The Syrian refugee crisis has brought to light the journey of immigrants and the struggles that come with settling in a new country. Fleeing to a country with an unfamiliar language, a sea of different faces and cultural activities would be an overwhelming process for even the most socially adjusted person.
With a lot of attention on the European wave of refugees, it can be easy to forget that Lethbridge is home to its own. The city’s growing immigrant population makes up approximately 12 per cent of its residents according to Economic Development Lethbridge.
One immigrant who has brought a piece of home with him is Harsha Bandara. Born in Sri Lanka, Bandara immigrated to Canada with his family in 2003. Bandara’s favourite pastime from home was playing cricket with his buddies, something the right handed batter was wanted to continue playing once he was in his new northern home. Adjusting to life in Saskatoon and attending high school was quite an experience to overcome for the Sri Lankan native.
“Don’t get me started on the weather in Saskatchewan, living in -40 C for a couple of months is pretty hard. The culture shock for my sister and I in high school was huge, we were so used to being told what to do and when, but in Canada we had so much freedom.”
Bandara went on to captain the Saskatchewan Huskies Cricket team and developed a great culture amongst fellow lovers of the sport. After making a move to Toronto but struggling to find work in his field, Bandara decided to head back to school to complete his masters in Kinesiology and found himself a graduate position at the University of Lethbridge.
Settling in Lethbridge brought about a new set of challenges for Bandara. After being so involved in his favourite sport in Saskatchewan, Bandara was longing to crack the ball across the green again.
“We had a small Sri Lankan community here in Lethbridge, so there were about six or seven guys that wanted to play cricket, but they’d never played before so I got them together and we started playing for fun and then a bunch of Indian and Pakistani guys joined us.”
Eventually Bandara and his new cricket buddies formed a big enough group that they wanted to formally create the Lethbridge Cricket Association with some help from the Lethbridge Sport Council.
“Sport is such a great way for newcomers to Lethbridge to become part of the community and to really just fit in and make friends so that’s always been a big part of what we do,” said Susan Eymann, executive director of the Lethbridge Sport Council.
Eymann and her colleagues have seen the progression of the cricket-crazed immigrants within the city and were only too happy to support a nomination for Bandara for an immigrant achievement award. The awards evening is held by Lethbridge Immigrant and Family Services every year and recognizes newcomers to the city in areas ranging from sports to community service.
Sarah Amies, immigrant services executive director, believes recognizing the hard work and outstanding achievements by Lethbridge’s immigrant population is a wonderful way to become a more welcoming community.
“Over the last 10 or so years, Lethbridge has grown quite significantly and has become more aware of its differences both visible and non-visible. If we can help people make this great place their home and be open and welcoming to diversity and the lessons we can learn from one another, then that’s a win-win.”
At the sixth annual awards evening at the Galt Museum on Oct. 14, Bandara was awarded with the outstanding achievement in sports award, a recognition that he said was very humbling and was proud to receive even though he feels like it is a lot of praise for just wanting to play his favourite sport.
Immigrant-Infographic
