OUR WORK
EAL Classes
Since September 2015, the Canadian Yazidi Association has been offering EAL classes, presentations, and workshops to government assisted refugees and privately sponsored refugees, to help with:
Learn English, or improve your English skills;
Prepare for the written MPI knowledge test (driver’s license);
Learn about nutrition and healthy eating;
Prepare for the citizenship exam;
Get information about living in Canada, including health, housing, finances, and other topics.
And more!
Community Events
The direct and indirect impact that events have on communities are important in several different ways. They create a strong coming together for people from all walks of life, they provide opportunities for participation, volunteering and encourage involvement for all ages.
Community activities are an important feature for bringing a connection into communities and for bringing people together, and for helping to create a support network and for building bonds and relationships. A key component of our work is educating others on who the Yazidis are and what better way than with lots of holidays and festivals! Some of the Yazidi holidays and festivals are:
Eida Ser Sal
Eida Rojiet Ezi
Batzmi
Shev Barat
Eida Khider Elias
Eida Hejia
Soccer Program
Sports improve refugees’ well-being, empower them, and create opportunities for education and socialization. This is why every June to August, in Manitoba we run a soccer program for refugees in partnership with the University of Manitoba and University of Winnipeg.
The program teaches sportsmanship, cooperation, leadership and teamwork; fosters social inclusion; and helps integrate refugees and host communities.
Yazidi Cemetery
In the Yazidi religion, after death the body of the deceased is washed. Clay and water from the tomb of Sheik Adi is placed in the deceased's mouth. The body is buried after this with the head pointing east and the face turned towards the north star. The funeral procession features singing. The dead is buried in a grave marked by a headstone.
The Canadian Yazidi Association is establishing a Yazidi cemetery in Winnipeg. The reasons for this are numerous and include increased financial and geographical mobility. Few of us live close to the homes, or even the states, we were raised in and even fewer live on the same grounds our ancestors first settled.
A cemetery helps us connect with the past while also looking to the future. They are therapeutic, allow us to face our grief head-on, while also bringing the community together as a whole.
Community Centre
Cultural and community infrastructure plays an important role in bringing people together, helping to form friendships and social support networks, and helping communities to develop life skills and resilience. All these attributes are essential elements in the creation and maintenance of strong communities.
The Canadian Yazidi Association is in the early stages of cultural and community infrastructure planning, for the purpose of:
Universal facilities and services such as education, health, open space, recreation and sport, safety and emergency services, religious, arts and cultural facilities, community meeting places.
Lifecycle targeted facilities and services such as those for children, young people and older people.