'My story is about the word hope' — Newcomer from Mexico shares story of renting in Calgary's northeast
CBC
"My story is about the word hope," said Ivan Limas.
"Because we come from a very hard environment in Mexico right now. Even though my wife and I were teachers, it was really hard to be safe there. We came here. We found hope. We found kindness within the community."
Limas documented his story in photos for CBC Calgary this year as part of a focus on renting. We signed up Calgary residents — from across the city — and they worked with us to explore this common and little documented aspect of city living.
Their photo exhibit is free for public viewing at the Brookfield YMCA in Seton starting this week.
Limas took his camera with him to the three jobs he was working at the time — a patchwork of employment cobbled together to pay for the welcoming two-storey home his family secured in the northeast neighbourhood of Taradale.
Here is his story.
"I moved from Mexico to Canada because the inside Mexico, the real Mexico, it's unsafe. Dangerous. We got our house robbed twice. My car was stolen once. And well, we have to be scared, like, the whole time."
"Even if my kids' school is two blocks away, you have to take them or drive them there. And when they finish school, you have to be there 10 or 15 minutes before because you're afraid someone will kidnap her. And that's your reality there."
Both Ivan and his wife, Alejandra Enriques, worked as elementary school teachers in Mexico.
But he worked labour jobs in the United States during the school breaks to learn English, and retrained as a butcher so they could come to Canada as skilled immigrants. He came first, arriving three years ago in Trochu, Alta.
It was a warm welcome from the family who owns the Trochu meat-packing plant.
"I knew Canada was a really good place but still your heart struggles a little.… But right after I came in April 2019, I would say one week after, I called my wife. I told her sell everything. Sell the house, sell the cars and come."
She came. And it was good, perfect for a while. But the family wanted more.
After two years, they left Trochu for Calgary, hoping their daughter Maria will eventually attend university in the city.
Police services across northern Ontario say most illicit drugs circulating in their communities are being transported from southern parts of the province, while prescription drugs diverted into the illegal market continue to pose a serious and ongoing threat.
The case of a child who was killed by his mother shortly after being returned from foster care has shed a rare and needed spotlight on the child welfare system, say experts in the field.
G.E. Barbour may be best known for its King Cole tea, but the Sussex company’s peanut butter is apparently what everyone wants overseas.
Seven years into an early onset Alzheimer’s diagnosis, Sandra Demontigny's home is full of reminders.
A blizzard gusting across southern Manitoba is leaving a long list of highway and school closures.
While a blizzard threatened outside, Saskatoon city council endured an icy blast inside city hall from a Riversdale business leader over its homeless initiatives.
This is a story about fire, faith and marshmallows.
Alberta’s population bucked the trend that almost every other Canadian province and territory experienced last quarter, Statistics Canada population estimates suggest.
A U.S. judge on Wednesday blocked Michigan from enforcing a 2020 order to shut down Enbridge's Line 5 oil pipeline running beneath a channel linking two of the Great Lakes, ruling that pipeline safety is a federal responsibility.
When retired RCMP constable Jason Hydamacka heard the news that the insurance money for his amputated leg was coming, he sat in his truck and cried.
As Neskantaga First Nation’s youngest band councillor, Lashaunda Waswa says she wants to inspire the next generation to protect the community’s land, water and wildlife.
Toronto has seen a drop in crime rates across the city, but its police chief says youth crime rates continue to be a cause for concern.
Cambridge council has voted to request a pedestrian safety review of Cedar Street from the region after two back-to-back collisions last week, one of which killed a three-year-old girl.