By Nina Badwal - St. James Town Press, November 2021 edition - - - Each year during autumn, Hindus, Jains and Sikhs celebrate Diwali, known as the Indian “festival of lights.” The word Diwali is derived from deepavali which means "rows of lighted lamps" in Sanskrit, an ancient language of India. [...]
By Yvonne Yorke - October 2021 - Teachers can do VIRTUALLY anything! That’s a catchphrase seen since the start of the pandemic which forced schools to move to virtual learning. Virtual learning has definitely provided challenges for students, parents and teachers alike. It could be the challenge of learning how to navigate the [...]
By Yael Gottesman - October 2021 - - "It is a waste of time to be angry about my disability. One has got to get on with life." -- Stephen Hawking St. James Town is my hometown of ten years. My family and I moved here for the sole reason that my [...]
By Yvonne Yorke - October 2021 - - Every year, Halloween is celebrated as a fun-filled finale to October that delights children and adults alike. Because of the pandemic, Toronto Public Health was not able to support the traditional door-to-door trick or treating in 2020 and as of our print date for [...]
By Nina Badwal - October 2021 - Each year since 2007, Canada has officially recognized the month of October as Islamic History Month. It’s a time where all Canadians can learn more about the culture, contributions and achievements of the Muslim community. “During this month I want people to know that Islam is [...]
By Shirley Roberts - October 2021 - The World Health Organization recognizes October 10th as World Mental Health Day. In 1992, the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) established World Mental Health Day in an effort to promote education and advocate for people experiencing mental health issues. This year’s theme, set by the [...]
By Heather Wilson - October 2021 - Art can create new futures. It nurtures creativity and imagination and teaches us to use them as tools to explore our world and ourselves. Through art, seemingly impossible ideas can be made real. This power is made even more meaningful when placed in the hands of [...]
By Nina Badwal - October 2021 - - Calling a community mediator instead of the police for a neighbourhood noise complaint or an issue with your roommate or landlord is the idea behind a Toronto multi-service agency’s Community Mediation program. The Neighbourhood Group (TNG) which merged with St. Stephen’s Community House, is [...]
- Aarti Sharma - In February 2019, Tapaswini Mohanty, a mother of a 6-year-old, was about to finish her internship in software testing. Mohanty had not worked in Canada since she moved here in 2016. However, the effort she was putting into her internship made her optimistic, and that with the blossoms of the [...]
By Nina Badwal - September 2021 - This September 30th, we will commemorate the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation – a statutory holiday to remember the tragic legacy of residential schools in Canada. A bill creating this new holiday (Bill C-5) was unanimously passed by the Senate in June 2021. Establishing a [...]
Nalini Pandalangat, Director of Newcomer Health & Specialty Services, Sherbourne Health, is a Registered Social Worker with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers. She completed her PhD at the Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Toronto, and has extensive experience leading projects and programs in the community health, hospital and international development sectors. Her PhD was on cultural influences on help-seeking, treatment and support for mental health problems in the Sri Lankan Tamil community. Her research and program interests are focused on immigrant mental health, gender and health, cultural competence, health care access and health equity. Currently she is part of a core team working on the development and dissemination of a refugee mental health framework.
