Life in Rural Canada – Strathroy: My Perspective and the Lessons

I have been motivated to write this piece after my home stay experience, which was part of this year’s African Leadership Program (ALP) with Engineers Without Borders, Canada.

Mr. Brian Simpson (L), Anthony Selase Sabah (M),
and Mrs. Joana Simpson (R)

Prior to my home stay, I first arrived in Ottawa for a week of EWB’s National Conference. Then I moved to Toronto for a week of leadership training. This traveling gave me different perspectives on Canadians and what they value. I realized that in both Ottawa and Toronto, generally people were rarely interested in reaching out to others. I have had to smile to people on the streets of Toronto to try to get their attention but with no success. I observed consistently in trains and buses that passengers only engaged with their mobile phones and iPods, with no interaction with the people who were sitting beside them. EWB, the organization on whose ticket I came to Canada, had an exceptionally curious staff who would always ask about you, what you do and other things. I must admit that I see this as an organizational culture that EWB has established. Otherwise, these same staff would have found themselves relating the same way as people I met on the street. This is different from Ghana where people usually greet each other and proceed to find out how the entire family is doing. So this was my first shock beside the weather.