Almost 200 people attended a presentation on Culture last night.
Justin Ryan from the Multicultural Association of the Greater Moncton Area spoke for 3 hours about culture, and what residents can do to make refugees and immigrants feel at home.
City of Moncton Immigration Strategy Officer Angelique Reddy-Kalala says they’ve had a lot of inquiries about how people can get involved.
“I think MAGMA did a great job giving a great overview of some of the ways people can help out and some the things you need to keep in mind when working with people from diverse cultures,” says Reddy-Kalala.
She says while our community is changing it’s an exciting time to welcome new residents to our community.
Reddy-Kalala adds it’s also important to recognize we have our own culture and should be proud.
“Just because we do something one way doesn’t mean that people doing certain things in other ways is actually wrong,” says Reddy-Kalala. “There can be two ways of being right and that’s something we need to keep in mind as our community continues to grow.”
Reddy-Kalala says a thorough understanding of culture will help integrate the new refugees and immigrants into Moncton.
“Having our new Syrian residents moving to Moncton has really helped mobilize the community and I think people are motivated, immigrants including refugees bring a lot of positive components to our community and it’s certainly a community effort to help welcome people,” says Reddy-Kalala.
One of the recurring themes was how to embrace diversity, and how learning from different cultures is a net benefit.
