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Foreign born Spouses Report

A leap to "SAP-EEP"

Hei-Hei [ the Finnish say], here we are: one year older and moving and in the meantime this group has gone from a Foreign-Born-Spouses to a Foreign Service Spouses interest group. My family and I are not moving, but many in the foreign service will be soon, to and from Ottawa, and the good old FSCA with its new and old member, will be still here, at Pearson [in the smaller office], collecting information and discreetly lobbying for improvements.

The SAP-EEP interest group met four times in the past year, and many people have been quite supportive, in person and via e-mail to keep it going and define its objectives. The above acronym, that I am going to use for our group, stands for: 

"SpousesAndPartners-Epouses et Partenaieres"

The main focus of `"SAP-EEP will be the attempt to create a community network to offer information, support and activities for spouses and partners in the NationalCapitalRegion, especially new ones, foreign-born or Canadian. Along this lines the objectives in our agenda will be changing depending on the demand and needs expressed at any given time.

People participation is "SAP-EEP" essence.

We will try to organize monthly meeting events, possibly in the Skelton Lobby at DFAIT, with speakers. We are planning to have a financial advisor, a career consultant with a different outlook, a stress-management expert and possibly more. If you know somebody that may be interested in giving a 30-45 minutes talk on a subject of interest to our community, let me know.

For our last meeting, Tova Lynch organised to have Deborah Birrell, the Spousal-Employment-Coordinator of DFAIT, to give information about what is available to spouses to support their careers and job-searching.

Regarding the suggestion to organise outdoor activities, for now, with the help of Theresa Rozkiewich-Bobiash, we have on the burner a couple of outings in May and June, then we will see, again any initiative is highly appreciated.

There was a call for a stork&toddler group, I am waiting to know if and when will happen.

Finally about the data-file, I am not sure if there is a real interest in creating it. Who has not yet, and wants, can send me the info in this format

  • Place of Birth : 
  • Family composition , children (year of birth or age): 
  • Past postings (and years if you remember):
  • Hobbies and interests: 
  • Study/work background : 
  • Languages spoken :

Moi-Moi, [another Finnish greeting] and happy sunny summer to us all

Cynthia Nuzzi-Pearce