Ottawa has a unique cultural identity and is home to diverse groups of people and communities. Meet some of the people from diaspora communities who are contributing to Ottawa’s rich cultural diversity. Read stories of how people of different cultures have contributed immensely to the identity of the city of Ottawa.
People from diverse backgrounds bring unique language skills, new ways of thinking, innovative ideas and creative solutions to difficult problems, not to mention great food. When people from diverse backgrounds meet at work, they bring new perspectives that lead to different skills and mindsets, increased understanding and knowledge, which in turn create business and technological innovation. Our social cohesion is strengthened by the diversity in our communities, which is highlighted here.
Growing up in a rural community in Kenya, I watched as shifts in technology made some elements of our culture quietly become obsolete. Traditional ways of preparing and preserving grains and food have been replaced, cultural artifacts such as woven baskets and clay pots have fallen out of use, and the rich tradition of oral history is fading. As a passionate photographer, I began to document some of these pieces of my culture in the hopes of one day creating a digital repository of images and stories about our heritage.
I had the opportunity to build on my knowledge and skills throughout my six years of work with Digital Divide Data (DDD): a global social enterprise that supports a variety of digitization projects, from legal or newspaper records to entire museum collections. The project that I am most proud of from my six years with DDD was one I completed in partnership with Amazon Web Services and Intel to digitize one of the largest collections of Archeology and Palaeontology in the world, at the National Museums of Kenya. I provided project management and photography services and worked closely with the rest of the team to ensure the artifacts were documented in a digital space for people to access from around the world.
In my photography work, I also had the opportunity to do a project with Purpose Kenya, documenting the rich cultural heritage of the Lamu community in the coastal part of Kenya. I took photographs and conducted interviews with community members to share compelling stories online. When I moved to Canada, I thought about ways that I could keep working on cultural heritage projects. I was initially living in rural Ontario, in a small town called Lucknow. I toured the place and started working on a small project of documenting the old barns through photography. I had many Canadians ask me about Kenya, and how it feels to be in a new country. “Do you miss Kenyan food?” “What are the most special holidays when you get together with your family?” “Do you have some traditional songs and dances that you could perform for us?” All these questions keep me thinking about the many other immigrants in Canada who carry so much of their cultural heritage into a new country.
When we moved to Ottawa, I was so grateful for the diversity of the population, the variety of cuisines available, and the opportunity to connect with others who speak my native languages. I think about how it feels to try to blend in while also hanging on to your identity and culture. I think about the pieces of their cultures that people have to drop for them to prosper in this country and the other pieces of their cultures that they have kept, which contribute to a rich diversity of culinary experiences, religions, celebrations, and lifestyles in Ottawa and across the country. My dream is to tell these stories of the Ottawa diaspora communities through photography and storytelling.