With eyes of a newcomer

Canada is known as a land of plenty but, through the eyes of a newcomer, it’s not necessarily the land of happiness.

Paulin Bossou and his family moved to Winnipeg from Africa two years ago, and he has seen beyond Canada’s relative affluence and materialism.

“People are not living very well here,” he says. “They have money and infrastructure, but people are not happy here. There is a lack of something. Money and the other things that we strive after does not bring happiness.”

Bossou, currently a student at Canadian Mennonite University (CMU), Winnipeg, had worked for La Casa Grande Benin, a home for disadvantaged children, some of whom have lost their parents to AIDS, in the West African country, for the past 10 years.

Bossou, his wife and their two children felt it was time to try something new and they were drawn to Manitoba by a Mennonite connection. In Benin, he was associated with a Mennonite church, and he was fascinated by Mennonites. He had heard that Canada, Manitoba in particular, had an abundance of Mennonites, and this brought the family to Winnipeg.

One big difference between Benin and Canada is how people choose to use their time, Bossou observes. “In Benin, I had enough time to share my time with other people and help other people,” he says. “But here, this time doesn’t exist. People are rushing and looking for money, and they are not living.”

Bossou also expresses concern that many people in Canada appear to live their faith on a shallow level. “The environment here does not help to make a good Christian,” he says. “For me, to be a Christian does not mean to just go to church, but to participate in the life of the community. Here it is an option to go to church or be part of the community. But not for me.”

To him, being a Christian means spending time with people, enjoying life and sharing experiences with others. It also means taking the necessary time to worship God and grow in faith, which means giving God more than an hour on Sunday morning. God has had a huge impact on the Bossou family and their immersion into the radically different culture of Canada.

Bossou has learned the importance of trusting God to the fullest. “I discovered that people don’t want to depend on God because they have many opportunities to do things themselves,” he says. “If you can do something by yourself, you do not expect another person to do it. They try to be rational, instead of using faith.”

As Bossou studies at CMU, his wife is taking classes at St. Boniface University, also in Winnipeg. The family plans to return next year to Benin, where Bossou will continue being the director of La Casa Grande Benin, which began in 2000 as a partnership between the Burgos Mennonite Church and Mennonite Board of Missions, a predecessor agency of the U.S.-based Mennonite Mission Network.

Bossou says he will return to Africa with many positive experiences of Canada. “Here is good, but not the place for me,” he says. “For us, it is a privilege to be here and learn more about this country, and share what we have learned with other people. It is a dream or something special to come and live in this country, and now we will share it with our friends.” l

The Voice of the Voiceless articles were written for Canadian Mennonite University’s Journalism: Practices and Principles course during the Winter 2013 semester. Teacher Carl DeGurse is vice-chair of Canadian Mennonite’s board of directors and assistant city editor of the Winnipeg Free Press.