Rwema Yannick saws frantically at an old piece of wood. He鈥檚 wearing a giant black cowboy hat and a big, goofy grin.
He鈥檚 one of nearly 50 recent Canadian immigrants who took part in Learn to Camp last weekend.
Learn to Camp is a program put on by Parks Canada to help connect new Canadian immigrants with nature.
It鈥檚 been running for three years in Jasper. This time around Parks partnered with Catholic Social Services (CSS) to bring a group of new Edmontonians to Whistlers Campground.
Saturday the participants got a crash course in camping. They learned to set up and take down tents and cook s鈥檓ores over a campfire. Representatives from MEC taught them to cook on camp stoves; the Second Hinton Scout troop showed them how to pack for camping (it was here Yannick learned how to use a hacksaw).
Frank Bessai, who works with CSS, explained that many of the people participating in the program come from refugee backgrounds.
He said it鈥檚 tough adjusting to life in Canada, especially when you come from a traumatic past. But being in nature and learning camping skills can be very therapeutic, he said.
Khalil Anbari of Afghanistan was happy to experience nature and the mountains, and meet a group of people doing it.
鈥淚 like to meet all kinds of people from all kinds of places,鈥� he explained.
Anbari worked for four years with the Canadian military as an interpreter in his home country. 鈥淚 lost two of my closest friends,鈥� he said in a flat monotone, 鈥渞ight in front of my eyes they died to mines or bullets.鈥�
As he talks, he clamps tightly to the camera cord in his lap and his hands never quite stop moving.
Anbari worked on the front line, and the first time he was caught in a firefight he told himself he would quit his job if he managed to survive.
In 2011 he got a letter from the Taliban, threatening him because he 鈥渉elped kill Muslims.鈥� So he left. He came to Canada with the help of a heap of recommendation letters from the military leaders he worked with.
He still worries every time he thinks about his family back home, but you wouldn鈥檛 know all that unless you pressed him. Sure, he carries it around, but like many of the participants, Anbari鈥檚 daily interactions aren鈥檛 defined by his challenging past.
Spend a few hours with this group of people and you鈥檒l hear more shrieks of laughter than tales of woe. They talk about how much they love Canada, they jest about the lack of a hot lunch. They talk about how much they want to come back to Jasper.
鈥淚t鈥檚 so beautiful here, it鈥檚 such a peaceful country,鈥� said Sengal, a recent immigrant from Eritrea. 鈥淚 want to tell all my friends to come here. To see the mountains.鈥�
Sunday, as everyone sits in the Brewster Travel Canada bus on their way to a free tour of the Athabasca Glacier, people crack jokes and gnatter to their children. When they arrive at the glacier, they mug for photos and scoop up glacial water with their bare hands, slurping it into grinning mouths.
A trio of sisters in bright, floral hijabs sit on the ice, then jump up screaming and flapping their hands.
As the tour finishes, they thank and applaud their guide, interpreter and bus driver in turn.
Then, they head back to Edmonton, assuring anyone who asks that they will be back soon.
Trevor Nichols
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