It's very challenging to be a first-generation immigrant. It's very different, it's a different environment. The ways, the language, and the culture in general. Yeah, it's not easy to adapt to.
So, for most people, it's the wait time. It's the frustration, especially when they're separated.
My name is Daniel, and I'm going to tell you my long story.
So, I'm originally from Eritrea - it's a small country in the horn of Africa. I grew up in a warzone, but there was famine, there was... well, it was not a nice situation to live in. In Eritrea, there is this unending National Service program that every individual is subjected to, either to war, or you'll be under the National Service indefinitely. So you cannot lead your own life, and it’s a very oppressive regime there. So that's why I wanted to leave the country.
I was already married, so I had to leave my wife and all other family members. She did not have a passport, and she did not have any way of leaving the country.
There was a mixture of feelings. But I left my father, and I never saw him after that. And he passed away in 2019.
I applied for my permanent residency. I included my wife in that application, to bring her here. And then myself and her got our PR in 2020, two years after the application.
We became permanent residents, and then we had to wait another 2 years to apply for our citizenship. And last year in June, I got my citizenship! I’m a Canadian now - a proud Canadian.
We have a son, who was born here. He will be four in June, and he'll be starting his kindergarten in September.
I was also volunteering here as an interpreter before, I was hired as a case worker; we do have a case work model here at Compass. So we help them right from the very beginning, when they come to us, until they get their permanent residency.
Social profit organizations or not-for-profit organizations, they are extremely important. Without their help, without the help of Compass, I wouldn't be here today.