I do, I do love it.
This is kind of why I started, I'm an immigrant,
and my parents accessed a lot of the social services
when we came here.
And that's how I got really attached to this kind of work
and that's what made me go into social work.
I was born and brought up in Sura Kutrat.
I lived there up until the age of 11 years old.
We lived a simple there, my parents worked hard
to provide for us.
We had really good family and friend support there.
But my parents knew that we weren't living our
full potential there, that there was more for us.
They wanted more for my brother and I.
So it was in July 2001 that we packed our bags
and decided to move to the United States of America.
We already had family there so it would be easier
for us to settle there.
It was a few months later that the 911 tragedy
hit the country.
And we didn't feel safe living in America anymore,
because we identify as Ismaili muslim.
So when I came to Hamilton I was 13 years old.
I am 31 right now.
And it was very hard.
I had left all my friends, all the family support.
I struggled a lot making friends
because I didn't speak english very well
I got bullied a lot in school because I looked different.
I had a really thick accent and I was still learning
and figuring out how to learn english.
In school I struggled a lot because I couldn't understand
what the teachers were saying.
So I fell really behind in school as well.
I remember working really really hard.
I would go home
and kinda prep and read all of the homework that I had
for the next day so that I would have a little bit of an
understanding of what the teachers were saying as
they were talking. So I would do a lot of the work
ahead of time the night before.
I remember one of my teachers pulling me aside one day
and saying that, Neekee we know that you work really hard
you try your best, but we also want you to be a kid.
We want you to go home, play with your friends,
play with your brother, go outside.
One day if you don't do your homework,
it's ok we know that you work really hard.
And I never felt that when I was in India.
There's just so many students in one class
that the teachers don't really know you.
And it felt really nice to know that the teachers see me.
They who I am, they see the
hard work that I'm putting into it.
And that's what motivated me to work harder.
Because I knew that somebody was looking at me
and what I'm doing, and recognizing
all that work that I'm putting into.
It's actually helpful to where I want to be in the future.
So, eventually I did make friends,
I learned english and I was able to
get into McMaster University in their BAB program.
And that was the motivation that I had,
that I had really good teachers when I first came here.
Who supported me, who were very patient with me as
I learned english.
As I went through all of these milestones,
Initially it was very, very hard but,
later in life it did become easier.
I think the first where Hamilton truly felt like home
is within our Ismaili community.
So within our local Mosque, or Jamatkhana
We have a really close knit community.
Where we all get together for prayers
and we are really there for each other.
So it was really nice to see that some of the
members of the mosque that have been here for a long time.
They were able to guide us through the
entire settlement process.
Where to look for housing, how to apply for credit cards,
the banking.
That's how we were able to get used to living in Hamilton,
because they had opened up their homes,
they were our co-signers even when we
had looked for an apartment.
Because we weren't able to get an apartment otherwise
we had no history here.
So I think it really,
I really felt included at that time,
because someone was there to guide us.
Someone was looking out for us, they were there to guide us,
they referred us to settlement agencies.
Our experience in the overall Hamilton community,
within our Jamatkhana, has been so positive.
We truly felt safe here because they opened up their homes
for us, you know no one really does that,
you know you don't really hear that
to opening up to strangers.
But that's what's good about Hamilton
people are so nice, they're so kind.
That we really felt included into the community,
we were given opportunities to advance ourselves.
We were given jobs here, and it really helped us settle.
Because moving to another country for the second time,
it is hard.
My family and I, we didn't speak much english,
we didn't know anybody here,
and their education from back home didn't quite count,
so they had to work at survival jobs at that time.
My parents worked really really hard , I remember my parents
working different shifts, waking up early in the morning
coming home late at night.
And it was to provided for my brother and I so that,
we don't have to do that when we grow older.
It really felt, it felt good seeing that this kind of
community still exists, this kind of support still exists
within Hamilton, that people are able to help each other out
and see each other succeed.
My name is Neekee Virani
and to me, Hamilton is an inclusive place to call home.
