Carving a pumpkin and baking a pumpkin pie; going door-to-door singing Christmas carols; or just talking about your day.
International students Sahar Javaher Haghighi and Jazmin Sanchez, share a hug with their Porch Light Program community hosts Heni Ritchie and Kem Murch. The program opens London homes to newly arrived female students to experience Canadian culture.
Sometimes the simplest gestures can make someone feel welcome.
Thanks to the Student Development Services’ International Student Services (ISS), newly arrived female students from around the world are living their Canadian experience beyond the walls of the classroom through the new Porch Light Program.
Born from the creators of the Voices of Diversity video, Kem Murch and Heni Ritchie were inspired by the stories they heard international female students tell about their time at Western and in Canada.
Approaching ISS advisor and coordinator Rose Aquino and Internationalization Programming Coordinator Rachel Crowe, the ‘porch light was turned on’ for students from countries including China, Iran, Rwanda, Mexico, Bangladesh and Germany.
“Traditionally, when the porch light is on, it means the home owner is at home and is providing a light to show the way up to their porch and inviting people in,” says Crowe.
“We extend this feeling of welcome to other women through this traditional concept of the ‘porch light’.”
Since beginning last year, the program has quickly grown from six students and two community hosts to six community hosts and an additional 12 students. Meeting once a month, the students share conversation, practice English (if needed), and enjoy talking and doing activities together.
Murch was more than willing to open her home to some of Western’s newest students.
“You have to realize, of the four women international students we interviewed in our first focus group (for the video), none of them had ever been in a Canadian home, even though they’d been at Western for two to four years’,” she says, adding undemanding gestures such as conversation are welcoming to the students.
“And we get to learn about their cultures as well. It’s at the point where we feel just like a family by allowing these lovely women to be themselves.”
Along with Murch and Ritchie, community hosts include Frances Bauer, Nancy Hiron, Betsy Reilly and Debbie Panopoulos.
Graduate student Jazmin Sanchez, a native of Mexico, says hosts were at one time immigrants themselves so they understand the isolation many women feel in a new country.
“It’s been more than I expected,” says Sanchez. “I love the fact we can sit down and talk about ourselves and share our opinions. It is very comforting.”
Sahar Javaher Haghighi agrees. The graduate student from Iran says her time in Canada has been much more hospitable because of the Porch Light Program.
“I was so excited to go and see them (hosts),” she says. “They have been so warm and welcoming to me. They even learned a few phrases in my language which was a nice surprise.”
Many new friendships between the students – from emails and photo sharing to study groups and movies – have blossomed from the program.
“We never would have met each other if it wasn’t for the program,” says Sanchez. “We now have so many new friends to share things with.”
Ritchie says opening her home has given her the opportunity to share and learn about so many cultures she likely never would have experienced.
“All of our homes are made up of immigrants themselves so we have empathy with them, with what our parents or what we went through,” says Ritchie. “I think this is a great way for these women to settle in to their new lives here in Canada.”
While only in its second year, Crowe says the request of first-year participants wanting to return and help the program is evidence of success.
For more about the Porch Light Program and other ISS initiatives, visit www.sds.uwo.ca/int.
