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A Humbling Lesson in Language

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The first summer in our adopted new country couldn’t have arrived soon enough. Our small family had arrived in mid-January, at the very beginning of our first Canadian winter. As government-sponsored refugees, we did receive winter clothing. However, none of us had ever endured sub-zero weather before. By the time spring finally arrived, and then summer, we were exhausted, longing to be outside and eager to enjoy the warm weather. With the arrival of summer came the need to secure daycare for the children. Until then, they had been attending school while their parents studied English as a Second Language (ESL). Fortunately for us, the school the children attended had a daycare attached to it that operated year-round and was accepting new participants. On the first day of summer, I walked with my six-year-old daughter to drop her off at daycare. As we approached the building, I overheard someone in the neighborhood shouting something I couldn’t quite understand, though it sounded famil...
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Danny

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I met Danny in the mid-nineties, when I was working as a housing worker in what was then the newest and largest non-profit housing development ever built in Toronto. Little did I know that, years later, Danny would teach me one of the most profound lessons of my career in community development. At the time, we tried to house him in the newly opened building. Danny had been living in another housing project owned and operated by Homes First Society called Street City. The newer project was located between Jarvis and George Streets, just north of Dundas Street. It was a vast complex of four buildings surrounding a shared central courtyard: two cooperatives and two non-profit housing projects, totaling almost three hundred units. Each building was managed by a different organization. Homes First Society, the organization I worked for, managed one of them9 Jarvis Street on behalf of a coalition of nonprofit organizations led by the Church of the Holy Trinity. The building was named Mary L...
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ATECOZOL

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Since my retirement, I have begun to enjoy the facilities at the YMCA in Peterborough, especially the swimming pool, where, after several months of practice, I have been able to swim more than a thousand meters, something that makes the little boy who lives in me very proud. One day, while I was enjoying my swim, another swimmer noticed some deficiencies in my stroke. As we were getting dressed after leaving the pool, he recommended a few ways to improve my technique. I thanked him for his interest and, since then, I have been trying to improve, without much success, I may add. That conversation triggered a memory of when I was a child and first learned to swim. I must have been eight or nine years old when my family and I were visiting our beloved grandaunt, Ma-María, in Sonsonate. Visiting our relatives was a family tradition. Twice a year, during New Year’s and Easter, my parents, siblings, and I would travel from our small town in the eastern part of the country, Chinameca, to Son...
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Pulvis es et pulvis reverteris

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(From the Latin: “You are dust, and to dust you shall return.”) For those who follow the Christian faith, today is Ash Wednesday, a holy and solemn day marking the beginning of Lent: seven weeks of prayer, fasting, and acts of charity leading up to Easter, the sacred week that commemorates the martyrdom and resurrection of Christ. Realizing what day, it was stirred a vivid memory from when I was about seven years old, visiting my grandmother Carmen in San Salvador. My grandma was a deeply devout Roman Catholic. She loved attending her local parish in her neighborhood, but during special celebrations she would visit an old church in the center of the city. The Church of the Calvary, rebuilt in the 1920s in a striking Gothic style, rose from the ashes of the original 1660 structure that had been destroyed by a massive fire and devastating earthquakes that nearly leveled the city. To many, it was majestic. To me, it was terrifying. I dreaded going there because of a statue of Saint Lucy, ...
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News at Dinner

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Every Saturday evening, the family gathered around the table for dinner. It was almost the only time when everyone was expected to be home. Their lives were so busy that sharing meals together during the week was nearly impossible, so these dinners had become a cherished ritual, one where everyone made a conscious effort to attend. Over time, the tradition grew beyond the family itself. Friends and acquaintances were often invited, until the Saturday dinners became well known for their warmth, laughter, and sense of belonging. This Saturday, however, was different. There was a reason to celebrate. David was marking Lyanne’s return after a year spent volunteering abroad, as well as the remarkable news that she had been offered a teaching position in public health at the university. The house was fuller than usual; the table crowded with familiar faces. It was Lyanne’s homecoming, an evening meant to overflow with stories, playful teasing, and the collective relief that she was finally h...
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A Light in the Night

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Trying to draft the essay due the following Monday had become an impossible task for Lyanne. For the first time, she couldn’t come to terms with the assignment in front of her. Why can’t I concentrate? she kept asking herself, without finding a satisfying answer. Meanwhile, David, her partner, called her downstairs to have supper together. As she descended from her study, he looked at her with concern. “What’s the matter? You look… puzzled,” he said softly. She quickly dismissed his question, explaining that she was struggling to prepare an essay due in three days. As David poured the wine, he reminded her with a smile that going for a walk had always helped her clear her head adding “At least before you went abroad that year. Maybe tonight it’ll do the trick again.” Lyanne drank a little too much wine, but she truly enjoyed the meal David had prepared, nothing fancy, yet perfectly comforting. Pasta with mushrooms and salmon, and of course, copious amounts of garlic bread. They laughed...
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Fear ...

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Fear is an unpleasant, often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger.   (Merrian-Webster Dictionary) In August 2025, news from Alberta stated that some books were going to be banned in the schools (Globe and Mail July 10, 2025.) The following month on September 8, 2025, CBC posted the same news “Edmonton Public Schools to assemble a list of 226 books to remove from shelves and classrooms, including well-known works such as "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood,  "The Colour Purple" by Alice Walker, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou, "The Godfather" by Mario Puzo and "Jaws" by Peter Benchley.” The news scandalized many Canadians. It appeared that, for the first time in modern Canadian history, reading certain books was being forbidden, something no one could remember ever happening before. Many Canadians could not believe that a democratically elected provincial government was using its power t...
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