My name is Carmen and as part of the Welcoming Week celebrations I would like to share a little bit about my story. 

9 years ago, on September 17, 2013, we arrived in Winnipeg after almost a year of preparation and planning. However, this was quite an adventure and a surprise in many ways since we arrived. 

We arrived with a family of three (my husband, my 1-year-old son, and myself), with only three suitcases and with numerous dreams, goals, fears, and the desire to live in peace and freedom. Now we are five, three children, my husband and I.  

Although you tried to prepare yourself for something like this, you always find things that you did not imagine or that you simply did not know like a blank canvas that you must shape and paint to the extent that life allows you. Yes, you do have to start from scratch in every way, starting with the language, professional path and even learning how to function in a total new world. 

We arrived in a town outside of Winnipeg. My husband got a survival job where he worked nights and rested during the day. Meanwhile I traveled an hour and a half in the mornings to study in Winnipeg and made the same journey back in the afternoons. It wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t impossible, because migrating is a decision that entails many sacrifices and a great desire to move on in life. The first years can be difficult and even almost impossible, but many newcomers have achieved it. You ask yourself: If others have achieved it before us, how can we not do it as well? That was the question that kept us fighting and searching for opportunities. 

And that is what we wanted when we arrived in this country, to find OPPORTUNITIES… and after a short time we began to see these opportunities and achieve them. Throughout these nine years I have discovered a country with its defects and virtues, but where dreams can come true, a country where you can materialize your goals if you work hard and commit to achieving them. 

I started as a student at the Language Training Center (RRC Polytech) and my level of English was literally zero. Now I am part of the RRC Polytech staff, and that has been a great opportunity to grow professionally and personally. I discover new things and meet many people every day. Every single day I wake up with the attitude of learning something new about my work environment, my city, my new culture, and my life. I feel that there is still much to discover and that keeps me attentive to the opportunities that will undoubtedly lead me to achieve the goals and successes that I have on my to-do list. 

Without a doubt, coming to Canada is one of the best decisions I have made in my life, it does not mean that I do not miss Venezuela, my people, my culture and everything that goes with it, it is simply that at this time I now understand that Canada is the place where I belong and although I love and miss Venezuela, Canada is the place where I live my present and where my future dreams are. 

Migrating is not easy, but it teaches us many things. We have to be attentive to these teachable moments and open our minds and our hearts to understand that at some point little by little you start to love and value the country where you are now and that this will become your country on a regular basis and your heart will always be divided because on one side you keep the treasures of the past and on the other side you will treasure the moments that have shaped you into a new and better human being.