Toronto Inspires when the resilience and generosity of one immigrant woman inspires resilience and admiration in a Toronto newcomer.
Shared by Jiraporn Sonpaveerawong
Can you remember your experiences when you first came to Canada? I strongly believe you haven’t forgotten them.
Patra is curly-haired, brown-eyed and of medium height. I met her by chance last year and didn’t make contact with her again until this February. She and her four children have been surviving in Scarborough for more than ten years. The stick-to-it-ness in Patra’s principles is seeing her glass half full and understanding knowledge is power. This inner drive forced her to attend many courses for her new career. As many people who have taken a health professional license know, it is very difficult. High tuition fees and one year of clinical research training haven’t supported her to find a job because most of the positions were in the USA.
Time passed day by day. Meanwhile, the cost of living for her family was increasing. She realized that her dependents can’t wait so long for her trial and error solutions. She started her own business, a Thai cuisine restaurant, after attending a food handling and culinary course. She trained her four kids to help in her business by having them deliver food to customers and be food handlers in the restaurant. Her rugged life was not smooth due to her ultimately losing her restaurant capital.
Life must go on. She survived by working a part time job as a chef, at the same time as taking a realtor course. As the real estate business has been booming for the past decade, she has earned much money from this career. She has also been working as a chef to gain more experience. Perhaps, she will be an owner of a Thai restaurant again. She encourages her four children, who are now teenagers, to continue working as chef assistants and food handlers to support in her future business.
Listening to her open-hearted stories has motivated me to fight to the end. Her heartfelt character and generosity led her to be an impressive person and a close friend. Patra’s experiences have helped me to understand living in Toronto. It’s not necessary to start from zero.
How come I met this resilient woman? She is concerned about my difficulties in finding accommodation and settling down to life in a new place. So, she drove with me to many places to buy everything and gave me suggestions about how to select things suitable for living in Etobicoke. Her most important quality is her generosity.
Patra, thank you so much for your friendship and your kindness.
Inspirational Takeaway: Resilience fosters resilience.
Another reason Toronto Inspires: Shared by Jiraporn Sonpaveerawong, a recent newcomer from Thailand
Toronto Inspires 