Rickie’s Story
I came to the shelter with my seven years old daughter after hatching a plan through the only window of opportunity available to us - I was allowed to take my daughter to school. We, my daughter and I suffered extraordinary, unimaginable abuse and violence from the hands and voices of my husband and his family.
The shelter was indeed a safe haven for me, I lived in the shelter for about four months. This was the place where I started to come alive as a human being. I am a creative person and I wanted to see the possibility of the life I had before this experience, I worked as an architect, a career professional women before I came to Canada, and I wanted that dream again. I was also realistic that it would take hard work and time.
We left the shelter and moved into our own home with the support of the Redwood. …show more content…
I became intimately aware of the challenges and apprehension families in my community face to report domestic violence, so I wanted to bridge that gaps through conversations. The standard strategies to resolve family challenges in my culture are more communal and collaborative.
Through the Women on the Move leadership training program I was able to explore avenues to start conversations about domestic violence in my community. In addition to my newspaper articles which focused on my experience with domestic violence as a newcomer woman Canadian, I co-facilitated workshops and discussion groups for women and families of my community to help and inform them of what a healthy relations looks like and their right as new Canadians
Emma Story (Emma is the daughter of Ritsuko)
I’ve always seen Emma as a female version of her father, as she grows up it has become more evident that she is in fact a female version of her father. She is smart, creative, funny and
I came to the shelter with my seven years old daughter after hatching a plan through the only window of opportunity available to us - I was allowed to take my daughter to school. We, my daughter and I suffered extraordinary, unimaginable abuse and violence from the hands and voices of my husband and his family.
The shelter was indeed a safe haven for me, I lived in the shelter for about four months. This was the place where I started to come alive as a human being. I am a creative person and I wanted to see the possibility of the life I had before this experience, I worked as an architect, a career professional women before I came to Canada, and I wanted that dream again. I was also realistic that it would take hard work and time.
We left the shelter and moved into our own home with the support of the Redwood. …show more content…
I became intimately aware of the challenges and apprehension families in my community face to report domestic violence, so I wanted to bridge that gaps through conversations. The standard strategies to resolve family challenges in my culture are more communal and collaborative.
Through the Women on the Move leadership training program I was able to explore avenues to start conversations about domestic violence in my community. In addition to my newspaper articles which focused on my experience with domestic violence as a newcomer woman Canadian, I co-facilitated workshops and discussion groups for women and families of my community to help and inform them of what a healthy relations looks like and their right as new Canadians
Emma Story (Emma is the daughter of Ritsuko)
I’ve always seen Emma as a female version of her father, as she grows up it has become more evident that she is in fact a female version of her father. She is smart, creative, funny and