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Social Isolation is One of the Most Significant Challenges Facing Seniors in Winnipeg
Many Seniors in Winnipeg face social isolation. According to the Government of Canada, it is essential to raise awareness and compassion to assist organizations, friends, family members, and communities in addressing the specific social needs of these seniors, many of whom may be unable to voice their concerns to others.
Mian Hameed, a U Multicultural Channel volunteer host, chatted with Dr. Farouk and Laila Chebib, Muslim Community Elders in Winnipeg, to talk about how seniors live in Winnipeg and their fears and challenges.
Farouk said, "We came to Winnipeg early, and we were among the first Arab families in Winnipeg. That was in 1965. There was no Arab community, and we felt it to be difficult to raise our children, and we did not know who to ask about raising children in Canada because we came from another society. There were no Arab or Islamic organizations for us to go to. My English was weak and did not help me understand some life matters."
Farouk recounted an experience where their son was punished in school because he used an English word for which he did not know its meaning.
Chebib added, "As time went on, we got older, and life got harder. Yes, you know the city and its services, but there is difficulty with transportation. The diseases that afflicted us were many, and treatment here takes a long time. We live today in great unity because we are alone helping each other. If anything bad happened to one of us, the other would be in an exceedingly difficult situation."
Chebib encourages seniors to live healthily, go out, meet their friends, and not give in to loneliness. Chebib also advises them to find friends younger than them to assist them if needed.
The elderly in Winnipeg go through daily challenges. Our guests talked about them at length during the episode, and they demanded that they have an organization that takes care of the elderly in Winnipeg to help them overcome the difficulties of daily life.
Stay tuned for more Civic discussions on Civic Platform: https://u-channel.ca/civic-journalism/
Contact Zuher Almusre, our civic journalist, to share your story and explore civic issues at zuheralmusre@u-channel.ca.
The project is funded by the Department of Canadian Heritage and administered by the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS).
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U Multicultural is the ethnocultural media channel established with the objective of serving the diverse communities and contributing to the dynamic multicultural identity of Manitoba and Canada by offering accessible multi-ethnic television and radio services that offer information programming and other high-quality programming focused on ethnocultural communities of Canada.
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