An exhibit initiated by the District’s Settlement Workers in Schools program is on now at the Burnaby Village Museum, featuring the experiences of Afghan refugees who are making meaningful contributions to Burnaby.
From Afghanistan to Canada, with Hope profiles Burnaby residents who fled their home country, including two Burnaby Schools families. It was proposed by Settlement Workers in Schools (SWIS) worker Mujeeb Khalvatgar, who left Afghanistan himself in 2021 when the Taliban took over the country. He became a settlement worker in the District to give back to the program that helped his own family.
Khalvatgar suggested the idea to the museum as a way to help young newcomers from the country to connect with their heritage while settling in Canada.
Almost all Afghans I met at the schools told me that their kids were asking about their culture and customs, but there was no place they could go and learn about it. Thus, I proposed the idea of the exhibition and introduced individuals to the museum.”
In May the community came together to celebrate the exhibit with 80 people in attendance at the reception, including Burnaby Schools students from Afghanistan.
The exhibit is one of many examples of the creative ways in which the SWIS team supports newcomers to settle in Canada and, in particular, at school.
Over the last school year, a team of 27 SWIS workers provided 34,932 settlement-related services and support across all 49 schools. They worked in 20 languages to reach 3,276 newcomer students and their families. Services included needs assessments, orientation, community connections, youth employment, and support services such as translation or interpretation, transportation, and counselling programs.
This year, a new once-per-week child care service in two locations for 32 children was also created in collaboration with the District’s LINC program. Newcomer parents in the District are able to use it while they attend their own computer literacy programs and women’s support groups.
Additionally over the 2024-25 school year, the Friends of Simon tutoring program – put on with Simon Fraser University – for students in Grades 4 to 12 expanded from nine to eleven schools. A total of 172 students, who are primarily newcomers, were enrolled.
Scroll down to see images of more examples of SWIS supports, which are funded by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
Learn more about the SWIS program here.
Learn more about From Afghanistan to Canada, with Hope – which runs until September 1 at the Burnaby Village Museum here.
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Posted July 2025