NorQuest LINC student Yahima Rodriguez (right) and Valda Roberts, Community Options volunteer coordinator, during the LINC volunteer course graduation in August.
Learning Canadian culture and work ethic
Newcomers to Canada have the luxury of arriving in one of the best countries in the world. That doesn’t mean, however, that the trek from homeland to adopted land is an easy path.
For Yahima Rodriguez, the move from Cuba to Edmonton was made with the best expectations, but she knew she couldn’t find success by herself. An accountant in Cuba, she wasn’t familiar with the computer programs used in Canada. In May of this year, Rodriguez joined the NorQuest College LINC Volunteer Course hoping to gain hands-on experience and to work towards integration into Canadian society. The outcome was exceptional.
Course administrators set her up with Community Options, a non-profit organization that focuses on the well-being of children, families, and communities.
“I am very proud of this opportunity because I learned a lot,” says Rodriguez. “It was a great job for me because it is in my field and I learned about Canadian culture and work practices.”
For three days a week Rodriguez would go to her volunteer placement and help with not only accounting and payroll duties but with the organization’s clients as well.
“She is this very eager and wonderful person who became part of the family,” says Valda Roberts, Community Options volunteer coordinator, who has received other LINC students from the course in the past.
“It is innovative, it is insightful, and it is of great value to the student and the organizations,” she adds.
Rodriguez finished the volunteer course last month and is now taking the LINC Level 6 program. In addition, she attends a Chartered Professional Account pre-program class once a week at Grant MacEwan University.
I am very proud of this opportunity because I learned a lot, says Rodriguez. It was a great job for me because it is in my field and I learned about Canadian culture and work practices.