Delivering Baskets: Being reminded of the past

On December 19^th, I went door to door and delivered seasonal baskets to low income families most of whom were immigrants and refugees.

I was excited to see people’s reactions when I gave them their seasonal presents but I didn’t expect to get so emotional in return. I knocked on their doors, handed them a basket and said “Happy Holidays! Here is a present for you!” and a lot of them were surprised, most of them responded with “a present for me? Really?! That’s so nice of you!”. When I delivered baskets to one house, one lady answered the doors in tears. She said that no one had ever done anything this nice for her in a long time and seeing me think of her during the holiday season made her day. I gave her a big hug and left her house with tears in my eyes.

Delivering the baskets reminded me of my own past and my own story. I remember 13 years ago when my family moved to Canada, I also lived in social housing. For three years, my parents, my baby brother and I lived in a one bedroom apartment that could barely fit two people. Those were the hardest times for my family and I: not being able to speak English, adjusting to a new culture and barely making ends meet.

 When I met the families I was giving the baskets to, I could definitely relate to them. When parents opened the door and their children came running to see the foreign person at the door, I could see my own childhood. The parents talked to us in broken English and most of them were shocked that someone in the country they just moved to was thinking of them during the holiday season. I thought about my own parents, coming to this foreign country that didn’t feel home to them at all and I thought how wonderful it would have been if someone from the country that you just moved to came your door and told you they were thinking about you. I think this is why it was such an emotional experience for me to deliver baskets; I was reminded of how hard the first few years in Canada were for my family and I and how much we have grown since then.

That day also reminded me of my story and motivation to be a Faiths Act Fellow. Being born in Iran and immigrating to Canada has made me a citizen of the world and this has made me care about not just national issues but also global ones in all countries. I have grown up in two countries on opposite sides of the political, social and geographical spectrum. I have realized, experienced and understood inequality, oppression, lack of freedom and unequal opportunity. I believe that being an immigrant has given me a global vision and aim to change people’s lives for the better; that is why I seek to solve global problems in the world such as malaria. Malaria is not just a disease that affects the daily lives of 500 million people worldwide each year, it effects people’s lives on global level. Malaria keeps children from receiving a proper education. It keeps people from making money to feed their families. Malaria steals $12 Billion each year from Africa in lost production and is deeply interconnected to all the issues around global poverty.

I care about eradicating malaria because it’s completely preventable and it’s related to so many other problems in the world. My life has changed by coming to Canada; as a child in Iran, I never thought i would be such a globally minded person but I have been blessed with so many opportunities to be a leader in Canadian society. Hopefully these families that are new to Canada will realize the potential and opportunity that’s ahead of them and take full advantage of it to make Canada and the world a better country for all.

-Sara Eftekhar