How 2 community leaders with a special relationship inspire each other
Lloydetta Quaicoe and Grace Okwera named CBC's Black Changemakers for community work
CBC is highlighting Black people in Atlantic Canada who are giving back, inspiring others and helping to shape our future.
Last fall, members of the public submitted over 350 nominations for 161 Black leaders, teachers, entrepreneurs and artists from across the East Coast.
A panel of Black community members in Atlantic Canada selected 20 people to highlight for CBC Black Changemakers.
Lloydetta Quaicoe and Grace Okwera warmly embrace at the Sharing Our Cultures office in St. John's and call each other "sister" — signs of a special relationship between the two. Even though the pair aren't related, they are bonded by a shared passion for helping others, especially newcomers to the country.
Both women have been named CBC's Black Changemakers this year for their community work. dedicated to helping newcomers over the past two decades, and say it's a sweet experience to share the recognition together.
Their relationship spans almost 30 years, starting in 1996, when Grace was a new mother after delivering her youngest child. She needed surgery when the baby was six weeks old, and Lloydetta was there to take care of them both after she'd taken the children to school.
"And she did this not one day [but] the full extent of the time until I got my strength back," Okwera said.
Okwera says those acts of kindness set an example and the trajectory for the pair's relationship and community work ever since.
"She has proven so many times, time and again that she's a true sister, not only to me but to many in the community," Okwera said.
Quaicoe is the founder, CEO and driving force behind Sharing Our Cultures, a community group that helps newcomer youths with programs, from learning employability skills through social enterprise to sharing cultural practices in schools, publishing stories, helping students find friends and a sense of belonging and even share their experiences with racism and discrimination.
Okwera has been her right hand, at times acting as president and vice-president of the organization, helping the group expand in the province.
"I've always felt that if there's anything I can do to help anyone, then I will do it. So when we hear about gaps in services in the community for the student, the first thing is, 'How can we get something done?" said Quaicoe.
That spirit was on display during Quaicoe's interview with CBC News, as she had lent the office's lobby to a group of students who were holding a dance practice for an upcoming Sharing Our Cultures showcase.
One dancer, Hope Kissinger, who grew up in Kenya and has family ties to Congo, said when she moved to the province she was devastated she couldn't find an Afro dance crew to join.
Then she met Ushindi Kabasele, who's from Congo, after he shared his dancing videos on Instagram, and they created a dance group of their own.
Their dance group is about more than choreography, it's also a chance for Kabasele and Kissinger to share some of their Congolese heritage.
"The first time I started listening to the Congo music, I was like, 'Oh my gosh, this is so good, like it makes my body move,'" she said. "My mom fully introduced me to the full culture and now every single day I still learn about the culture."
Fellow dancer Kabasele said dance is "everything" to him.
"I love it and l love whenever I do it. It just makes me feel home, that's all," said Kabasele.
For Quaicoe, lending the practice space is all about stepping up to make a difference where she can.
"Something happens in my heart when I hear someone is in need of something or some injustice that I feel we can do something, we should try to do something," she said. "And that's what I've tried to do over these many years."
Former participants say Quaicoe's work and Sharing Our Cultures programming has changed lives — and saved them, too.
She says one student called her for a meeting years after taking part in the program. Quaicoe recalls the girl couldn't speak English when she arrived in the province and hated going to school. A guidance counselor referred her to Sharing Our Cultures and then things started to change, Quaicoe said.
"There she met other people who were struggling, like she met people who spoke her language, and she said it just changed her life. It saved her life. And today she's actually working on the mainland, and she's working with immigrant populations. She's a social worker working with them," said Quaicoe.
Teaching with empathy
Okwera says her family knows what it's like to lose everything. Not once, but twice her family lost their possessions living in Uganda — first in a ferry accident and then when thieves cleared out all their belongings.
"I understand what it means when overnight you lose everything and then you have to start all, all over again," Okwera said.
Decades later she says those experiences have influenced the way she teaches her English as a second language students at the Association for New Canadians, as the organization's team lead.
"In my teaching, one thing I believe is so important is the sense of empathy. Like to a number of our clients, they have gone through a lot by the time they arrive in Canada, and then they have to start life anew. And for many of them, they actually have to start by learning the language. They have to learn English first," Okwera said.
Because of a lack of language skills, she said, many of her students don't know how to express their needs properly and she steps in to help outside the classroom.
She's made meals for families, visited people in hospital, helped people take care of their children and even translated, written and read wedding vows for a newcomer friend.
"The sense of caring, any kind of kindness shown, goes a long way in making them feel acceptance," she said, adding it helps people feel more at home in a new place.
Quaicoe, who nominated Okwera to be named a Changemaker, calls her work selfless.
"She's made a big difference in the lives of so many people. So if we were to stand up and take a poll of the number of people, there'll be stories after stories and stories of people she helped when they were bereaved and didn't know how they could handle that in a new culture," Quaicoe said.
"She's just got a heart that's open to help everyone. I can't think of anyone else that will do that, no matter how tired she is, no matter how little she has, she still is going to share with others and that is what has really stood out to me," Quaicoe said.
Okwera feels like Quaicoe would do the same.
"She's truly my role model in everything I do in the community," Okwera said.
"And she is my role model too," said Quaicoe.
For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.
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