can meet together in a safe environment
- For this group, they all speak Punjabi at some level (there are over 200 dialects in India!). Pam and her volunteer crew are best to lead this group because they can communicate with all the women present. Some did not speak English. They understand the cultural issues impacting these women and know what is important to help them be supported and welcomed. Language, understanding, social and eating together are all key aspects to ensure culturally diverse groups of older adults are not isolated.
- Many of the older adults are at home looking after grandchildren.
Where do you look for information on community programs and events? How familiar are you with Saanich Parks & Recreation? (Would a separate Older Adult guide help)
- Information Dissemination? The Sikh Temple – news travels really fast there by word of mouth – to the community and beyond!
- For communication and finding out about this group, many heard through a friend or co-worker (e.g. many work at the hospital) or at the Sikh temple. Most of the older adults use the telephone (rather than smart phones) primarily. Many received a phone call, invitation to come.
Any thoughts on what activities and programs could increase engagement of aging males?
- Many of the elderly (males and females) often do not leave their homes. They are very isolated. Some type of outreach, like this group, organized through their community would likely reach this group far more effectively than what Saanich could do, other than making ‘space’ for them.