Jelena Bahvalova

My name is Jelena Bahvalova. I live in Riga district, in Latvia. I work in a book shop, this year I finished at University, where I studied sociology. Now I’m going to seek a job connected with my speciality. Yuna is my school friend, she has lived in Northern Ireland rather a long time. She likes life in Northern Ireland, because of the good salary and interesting jobs. She always was a very active lady, so she’s glad to work and study at the same time. The main difference between life in Northern Ireland and Latvia is different salaries, this is the main reason why many people from Latvia come to Northern Ireland and England. I like to live in Latvia, but I want another job, and more money for my job, many employers in our country ask young people for job experience and if it’s not enough you can’ t get a good job.

I would like to go to Northern Ireland for work, but something stops me. My relatives and friends live in Latvia and a new country asks us to adapt in another society, it means you must start all things at the beginning. So, if I decide to work there, I'll work only for some period, but not for all the time.

Junona Baleisa

My name is Junona Baleisa. I’m 27 years old. I come from Latvia from a small border town called Bauska. I’m an only child in the family. My father died when I was 13 years of age. So my family was my mum and grandmother. My grandmother died this Christmas. It’s very sad but I hope she’s in a better world now.

It’s difficult to say what nationality I am. My mum’s father was Moldovan, her mother was Russian. My father’s mother is Latvian and his father Lithuanian. Well, that’s part of why I’m here.

I’m a Theology college graduate. I was working as a missionary planting new churches in the eastern part of Latvia. I was leader of a new church in Aluksne for 3 years as well as working as a chaplain in the army.

I left my home town at 17 years of age and never went back. I always liked to travel and discover new places. I think it is a great challenge. I love to travel around the world to see places and countries and have an opportunity to meet new people and learn new cultures.

I never was afraid of new tasks and challenges. I went to Sweden to work over my summer holidays with no English experience at 17 years old…well, I did that. With the money I earned I was able to pay a year of college and help my mum pay the bills. I think I am settled now. I am four years in Northern Ireland. Yes, I am happy. I had bad times and very bad times. I had good times as well. But I do not want to mention any of the bad things, at least not in this story.

I am working in a school in Newry as a teaching assistant and cleaning after school. I’ve been working in the school over three years now. At the beginning I was cleaning, than I got the job in the school kitchen. At one moment I was working five jobs (is that not crazy?). I was cleaning two shops in the shopping centre from 8.00 a.m. ¬10.00 a.m. Then I got a bus to the school, started in the kitchen at 10.20 am and finished at 12.30 pm, at 12.30 pm I started the classroom assistant job and finished at 2.30 pm and at 2.30 pm I started cleaning till 5.45 pm. Well - that is not all….then I was cleaning a shop from 10.30 pm till 00.30 am. Well, I have done it!

I was born in Latvia when it was a part of the former Soviet Union. I believe there were sixteen different countries in the union. So you can imagine what a massive country it was. People were free to work, travel and to move between different places. I am used to a multicultural society. That is probably why I found it easy to settle down here in Northern Ireland, which lately has become a multicultural and multiracial society itself.

I’m happy to be here and I’m treating Northern Ireland as my home. I’m working, studying, socialising and enjoying my life just like anybody else. Like many economic migrants I’m not planning to return to Latvia as I feel more and more apart from my country as the years go on. I’m hoping to get a better job or at least a permanent one, to buy a property, to learn to drive and of course to see a lot more of the world!

I didn’t mind working as a cleaner or waitress as I was working very hard. I had difficult times as some of my employers didn’t pay me what they owed me. I felt discriminated against by some or them and I was unfairly treated by others. However I did learn my rights and I learned my way around. I was a survivor and I think all immigrants are survivors….we have to be!

Now I would like to do something else in my working life, something more appropriate to my intellectual ability, skills and knowledge. I’m not waiting just on luck to get me there as I worked hard for everything I have today. I didn’t know how to speak English before I came to Northern Ireland. I picked it up very quickly and I also took a course in Essential Skills in English.

I got the job as a teaching assistant and I dedicated myself to complete NVQ 3 in Child Care Learning and Development as well as doing practical work with children and young people with Special Needs. I’m busy these days as I’m working in St. Paul’s High School as a teaching assistant during school hours and as a cleaner after school. I don’t mind doing both jobs. That’s why I feel confident enough to look for a better job, better pay and a better life style as I’m working hard and I’m prepared to work hard and be the best that I can be.

I have been dating an Irish man for the past two years and we are getting on very well. We spend a lot of time together. About 15 years ago he went to England as an economic migrant just as most of his family did then. Some of them came back to Ireland and some of them stayed there but all of them did very well for themselves. I think that’s why Irish people understand us.

I have couple of friends from my own country whom I regularly meet for a cup of coffee or shopping sprees. They both did very well for themselves and even if we are very busy we always find time to meet up. I know lots of people from my 'part of the world' are living here as they often ask for help with different issues like translating and interpreting. Some of them make me ashamed about the way they behave here but I can’t do anything about that. I just try my best and hope people judge me not by what nationality I am but by the person I am. I meet lots of supportive Irish people who make me feel welcome and wanted in this country and it’s very important to me, even more than they can realize!

I wish we could meet up in a year’s time to find out what paths we have chosen in life and to see how everybody is doing in whatever country they live.

Oonagh Magee

My local community is Mayobridge, a small rural village outside Newry. The population consists of 925 people, 471 males, 454 females. When I was going to primary school, everyone was from the area, everyone was Catholic and everyone spoke English.

Things have changed recently, with the influx of foreign nationals into the area and some even making their way out here! However at present there are still no foreign national pupils at the primary school. A statistic that may change shortly.

There are many positive factors regarding our friends from far a¬-field moving into the community. I personally have noticed that in my own work, there is a greater level of diversity. Registers in school that used to have names such as Mc, O’ and Murphy are now sporting second names such as Chan, Mannariono, Pudinskine, Samsonik, Ahmed and Zerai. This makes for a more colourful addition to classes! We, in St. Paul’s, have pupils from the Chinese, Italian, Lithuanian, Russian, Mixed Ethnic and Muslim backgrounds. All these pupils, with the exception of one, have English as their first language. The school facilitates them by offering a class in English after school every week. At the moment we have no full time, non¬-national teaching staff, however we do have French and Spanish language assistants, a Latvian classroom assistant and countless non¬-national cleaning and canteen staff. Some schools in the area promote diversity by recognising days such as Chinese New Year by changing the school meals for that day!

For many years in class, pupils have asked me when painting portraits how do you make skin colour? One has to be more sensitive now when answering!

In my local community, many non-¬nationals that have made the village their home have started their own businesses here and are becoming successful in their own right. The local shop is now catering for the dietary needs of all the community. There does seem to be a growing awareness of a multi¬cultural society, and indeed a growing acceptance of differences. In order to research this topic further I contacted the Saint Vincent de Paul. They offer non¬-nationals a great support system, especially when they first arrive. One support is the provision of a language class. Four years ago one class was offered by the society once a week. Now the demand is so great the service is running four evenings a week and at three different levels of ability. The estimated figures for immigrants living in the area are hard to define because not all are declaring their national insurance number, and many move back home after a number of years. Almost all are living in housing owned by private landlords and many families are sharing their housing with others to reduce costs. This may lead to overcrowding and poor living conditions. Figures from the Newry and Mourne Council state that last year 584 non¬nationals ‘stayed’ in the area and made it their permanent home. I feel, however, that this number is not a true reflection of the actual situation.

I personally feel that other people from different backgrounds coming to the area can only be a positive factor, for too long we have been living in a society that seemed to have only two communities. Not everyone, unfortunately, thinks the same. There is still great prejudice towards ethnic minority groups and many in our community have very stereotypical ideas. It is a fact that some children in school use the term ‘lithos’, when referring to many non-¬nationals. Discrimination and unfair treatment is also evident, especially in the work place where many non-¬nationals are doing menial work for very little money. Some are blamed for burglaries in the area and many are not trusted by the wider community. There is in many cases social exclusion of ethnic minority groups due to long barriers of division.

Any non-nationals I have met, either in my community or at work, have been hard working people who are trying to make a life for themselves. Many want to go back to their native home and have endured great hardships to provide their families with extra money. Recently I spoke to Victor from Moldova who left his wife and son at home, he hasn’t seen either for two years! I just couldn’t function without the support of my family and have a deep respect for those who simply have to.