This Was My First Home. Now, I Maintain it!
- Camron Firouzbakht
A person from the Iranian community brought me here. That was in April 2012.
I did not feel like a stranger. Like you see a place, and then you feel good about it. When I looked at the house, it was like I saw a home.
I was a refugee claimant in Canada.
When I came, the first person I saw was Elvira, our receptionist.
They called Margaret (Styczynska), the manager of Resettlement and Integration Services. Initially, Margaret was reluctant. Then they told me, okay, we will give you a place, stay for tonight and we’ll see.
I went to the room and at night I came downstairs. Zari, the night cook, then, gave me dinner.
And then I said, “Do I have to pay?”
She said, “No, this is for everyone who stays here.”
The next day when I woke up, I saw there was this paper showing the time of the dining room. So, I went there to the dining room.
When I finished breakfast, I went to Lishan, the caretaker of the building.
And I said, “Is there anything I can do?”
He looked at me and said, “What do you want to do?”
I said, “I feel I owe you guys. For this service and warm room.”
And he said, “I don’t know what to tell you. Do you know how to cut the grass?
I said, “Yeah, No problem!”
That was my first day.
Later I saw Margaret. And she said, give him a room for the night, and we’ll talk tomorrow.
You know, she liked what I did.
Second day, other duties, and third day and so on…
Slowly, they introduced me to Zeljko (the facilities manager).
I started helping every day like that. I stayed here for seven months.
MCRC did not have a provision to accept refugee claimants. But still, they kept me.
Now, I maintain the same house I lived in when I first came to Calgary. This was my first home.
I want this place to look great, always. You see, these people, the clients coming and going, things get broken. I help to fix it.
Camron Firouzbakht is a ‘Facility Maintenance Worker’ at CCIS. For over a decade, he has been responsible for maintenance and repairs of equipment and facilities at MCRC and CCIS.