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Erasing racism

The Mythbusters Action Team provided training on how to respond to racism and descrimination

Local service providers, college students, youth and community members were joined by Raj Gill, the Director of Prosperity Circles Coaching International in B.C. from the Lower Mainland, to receive basic training on how to respond with compassion when facing discrimination or conflict.

The training was part of the MythBusters Action Team project funded by the province and is led by the Immigrant Welcome Centre. Forty-four participants came together on June 6 at the Museum at Campbell River to learn practical skills in development of supportive social circles and displacement of negative emotions during uncomfortable interactions including discriminatory situations. The Immigrant Welcome Centre also conducted a survey with 50 community members before the course took place and found interesting results.

The data collected from 50 community members show that over 95 per cent of respondents have experienced, witnessed or heard cases of discrimination against immigrants. Among all types of discrimination, the top three are ethnic backgrounds (29.66 per cent), language (26.2 per cent) and colour (20.69 per cent). The data also reveals that the majority of respondents (51 per cent) feel that they possess average or below skills when dealing with language barriers.

The second MythBusters training course is scheduled in September. It is open to the public, free of charge. To learn more about future courses and the Mythbusters Action Team project, contact project coordinator Vienna Yeung at 250-830-0171.

The Immigrant Welcome Centre provides services to immigrants to help them integrate and settle into Canada.