Diaz loves life in Tillsonburg
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When 11-year-old Karen Diaz, born and raised in El Salvador, first arrived in Tillsonburg almost four years ago she did not speak English.
And her first Canadian friend was not quite fluent in Spanish.
“This girl here – Selena Martinez – was the first person I met, my first friend in Canada,” said Diaz, now 15.
“We actually met at an indoor soccer game,” said Martinez.
“Did we?” Karen smiled. “Oh yes, we did. And then she came to my birthday party… and I had time to talk to her in Spanish, and she’s like, ‘uh-huh, yep...”
“The birthday party I made her come to,” noted Karen’s Canadian adoptive mother – and cousin – Amanda Diaz. “It was kind of forced on Selena because she was the only girl we knew who was the same age.”
“But it turned out good,” Selena smiled.
Living with her cousins in Tillsonburg, Karen was initially home-schooled before enrolling for the latter part of Grade 6 at South Ridge Public School.
“When I came here it was pretty nice and it was a lot different,” said Karen, who will be going into Grade 10 at Glendale High School this fall. “There were many people talking a different language and I would be like, ‘oh what are you talking about?’
It took several months to learn the basics.
“I worked really hard with her,” said Amanda. “We took her into our home in January and she didn’t start school until the end of April, so that whole time she was at home with me, I taught her English.”
“I was so struggling with it,” Karen admitted. “It was really hard, too, because when my cousin went to work I’d be really quiet because I couldn’t talk… because they couldn’t understand me.”
“We used a dictionary and a lot of pointing,” Amanda laughed. “I didn’t speak any Spanish then, but I understand a lot more now.”
In her first full school year Karen won a Thames Valley ESL (English as a Second Language) Most Improvement Award, and received a TVDSB medal, certificate, and $60 Chapters gift certificate.
“Got the medal to prove it,” she laughed.
Years later Karen has adjusted to living in Canada – loves it actually – and she can still count Martinez as a good friend.
“Selena’s always been here and she never says no,” said Karen. “She gets invited to go some places and she says, ‘no, I have a commitment – I have to be there for my friend.’ And she’s always here.”
And years later, it looks like Karen will be able to stay in Canada after facing three deportation meetings in Toronto.
“It got to the point where I getting really nervous. When they tried to talk to me and they asked me questions, I got so nervous that I didn’t know what to say.
“It’s really sad because there’s many kids out there that are trying to get their papers, like me. When they come out of the room, they come out crying. And you start worrying what are they going to say to me?”
Their last deportation trip to Toronto was in January, but those days are behind them now.
“We won the adoption, and on top of that, we got this Humanitarian and Compassionate consideration,” noted Amanda. “When her refugee status was denied, they said go for adoption but in the meantime apply for this humanitarian application because it will buy you a little bit of time. We found out about a week before the adoption that it did get approved.”
Full citizenship may require taking the test, Amanda added, but once the paperwork is completed – and paid for – Karen should have permanent Canadian resident status.
Someday Karen plans to return to El Salvador to visit her family. She still occasionally talks with her birth mother Faustina Diaz on the phone (Romel’s mother’s sister), and keeps track of current events in her birth country.
“Last year I actually watched it a lot. Things that were happening – a lot of things from the gangs. Really bad things. Things happened to my family back home. It’s really stressful because you’re here, and at that time you want them to be here with you. I want to get a job because you need the money to go. As soon as I get enough money I would like to go visit my mom and do things with her.”
According to the United Nations, El Salvador was the world's most-violent nation in 2011, with a homicide rate of 66 per 100,000 inhabitants. But a March 2012 ceasefire between the two major gangs, MS-13 and their rivals Barrio 18, helped bring murders down to an average of five per day from 12 before the truce.
Killings have been rising since late May, however, with homicides averaging 16 per day in early July, with one week that month notching 103 murders.
– with files from Reuters