Participants Blog

Change

After spending a couple weeks with my host family, their home become my new home. I was welcomed into the family like another member of the family. It was then that I came to realize how much my thoughts on the community had changed from my first impressions.

Initially coming into the community I just took everything for face value. It was not till later into the placement, perhaps once the culture shock had started to wear away, that I was able to gain a deeper appreciation and understanding of my family. Language played a part in this as well. At first, communication usually involved very few words and a lot of hand gestures. However, as language began to be less of a problem I was able to have deeper conversations with my host family. Spending that time with my family listening to their stories helped me to gain a deeper understanding of their situation. They were willing to share their story with me and because of that I was able to learn so much about them and their way of life.

Before leaving Canada, I never realized that my host family and the community would have such a significant impact on my life. However their support and genuine care for my well being has made me realize otherwise.