About Umoja
Welcome to the Umoja Operation Compassion Society home page. We are pleased that you decided to check us out. Umoja Compassion Society of British Columbia as a nonprofit society (88642 5909 RR 0001) was formed in 2002 to work with low income immigrants living in the Vancouver lower mainland. Our offices are located in Surrey, BC.Address: 10025 Whalley BLVD, Surrey BC, V3T 4G1 Tel. # 604 581 5574 and Fax 778 395 5150
Umoja Operation Compassion Society was formed by African immigrants who live in Canada and have experienced numerous difficulties of various magnitudes. The difficulties include culture shock, isolation, issues surrounding integration and many others. "We do not want new immigrants who come after us to experience these same problems" said Board President Amos Kambere. African immigrants and other black people may put on brave faces and wear African attire, but they still find it difficult to have a sense of belonging as they settle into this culture. Many end up living in isolation, and unless people like fellow immigrants speak on their behalf, they will perish from isolation and stress.
Most of these immigrants came to this country after experiencing traumatic situations in refugee camps. Some were displaced in their own countries and some are merely economic immigrants. They all need emotional, spiritual and at times material support. Umoja Operation Compassion Society has come up with programs to address the issues faced by these immigrants. Some of the immigrants who come to Canada are sponsored by the Canadian Government. Some have lived in refugee camps for more than 15 years; some of them have gotten married in the camps and have had children. When they come to Canada, they are simply settled and told to access services that are provided by various organizations and government departments.
Some children arrive in Canada without having gone to pre-school or kindergarten. When they arrive here, they are simply placed in a classroom with their age mates. Imagine the culture shock these kids experience. Imagine the traumatic situations they lived in before they were given the privilege to immigrate to Canada. Imagine their life as displaced people, either in their own countries or in another country in camps. Imagine the trauma they went through as they saw their countries torn apart by warlords. Many of these children cry a lot. Their stories would bring tears to anyone's eyes. Someone must speak up for these immigrants. Umoja Operation Compassion Society is attempting to speaking up for them. Umoja is providing services to African immigrant families to try to address some of the issues they face.
We have partnered with various service providers in the lower mainland, especially in Surrey. We would like to assist these immigrants in accessing services which will be beneficial to their well-being here in British Columbia. We would like to see strong families develop. We would like to see African families raise their children in a manner compatible with what they had in Africa. We know that in Africa, it takes a village to raise a child. In the western way of raising children, we see that even the government “helps”. Some of the skills available in Canada were not available to our parents. We can only strengthen a family by organizing ourselves and providing some of the services which will help new and old immigrants transition to regular service providers.
At the moment we have five workers serving the families and the youth. The family outreach worker targets mothers with children under the age of 6 and will expand to include all other children of school age. The youth program starts at age 12 and above. We have a group of volunteer teenagers who meet and plan events and programs for the young people. Programs for fathers and grandfathers are planned as well. Our volunteer teams welcome new members and help settle them in communities.
We have an overseas program, which will provide international volunteer experience to those interested in working abroad. We work with religious institutions around Canada to inform Canadians of opportunities available overseas, especially on the African continent. The scope of poverty and disease affecting children in Africa is one of our major concerns. We are putting considerable effort into education and literacy for African children. Umoja supports primary education and primary health care for poor communities in Africa. We currently support the Rwentutu Community School project which is located in western Uganda. This school is a primary boarding school. A medical facility will be on site to help the community as well. In our bid to fight illiteracy among children, in 2005 we sent children's books to Uganda, Ethiopia and Nigeria.
