These second-generation immigrants don't lose their way because their parents are not clear about their expectations or their culture. I sat down with Amina Hussein, a student at the U of C, who came to Canada from Somalia at the age of four with her parents and siblings. They are often caught between two worlds, two sets of loyalties, and feel they have to betray both if they are to be true to themselves. My conversations with the children of these remarkable people, second-generation immigrants to Canada, revealed that they have it just as hard as their parents - but for different reasons. When they arrive in Canada, they are faced with learning a new language, reinventing themselves professionally, and developing a taste for Tim Horton's coffee - again, something I am not sure I could do.īut the obvious answer is not always the right answer. They are the ones who left their country of origin, sometimes in traumatic circumstances, and managed to navigate the Kafkaesque world of Immigration Canada - something I am not sure I could do.
Who has a harder time adapting to Canada, immigrants or their children? The obvious answer would be immigrants. They have to question what is the right way to do things. The children who are born here or come before adolescence have to balance between two cultures. The adults who come from Somalia already have a belief system and a coherent set of core values. "The biggest challenge for me is to find a belief system.
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