Conserving your cultural heritage in a new country doesn’t always happen naturally. The balance between adapting to your new home and maintaining your values and traditions takes careful harmonizing.
Veronika Vakhova found that celebrating her heritage was especially difficult without an organized community to host events and meet other Russians. Bravely, she decided to use her skills to form an association called ‘Russian House’.
“Everything for Russian people was in Toronto and Mississauga – but there was nothing in Hamilton,” she said. “We didn’t have traditional cultural events together.”
Hamilton is home to 5,000 native Russian speakers, most of who came to Canada during the 1990’s after the fall of the Soviet Union. Vakhova came in 2008. “I wanted to have a better life. Here, my children will have a better future… we have everything we need,” she said.
With experience in children’s dance and theatre as well as cultural event planning, Vakhova began putting her skills to work. After sending out an advertisement to gain community interest, a woman named Ludmila came forward to help with the project. The two of them worked together to plan their first event, a concert with traditional dancing, singing, and music.
To develop interest in the younger generation, Vakhova decided to engage the children and youth by teaching them traditional Russian dancing and theatre. She and Ludmila began recruiting and now have a group of 15 committed young people.
Conserving your cultural heritage in a new country doesn’t always happen naturally. The balance between adapting to your new home and maintaining your values and traditions takes careful harmonizing.
Wanting to expand mutual support in the Russian community, Vakhova has begun the plans for new initiatives including a senior’s club and a women’s group to help Russian immigrants overcome barriers.
A gap in service, Vakhova said, is that there are no Russian settlement counselors in Hamilton. “When I came here four years ago, I needed support.” Now, she wants to make sure newcomers have a community to support them, so no one feels the isolation she felt.
“Some people get very depressed after two or three months. They need to find friends and speak their language with another person,” she said. The senior’s and women’s group will give participants a space to meet each other, but also learn about services in the community such as accessing public services, where to find childcare, or what to do if you are being abused.
“In Russia, police don’t help woman if they are in an abusive relationship. Here in Canada, woman can get help, but they need to know about the organizations.”
While in Russia, Vakhova’s business was hired by her city, Syktyvkar, to plan an International Women’s Day event. “In Russia, International Women’s Day is a holiday like Christmas in Canada – everybody celebrates it.” Wanting to bring more excitement to Hamilton, she is planning a classical ballet, music and theatre event for International Women’s Day 2013 at the Central Library.
“Somebody asked me how I can do this with small kids, but I get energy from other people. I am very proud of myself for doing this work. Everybody has talents and we have to develop ourselves. We have to use our talents and show our children what we are able to do – dance, sing, draw – just do it.”
Vakhova’s advice for newcomers is simple: Don’t be shy – speak English as much as you can. Having learned English at an accelerated speed, she attributes “talking to everybody” as her secret to success, along with volunteering in the community.
Article by Michelle Drew | Photo by VELA MGM Inc
Vakhova’s Russian heritage cultural group at their premier performance.
