Empowering women, one frame at a time
Nine newcomers to Newfoundland and Labrador are seeing their world through a different lens.
Aisha Elgayar is bringing her artistic talents to College of the North Atlantic (CNA) through a photography class for new Canadians. Over the course of one month, newcomers from Eritrea, Sudan, Egypt, Yemen, Palestine, Syria, and Ethiopia participated in the course.
“It started as something new for them, but I found they became more interested in exploring photography as a future career,” she said. “I am hoping that the students will take away what they learned and use it in their daily lives, either personally or professionally, and continue with their learning.”
Elgayar, who works as a settlement integration coordinator at Community Centre Alliance, explained the collaborative effort that helped bring this continuous education course to life.
“When I contacted Brian Hicks, business development officer at CNA, to explain our initiative, and how we need to let women see their life in St. John’s through the camera lens, he was very interested in the idea,” she explained, adding they worked together with instructors to develop the course.
“There were some challenges, such as language barriers, so I met the instructor, Michael Winsor, and explained that the initiative does not aim to teach them to be professional photographers but to help them see a new world through a camera,” she said. “He was very collaborative and interested in this new experience.”
Hicks was excited to help get the idea got off the ground as well.
“Aisha is on my email list for Continuing Education courses at the Prince Philip Drive campus and she saw that we were offering an Introduction to Photography course,” he said. “She reached out to me to see if she could offer it to her clients. I thought it was a great idea and started the process of coordinating the course.”
Immigration journey explored through photography
Originally from Egypt, Elgayar immigrated to Newfoundland in 2019. After years of working as an investigative journalist, she began to focus on newcomers and cultural issues. She says the course is a great way to communicate without sharing a common language.
“There is a translator in the course, and the instructor is very helpful, explaining things simply. As a result, pictures became the real language in this course,” she said. “As they say, pictures say more than words, don’t need to be perfect in English to express yourself, your feelings, and your thoughts; through art, you can do so.”
Making sure students have access to courses that are tailored to them is a part of the job Hicks holds close to his heart.
“Part of my job at CNA is to work with community groups to offer training to their clients. For me, this is the best part of the job because I love working with community groups and their clients,” he said. “It makes me feel like I am making a difference, no matter how big or small, in someone’s life, giving me a sense of fulfillment in my job.”
For more information about our programs, visit www.cna.nl.ca. To learn more about the Community Centre Alliance at www.ccanl.ca.
