I’m Magaly Varas, I came toVancouver, to Canada in July 1974 after the military coup. I came with my ex-husband and daughter, Francisca, who was 4 months old. I was not really involved in politics in Chile but the situation was uncomfortable because we never had a coup before. It was new to us to see military walking in the streets, It was scary so we left. I came to Canada with the idea of staying here.So I came with a very positive attitude because I knew I would stay here till I retired.
I immediately started taking courses in English. When we came to Canada,
we had a couple that sponsored us in a way. My ex-husband was an English teacher so he had no problem finding a job. We never asked for help from government. We did not come as refugees. We got landed immigrant visa in Chile.We arrived in July and in September,we met some Chilean people who had been arriving after the military coup. We got together with them then I became involved in helping them. They had a Chilean Association. I was a secretary in Chile and they asked me to type some stuff. After a few months, I realized I was very involved in politics and talking about the situation in Chile.Well, I had an idea of politics. I was in favor of Allende. I came from the upper middle class; all my family was quite conservative. I was the only one wondering why after 170 years of democracy, why do we have poverty and children sleeping in street. I was always questioning that. I guess my social conscience was always there.
I was a secretary in Chile and I was never involved in anything. I leaned about lots of things I did not know when I was in Chile - about torture, political prisoners, all that. I became very involved in politics here. Besides that, I played the guitar. They asked me to help them in forming a group to sing protest songs and denounce what was on in Chile. So that’s the way I started then I became very, very involved.
The men in the Chilean Association were very politically-educated so they were kind of divided: the communist party, the socialist party, radical, so many, at least ten political parties. The women were not that knowledgeable about politics so we decided to help Chilean people who were arriving. We organized in a way that we went to the airport to welcome Chilean people. We made a brochure with all the basic information about where to buy, where to get help (the Catholic Church was helping a lot), medical information, where to buy furniture, medical information for women and children, basic information. Because we were having problems with men who wanted us to be very defined in politics, we decided to form our own singing women’s group. We were 5 women and we were singing for about 3 years. We were quite famous in Vancouver and we went to Seattle, Castlegar, Calgary, Victoria. We got invited to different places to perform. Of course, we were always denouncing what was in going on Chile with Pinochet and the dictatorship.
At the same time, I was always learning English. At the end of 1975, I got separated from my husband, so I went on welfare. My daughter was 2 years at that time. A friend told me if I didn’t want to remain in relationship, then ask for help and she helped me a lot. Then I was cleaning houses for 10 years. Then I got job as an interpreter in an engineering company, which I never dreamt of because of my English. Then I started working in offices. For two periods, I was a Census Canada Commissioner. That was the census in 1991 and 1996. And I was always working for the community, first Chilean then Latin American community (for LAC, the Latin American Community Council). And I was also part of the Latin American Women’s Collective. We created a magazine about Latin American women in Canada – the way they were changing in Latin America and the way we were changing in Canada. It was very good magazine, very high quality and we had it for 10 years.
Then I went to Douglas College and took a Community Social Service Worker Program. I got a practicum with seniors at Cedar Cottage Neighbourghod House and I realized this was my cup of tea. It was by accident because they didn’t have anything else for me to do my practicum. I ended up working with seniors, which I love.
In terms of the community work, it was always with the Latin American community and for the last 15 years with seniors, and it has been quite a success since then because of the way we have structured the program. The program consists of only one day (Wednesday). We get together at around 9:30 to 10:00. Then we have ESL classes at 11:00, then very gentle exercises, which I do. I have been doing this for about 10 years. Then we have lunch. Everybody helps in the cooking. We try to prepare dishes from Latin America. Then we have something like talks about Alzheimer’s, dementia, arthritis - topics related to seniors health. Most of the time we have music. Yesterday, I brought my guitar and we were singing in Spanish. We have this guy and he likes to tell jokes. Everybody enjoys that. We have a woman who loves to recite poems. Then we sing again and tell jokes. It is a wonderful atmosphere. My sense of humour has helped a lot; helped me to carry on with my life and it has helped the group. There is nothing serious there. They say they need to know when it’s serious. They love it and I love it. A sense of humour helps them go on with life because it is tough for them.
They are isolated. English is the main barrier. The weather also for Central American seniors, not for South American seniors because we have 4 seasons. But for others it’s another story - it’s tough for them in winter. . Another thing is they are all here because of their children. They have been here for 10, 20, 30 years. In the beginning, they took care of their grandchildren. Now the grandchildren only speak in English so they don’t communicate with the seniors and the seniors’ children are working and busy with their own lives. They have no time for the seniors. It is tough for seniors in general but imagine for Latin Americans seniors who left their country as seniors, at 60 -70 years old.
It is a very rewarding job because I know I am doing something for them that they really enjoy. Usually at 5:00, they don’t want to go and I don’t mind staying because I know when they go home they are by themselves and it’s kind of tough.
My advice is: take the best of this beautiful country. Enjoy what this country offers us.
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