Red River College’s refugee students learning reading, writing and roofing

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This article was published 16/10/2017 (2382 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

At 47, Alazar Elyas is starting over in a new country in a new language for the third time but he’s undaunted.

When the plumber who installed and repaired water pumps in rural Eritrea fled to Sudan in 2003, he didn’t speak the predominant language, Arabic. He survived as a helper installing plumbing in new highrises in Khartoum and picked up enough Arabic to do the work but he had no legal status in Sudan and often didn’t get paid for jobs. After arriving in Canada as a privately sponsored refugee last summer, Elyas is determined to get back to work in construction and learn enough English to succeed.

“I know there are challenges but I am excited,” said Elyas, who started Red River College’s Pathway Program to Construction Skills in September with 18 other newcomers to Canada. The students are all refugee newcomers with previous experience or an interest in working in the construction sector. The classes are held at the college’s Language Training Centre in Union Station and the Notre Dame campus where basic construction skills in drywalling, masonry and flat-top roofing are taught.

On Wednesday, Elyas and his class are volunteering at a Habitat for Humanity build site on Ross Avenue, laying down sod and building a wooden sidewalk. It’s not just a goodwill gesture but a chance to assess their language skills, if they’re following instructions and can get to the work site on time, said language instructor, Floyd Yewchan.

“Attitude is everything,” said Yewchan, who sees Elyas as a model student. “Alazar has a very positive attitude… he’s always on time or early and he always asks questions.” That kind of attitude is something employers are looking for, Yewchan said. “They can’t get guys to show up — they don’t stick around,” he said. The kinds of construction work that the students he’s working with are willing to do are jobs that “Canadians aren’t clamouring to get.”

Some have years of construction experience elsewhere and need to adapt to different ways of doing things in Canada, said Yewchan. “They have the skills, they just need the language and to adapt. They don’t want to sit around on social assistance,” he said. “A lot of guys have taken cleaning jobs.”

When Elyas started the program, he was going to classes full time during the day and working nights full time as a cleaner but had to scale back to working just Friday and Saturday nights.

The intensive, five-month Pathway Program to Construction Skills began in March 2017 with 21 students who received essential language skills, safety training and, after completing the program, participated in a paid month-long, full-time work placement to hone their skills and gain on-the-job work experience. The goal is long-term jobs in construction, said Lisa Allard, the Language Training Centre’s employment innovation co-ordinator.

The first group of students in the program finished in the summer when construction work was going full tilt, said Allard. She’s hoping there will be some winter projects for the students who started in September.

Elyas is hoping he can find work as a helper doing plumbing and drywall jobs and then, one day, own his own business. “Maybe I have a plan for the future.”

 

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca