It was a sweltry day in Rio de Janeiro when Ruby Cunha learned that she would be leaving her home country of Brazil to immigrate to a strange nation called Canada.
The Cunhas (comprised of Ruby's parents, Jose and Celia, and her sisters, Patricia and Daniela) would be departing from Rio to begin a new life in Toronto, home to many other relatives.
"When [my father]first told me the news, I was excited," says Ruby, who has lived in Canada since 1973. "I wanted to see my family and have a shot at a better life."
While she was just nine years old when she immigrated, Ruby thought she was ready for the change. However, she struggled with the language barrier and culture shock, having come from a country where Portuguese was the predominant language.
"It was hard at the beginning," Ruby explained, "having to deal with all sorts of different changes." Because she had no knowledge of English, Ruby had trouble communicating with new people and was friendless in Canada for a while. However, she persevered, learning English in a mere three months.
When her brother, Andrew, was born the year after the Cunhas' arrived in Canada, Ruby was a big help in teaching him her new language. As Ruby says, "While it was tough at the start, I just had to fight through the troubles, and, eventually, I adjusted."
It's a struggle for every immigrant having to adjust to a completely new culture, adapting to the new climate they experience, and trying to make money in a strange country to support their family. Ruby had it easier than most; she at least had family already adjusted to Canada helping her cope with the change. Some aren't as lucky.
When she immigrated to Canada in 2005, Hema Bora had no family or friends in her new country. Looking for a better life for her two children, as well as hoping to escape their homeland's overpopulation and pollution, Hema and her husband brought their kids from India.
A teacher in her home country, Hema says that she had trouble adjusting to Canada's cold winters and not being able to see any of her family and friends. Looking back on her old life, Hema says that, "it'd be nice to still [live]in India, close to my relatives," but that she and her husband feel they made the right decision coming to Canada.
Catherine Hodgins, an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher in Ottawa, talks about how many immigrants are separated from their families when they leave their home, as they've come to earn a proper amount of money to support their loved ones.
She also says that many skilled workers coming to Canada, such as engineers and doctors, have to accept another career in their new home. An example of that is Hema's husband; an engineer in India, he is now working as a car salesman.
"It seems that many people coming to Canada are misinformed about their opportunities, and are disappointed when they learn they'll have to take other jobs than the ones they had before," Catherine notes. "There are so many hurdles for them to overcome."
Catherine, who got into ESL teaching after volunteering with Adult Literacy students at Algonquin College, says that her students keep her motivated to come to work.
"I love helping them adapt to Canada and make them feel comfortable," she says.
Catherine's class includes a mix of people from different countries, and she describes how she loves seeing them make connections with each other. As she explains, "It's very gratifying to see them make friends, and to see them [relating with]people from a variety of different places."
Immigrants usually get a bad rap for supposedly coming into their new country with the intention of taking opportunities away from citizens of that nation. With that thought in mind, people are often unsympathetic to the plights of these people, having to change the way they've lived all their lives to fit into a new culture.
"It really is amazing how these people can persevere through all the challenges they face," says Catherine. "Every one of them is special."
After graduating from Toronto's Centennial College, Ruby Cunha now lives in Ottawa with her husband and two children. However, she hasn't forgotten how lucky she was to have the opportunity to come to Canada.
"Had we stayed in Brazil, life would've been tough," she reasons, with the poverty and violence that ravages the South American nation.
Today, Ruby does her part by helping immigrants adjust to their new home, much like she had to do; she works in a preschool, taking care of the children of new immigrants while they attend ESL classes.
"Everyone deserves a shot at a better life," says Ruby, "and I want these children to have that, like I did."
In the end, isn't that what immigration is all about?