Briefly introduce the service/initiative and the specific cultural group that it helps. Discuss how the ideas in the article relate to course concepts learned so far.
Multicultural countries experience different challenges speciality for minority groups. The Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services are the is a registered initiative that helps refugees and newcomers. The Toronto based AAMHCS serves the vulnerable from the harsh conditions in Canada through providing services to the refugees and the newcomers. Homelessness in Canada is an issue; however, the refugees and the newcomers are likely to face greater risks of being homeless compared to the Canadians. Therefore, the initiative helps those in danger by providing settlement services and primary care.
According to Tossutti (2017), when people from different cultures interact, there is a possibility that not all of them will end up well. However, ideas in the article relate to the class course in many ways. The difference in culture means a lot to different people. The people are then stereotyped basing on their backgrounds, therefore, denying them various rights as either the citizens of the country or as visitors. It is important to note that the difference in culture extends to basic and normal sociology every day. Interactions vary depending on culture, and this means that various aspects affect them (Francis & Yan, 2016).
- Describe how the service/initiative in the article helps to create a just and equal Canada, using specific ideas from the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Ontario Human Rights Code, AND the Multiculturalism Act.
The articles discuss the advantages of creating a just society where everyone is socially welcomed. As a widely multicultural community, Access Alliance multicultural health and community services help the vulnerable groups in a variety of means. Primarily, the refugees and newcomers experience loneliness, depression, homesickness and the feeling of being socially outcast.
Access Alliance multicultural health and community services promote the development of a just society where the community living in Canada is free of any form of discrimination. For the case of refugees and newcomers, the initiative helps the group by providing them primary care services which include medical and nursing services, pre- and post-natal care and chronic disease management.
The initiative provides settlement services to the incomers and refugees, which plays a fundamental role in improving the level of stress, and homelessness. According to the postulates of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Ontario Human Rights Code, AND the Multiculturalism Act, it is important to create a society that is not discriminative to any individual and that every individual has equal rights. The initiative strives to promote equality among the citizens in Canada.
Community and Health Promotion Services –
Language barriers negatively affect refugees and newcomers, leading them to experience social and psychological distress, discrimination and lack of access to basic goods. The initiative provides a solution by providing interpretation and Translation Services.
- Explain the relationship between someone’s culture and identity. Provide a personal example of how your own culture shapes your identity. Discuss how the service/initiative in the article supports the cultural identity of the group it serves.
Culture and identify are very close concepts that, most of the time, gets confusing. However, culture is the organization of a specific group of people coming from the same background or origin. Culture is the structured organization of a group that dictates how an individual operates within the same culture (Tossutti, 2017). However, identity, on the other side, is knowing oneself, and this is through realizing one’s potential. At the same time, culture shapes a person to become who they are. It, therefore, means that culture supports the development of a person and has a great impact on realizing oneself (Francis & Yan, 2016).
My personal experience on how culture shapes me is seen through the development of language. I can construct and speak words differently from other cultures, and therefore that is an example of how culture impacts our lives.
The initiative advocates for the cultural identity of the newcomers and refugees by providing translation services. Also, the initiative targets to provide the group essential and basis language that would help them smoothly cope with the new environment.
Additionally, the initiative advocates that foreigners from other countries with different backgrounds and are qualified to offer particular services should be the once service these vulnerable groups. A newcomer would feel at ease when someone understanding their cultural background serves them as compared to a person with different cultural background.