Tagged “Canada”
Browse Tagged “Canada” from the Canadian Macedonian Heritage Society archive, library and community collections.
We Arrived in Canada
On the fourth of March I left the village And went to Athens From there I would come here And I would have a fine time My cabin was down in the depths On the Queen Frederica Three others and myself Locked in like mice We stopped in Naples It was the first stop Up to there we had a good time It still hadn’t hit us yet When we left Gibraltar Out on the open waters Very few of us remained standing ...
As soon as I collect three thousand
You become a stranger in your own place A stranger in foreign lands They changed our names And they look like boxes So, you can have a permit to work An uncle tells me The old ones have to change The names, above all A thousand up and down in the piggybank They called me Box It didn’t bother me very much I’m not going to stay there anyway First job in Canada Washing dishes, and lots of them It ...
Upon The Monuments
I found my ancestors, And lit small candles With tears within my eyes. I spoke a few soft words to them — Though our little bones May rest in foreign soil, All our souls will meet again. Three friends came to the village From Canada afar. We gathered at the coffeehouse And passed our days in joy. Four bachelors arrived together, And married men departed; All four of us it seemed Had come away as ...
A Summary of Our Life in Canada
From the village we arrived At Bloor and Margaretta . There we met each other And lived ten by ten together. We formed a little colony, A migrant nest abroad. Families came one by one— With elders and with little children. The colony kept filling, Margaretta overflowed. Our village emptied slowly As people left ten by ten. Families grew larger, And there was no room for us all. The sorrows of the ...
I Ask the Moon One Night
When I was just a little child. One evening I sat by the doorway, the yard with flowers running wild, and green the grasses all around. Voices drifted from afar— they watered their gardens there. It must have been a full moon night; the violets bloomed in the air. The night owl cried out mournfully, as if it had been wounded. The stars shone high above the sky like a diamond veil suspended. From ...
Two Brothers from Canada
Two brothers from Canada made up their minds one day to go, for one last time, to see their village far away. They had a few small fields and a little piece of land. “We’ll sell them,” they both said, “and drink some rakia while we can.” They left their suitcases at the hotel and started walking downhill. They called someone on their cell to say they’d reached the village still. They stood before ...
Chris Paliare Presents: “My Journey in Defending Human Rights for Macedonians, Here and Abroad”
The Canadian Macedonian Historical Society was pleased to host Chris Paliare for an engaging presentation, “My Journey in Defending Human Rights for Macedonians, Here and Abroad.” Paliare reflected on the early years of Macedonian human rights advocacy in Canada during the 1980s, when speaking publicly for Macedonian identity and rights was both rare and challenging. He shared his experiences working alongside Mary and Trian Dimitriou and international delegations to bring attention to the human rights struggles of Macedonians in Greece and Bulgaria, efforts that helped shape the formation of the Macedonian Human Rights Movement International in 1986. Through stories of advocacy at both grassroots demonstrations in Toronto and international forums in Helsinki, Warsaw, and Moscow, Paliare reminded attendees that meaningful change begins when individuals choose to stand up, speak out, and defend human rights for future generations.
