Wind chill warning
December 12, 2009
Wind chill warning is in effect for residents of Fort McMurray Alberta at least for two more days. The lowest weather temperature tonight is -50C below zero. It makes almost impossible to commute with bus around Fort McMurray area. Unless someone has really urgent issues to come out people try to stay at home for their health and safety.<<-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->>
Challenges in time management of Afghan-Canadians
November 20, 2009
One of the biggest challenges of Afghans who immigrated to Canada is getting used to Canadian routine time management. Here we consider doing almost everything in minutes if we deal with computerized work environment, second and millisecond matters. If we are working in any company or organization there are more than enough reasons that we should be on time.First, our work begins at exact 7 or 8 o’clock, secondly the employers pay from start of that hour. They do not want that one employee 10 minutes and the other 15 minute later drowsily appears at work place. We also cannot ignore this fixed schedule otherwise we will lose our job and who knows how long we will be looking for another job.
Since everything is managed by fixed timetable and deadlines, whoever newly arrive in this country try their best to comply with their work schedule but again we notice that they miss lots of other opportunities in the rest of their routine activities.
For instance some Afghan families had been invited by their Canadian colleagues to a wedding party from 7 pm to 9 pm. especially the ladies were also invited, they need half of a day to make their fashions. They try their blue scarf with red skirts they do not match and then they try red scarf with green skirt and pink lipsticks they do not seem to be attractive too after trying a number of them when they arrived at the wedding party it was 8:45 pm. Those who were at the wedding party served the guests surprisingly asked them. Hi how can I help you? (because they were so late it looked they lost their way and need some help). They replied: Yes please, we have been invited to wedding party at this address. Ha Ha, they laughed, the wedding party is already over, you see, we are putting back the chairs and other appliances to go home.
The angry and hungry families returned home. Since there is still the signs of patriarchy in Afghan family environment the husbands were blaming ladies because of their lateness though the husbands themselves are also not punctual enough. One of them was complaining if I am invited to some party, I go to Macca in Saudi Arabia by walking (example from 100 years ago that people traveling on camel and walking to go to Macca)for pilgrimage and return back home I am not sure if my wife is still ready for going to the party.
Let us say these wedding and party invitations are not very important in case we miss them the rabbits feet will not touch the burning coal (traditional proverb means nothing will seriously happen to our life). But we should not do like one of our countrymen who sponsored her brothers by the help of group of five people. Canadian Embassy from Islamabad Pakistan sent them letter that her brother and his family should appear for interview after 60 days. By the time they were getting ready to inform her brother she received the second letter from Embassy.
Dear Mrs. so and so, thank you for your willingness to sponsor your brother to Canada, please be advised that because he did not show in interview date, your sponsorship application has been closed. If you are still interested to sponsor him with his family please lodge a new sponsorship application.
Now those people helped her in sponsoring her brother are no longer qualified to do so. To find another qualified group of five people is like looking for needle in huge hays if it is not impossible it is not easily possible too. Suppose she found five people who are willing to help for new sponsorship it will take at least three to four years to be processed. If this family had three kids at the of 18, 20 and 21 when they lodged their first sponsorship application by the time this new sponsorship will be sent all three kids will be more than 22 years old; they will be considered adult and independent who will no longer be able to come under this new sponsorship application. If possible each one of them should be sponsored separately. As a result this family who could be sponsored under one application around three years time period needs four independent sponsorship applications which may take more than ten years that all of them be reunited in Canada.
Now the poor lady prays more than half an hour after her daily prayer and beseeches to God for a solution does not help her at all. And also it cannot reverse the decision of case officer who closed the first sponsorship application file at Canadian Embassy in Islamabad.
Same is the situation for those who come to Canada with two years work permit. Even if they miss one day from the date to send their application for work permits extension, it will not be approved. They should spend thousands of dollars to travel outside Canada, wait for sometimes to get their new work permit. If they have not missed one day they could do by paying only few dollars to pay for Express Post to mail their application to case processing centre.
These are a few examples of time sensitive issues. I hope readers got enough information about Canadian time management. Please use the opportunity you get and do not assume the time as you used to do in Afghanistan particularly if you deal in Canada or any western countries.