Avrey's ISU

My family is very diverse as I have many ancestors from all around the world, but I am most interested in my family history in Guyana. My grandmother, who is the mother of my mom, was born and raised in Guyana, then immigrated to England before coming to Canada six years later. By asking my grandma a couple questions over the phone, I was able to learn things about my family history that I had never known before. In the end I discovered that my life would be much different than it is now.

My grandma’s reasoning for leaving was to achieve a better education. “I left Guyana and went to England when I was 21. The education for nursing was much better there and I could see myself with a better life and so I went” (Matthews). She had went to school for five years before getting a job at a hospital soon after she graduated. She was not at the job very long before deciding to move to Canada as she could not see herself staying in England.

In 1958 my grandmother immigrated to Canada. This is when she began working at Sick Kids Hospital. She “liked [her] time there and continued working for nine years until [she] met [my] Grandfather in 1964 and got married in 1967” (Matthews). It was three years later when they decided to move to Orangeville after my uncle, my mother’s eldest sibling, was born.

Once they moved to Orangeville my grandma started working at the Orangeville hospital and stayed there until it closed and Headwaters Hospital opened. Within that time, my aunt aunt and my mom were born in 1970 and 1971.

After asking my grandma about her history, I asked her what mine and my family’s lives would be like if she stayed in Guyana and her answer was quite eye opening. Since she had grown up on a shrimp farm, she believes that is how our family would make our money. If my family relied on farming for our income, then I would most likely only get a high school education. The degree of my education would depend on how well I performed in elementary school, but it would most likely be poor since I would be needed on the farm a lot of the time.

She also told me that the health care in Guyana is not very good, and we would most likely not be able to afford the quality of healthcare that we get in Canada. Since there is a levels in the public health system, “we would maybe be able to afford the middle levels of healthcare” (Matthews).

Finally, I learned that my religion would have a much bigger role in my life. My grandma’s faith means a lot to her as that is how children are raised in Guyana. “A child’s attendance to church told you a lot about how they were raised and their morals. If you did not attend church regularly your family was judged by the rest of the community” (Matthews).

To conclude, I have learned that if my grandmother was to never have come to Canada for a better quality of life, I would be working on a farm with sub par education, poor healthcare, and strong religious beliefs. I am grateful that my grandmother found a life in Canada and I am glad to be where I am today.

Works Cited

Matthews, Marry. Telephone interview. 12 Jan. 2017.