A man explains that his father sent him to Canada, to aid his family
economically.
RES.: And then, when did you decide to come to Canada
and how did this happen?
D.Μ.: Since we were many children, our dad said to us
“What should I do with you now that you’ll all be finishing junior high, what
should I do with you?” and first left Michael, my big brother and he came to
Canada and afterwards I came. RES.: So, he came first…
when did your brother come? Δ.Μ.: Michael came in ’69,
I came in ’72.
RES.: Did you finish high school in Molaous after all?
D.Μ.: No, I didn’t finish because there was also my
other brother, John, who’s a year older, he was caught by the military, we
both made our papers to leave and he was caught by the military and he wasn’t
able to leave and I left by myself. Only I did get a visa and left in ’72.
RES.: And how old were you? D.Μ.:
17.
RES.: And tell me a little about the trip. Wait, let’s
go back. What did you know about Canada before you came? Δ.Μ.:
You know, my brother Mike was here but, you know, there was no
communication, there were no telephones, it’s just that the immigrants who
were returning to Greece and we saw that they had a car, that they had nice
clothes and we were saying “Oh, at some point we’ll also go to Canada and if
we go we ought to prosper, we ought to make, we ought to have a car as well,
we ought to come back, we ought to have nice clothes as well” because we
didn’t even have shoes now here in the village to be honest back in those
years.
RES.: And how was it, did your brother send you the
papers to come or…?
D.Μ.: Yes, together from Greece we made them from here
and…
RES.: And did you go as a student to Canada or…?
D.Μ.: No, I came to work. And our parents had told us
you’ll go to Canada, you’ll work and you’ll be sending us money. That’s what
it was, to help the family. This was so deeply rooted within us that when we
came to Canada, we had to always send money to the other siblings to assist
them… Yes…
