Interview with Mary Kur, immigrant from Sudan, 2003

What did your family do for a living?


In Sudan, you have a cow and goats. That is how you make your living. [She explains her mother lived in a separate house with her children and their father would visit. They lived among farmers.]


Did you go to Kenya because of the war in Sudan?


Yes. That time we were in Sudan the war broke out. We ran different ways. I came to Kenya with my uncle. My mother went to another part of Sudan, and my brothers and sisters were there too. When I came to Kenya, my brother July was there at the refugee camp at Iffo. I came to Kenya and went to another refugee camp at Kakuma.


What was life like there?


It was kind of difficult at UNHCR. [The United Nations High Commission on Refugees camp.] We got food after 15 days, and sometimes there was not enough food for us. I had my brother with his family, his two wives, and four boys and three girls of seven. That time when I was in Kakuma, my brother July, called me to go to Iffo to camp there and wait for the forms to come. Then we tried to fill out a form to come here.


Why did you come to Canada?


We didn’t know where we would be going. We just applied to go. Whoever accepted us, we would go. We waited there for five years, and then in 2000, they called us for an interview. On July 24, we went to Nairobi for an interview. On November 11, we went for a medical check. We stayed there until September 11, 2001. Wwe were supposed to leave. That was the day of the bombing in America. They cancelled our flight. ‘Oh my gosh, we’re not going to go anymore.!’ We stayed until October 9 in Nairobi, and we arrived here on October 11 at 3.30 p.m.


Did you want to come to Canada?


They didn’t ask people: ‘Where do you want to go?’ When the Canadian embassy decided they needed people, they took them and brought them to Canada. You don’t choose.


I thought it was a good thing. There is no war here. We thought it would be great to live in Canada. Sometimes we hear that America has some problems. Sometimes you get killed.


When we came here the winter was really, really cold for us. I was on the plane. When I got off the plane I didn’t see any black person. I’m not with my people anymore. I’m with different people. This guy came to pick us up, to take us to the reception house. We stayed there for a month. They found a house, and we moved to the house.


Did anybody in Edmonton help you?


We had some relatives here to help us. My brother and my nephew and my brother’s son. There were four of us.


It was really cold. One week I didn’t go outside. I thought to myself: ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t take this cold.’ Then I told myself: ‘Okay. It is not that bad.’ Last year was my second winter. It wasn’t cold like the first time. I’m getting used to it.”


Was it the first snow you’d ever seen?


I was wondering: ‘What is this white thing? Ice or what? No, this is called winter. Where did this come from? It just came by itself. People didn’t bring it.’ I stood at the window, and I thought: ‘Who made this?’ And then I said to myself: ‘Nobody made it. It just came by itself.’


I was confused. I thought it would stay like that. [She didn’t know the snow would melt.]


How did you imagine snow when you were a child?


Before we came here, we had some friends in Canada. They would call us and tell us about winter and snow. And I would ask: ‘What is this snow? Is it something like ice?”


I thought it would be like ice that would never go away. ‘Why do those people live here?’ I thought. I will live like them, too.


What were the hard parts of being here?


I feel at home here. At the same time I don’t really feel at home because my family is not all here. My mother is in Sudan. I am a twin. My sister, Adit, is not here. [She lives in a place where there are no phones so I can’t talk to her.]


I don’t think my Mom wants to come here. I think sometime I may go back to visit, but I am not really sure.


Do you know what kind of job you would like?


When I finish high school, and go to college, I want to be a nurse. [She also plays basketball, and likes sports.]


Do you have favourite places in the city?


Usually I don’t go out. I stay at home, I watch movies.


Have you made friends?


It’s not easy. The first time I came here I didn’t know anybody. I didn’t speak English. When I came to Queen Elizabeth School I met these two girls from Ethiopia, and they always took care of me. They took me to the cafeteria, and everywhere. Their names are Rahel and Tadelech. They were really kind to me. Everybody at the school helped me.


Is anything in Edmonton the same as in Sudan?


Not in Edmonton. When I went to the camp I felt I was in Africa. There were trees and lakes. Usually in Africa people live beside lakes. Mostly a lot of people live out of the city. When I left Sudan I lived in a refugee camp. I lived in Nairobi so I was used to the city. I came here with no English. My language is Dinka.


Do you feel like a Canadian yet?


Yes. At first when I came here I didn’t know anything about Canada or its people. When I came to Camp Warwa in May I felt welcome. When I needed help, I found some. The first time, when I came here, I thought: ‘Oh my gosh, why did they choose me to come here? This is something beautiful. I didn’t even do anything, or say anything, to make people say, Mary is a good person.’ People are friendly to each other here. People help each other. It is so good. I like it.


I was climbing at the camp. I said: ‘Let me tell my body to keep going.’ The others were calling out to me: ‘You can do it Mary. Come on. You can do it!’ I feel strong. I can do it.


Are you concerned about the cost of nursing school?


I’m not quite sure about it, or how long its going to take me.


What does your homeland have that Edmonton needs?


You don’t have anything missing here. [She mentions Sudanese food. Kisira, a flatbread]


Do you miss traditions?



Canadian parties are not the same as our parties. In Sudan, there are not the same kind of parties. There are people dancing there all the time. Last week I went to help my friend Rebecca and her Mom. We were working the night shift, cleaning offices downtown. Early, early in the morning, we were waiting for the LRT at Churchill Station and we just started dancing on the platform. People were looking at us, and maybe saying: ‘Are those women crazy?’ We didn’t care. We just danced.



Sometimes I want to go back to Africa to dance. Sometime I will do it.


The scariest thing for me here is the snow. I don’t like the snow at all.