Photo exhibit at Bytown Museum celebrates citizens who welcome newcomers

By Robert Worrall

The Bytown Museum has announced plans to host its first-ever photo exhibit paying tribute to present-day citizen “ambassadors” who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to welcome refugees and other newcomers to the capital.

The downtown museum is collaborating with the Ottawa Local Immigration Partnership — a federally-funded agency that supports newcomers to the city – to launch “Faces and Stories of a Welcoming City” on March 9. The exhibit, which will celebrate select individuals who expended their time and energy to make new immigrants to Ottawa feel at home, is scheduled to be on display until June 3.

OLIP has been recognizing the generous spirit of local residents with photo displays since 2014, when the first “Welcoming Ottawa Week” was held. But this will be the first time the Bytown Museum, located in a historic building beside the Rideau Canal headlocks, will be hosting the exhibit.

Until recently, the mandate for the museum was showcasing Ottawa history up to and including the First World War. However, it now intends to include more exhibitions that shine a light on contemporary Ottawa, as well.

“We continue to tell the stories of Ottawa and stories of the people who have made the city what it is today,” said Grant Vogl, the museum’s collections and exhibitions manager.

“The museum facilitates these types of exhibitions so that we can both showcase community groups and tell a different story that our permanent galleries don’t and can’t tell,” he said.

The photo exhibit’s “ambassadors” are nominated by members of the public, usually a newcomer who was helped by a local volunteer. Once nominated, OLIP officials are guided by various criteria to select those who will receive “Ambassador Awards” and be featured in the exhibit.

The photo gallery is laid out with poster-sized photos of the ambassadors as well as the newcomers that they helped. Next to each photo will be a panel of text describing what the ambassadors did to receive the award.

This year’s exhibit will show photos of last year’s chosen ambassadors. OLIP plans to open nominations for 2018 ambassadors sometime in February or March.

Last year, there were 13 awards given out from more than 50 nominations, according to OLIP communications officer Suzanne Charest. Each of the 13 recipients were given their award by Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson.

All of those nominated for the award also received a signed certificate from Watson.

The stories behind these Ottawa Ambassadors are often unique and heartwarming, say those involved in the project.

“They’re from all walks of life,” said Charest. “Some were either working with immigrants as part of their job, and many were simply volunteers or met the newcomers by coincidence.”

For example, Murilo Torres won the award last year for his dedication in helping to find newcomer Meysam Safari a good career path in Canada. Safari had only been in the country for three months at the time, after emigrating from Iran and studying in Malaysia for 10 years.

The two met during an Uber ride, with Safari behind the wheel. He worked as a driver until he could find a “job in his field.” Three months later, Torres had followed through on his promise that he “would find (Safari) a job in three months.” Safari now has a “treasured job in finance,” according to the OLIP summary of their relationship.

In another case, CIBC employee Claudine Revert-Gravel met a newcomer named Mustapha, from Turkey, while working at a bank branch in Ottawa. Upon overhearing that Mustapha had recently immigrated to Canada, she gave extra attention to him and helped him out with the mountain of paperwork that confronts new Canadians.

While this was part of her job, inviting Mustapha and his family to dinner was not. Their friendship, and the relationship between their two families, remains strong.

All of the stories surrounding last year’s award winners can be found on the OLIP Welcoming Ottawa Ambassadors webpage.

“Some of the stories are really great,” said Charest. “ It’s certainly very inspiring to see how people in Ottawa go out of their way to help newcomers.”