Once a newcomer to Moncton herself, this extraordinary woman now helps others settle into a new culture

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By Susanne MacDonald
This Week Staff

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Earlier this month, Irina Raduly, a settlement counsellor with the Multicultural Association of the Greater Moncton Area (MAGMA), was awarded the 2008 Evelyn McKie Community Builder Award from the United Way of Greater Moncton and Southeastern New Brunswick Region.

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Irina Raduly received the 2008 Ellen McKie Community Builder Award at the recent campaign launch for the United Way of Greater Moncton and South East New Brunswick.

Penny Carruthers, a colleague of Irina's at MAGMA, said in her nomination letter,

"Irina has made an extraordinary contribution to our community by her dedication and hard work to settle and integrate hundreds of newcomers. Working at MAGMA is more than a job for Irina. She is passionate about doing everything and anything she can to insure that newcomers are comfortable and content in their new community. To many newcomers she is "Mama Irina"."

Irina, who has worked at MAGMA for 10 years, responds to the honour by saying,

"First of all I was very surprised, but now I feel that people appreciate my work, pay attention to what I am doing, and how I make a difference in the lives of others. I always felt that I just do my job, but it looks like I did more than that."

Penny's nomination letter emphasizes the impact that Irina has on the lives of those she helps.

"Despite language barriers," it reads, "Irina's newcomer clients have a clear sense of her caring and compassion. Her ability to overcome barriers is both astonishing and, at times, moving."

'Mama Irina's' ability to empathize with her clients stems from the fact that she, herself, was a newcomer to Canada in the early 90s. As Penny describes in her nomination, Irina's life "was not easy as she adjusted to a new culture and established herself in a new career. She had other responsibilities as a wife and mother to two young children."

"My most vivid memory from my first years in Canada and Moncton was of my struggle to overcome so many barriers," says Irina. "I felt lonely and depressed, but I had wonderful friends and family around me who helped me go through all of that."

Irina says her position as settlement counselor at MAGMA is a challenging one. She meets new refugees at the airport and, from that point on, takes them step-by-step through all the stages of the settlement process. She is the liaison between her clients and other agencies that provide services in the community.

"Whether negotiating for medical services or prescription drugs for those without insurance or money to pay, or putting furniture together as recent arrivals move in to their first home, Irina does it all," says Penny in her nomination letter.

"She is an energetic and selfless individual and countless clients and their families continue to stay in touch with her. Irina is an encyclopaedia of knowledge for the clients about resources in the community, as well as various government departments."

Irina says her greatest satisfaction comes from meeting former clients in the community.

"They struggled through all the settlement process and now I am meeting them as professionals: as a nurse, a director in a company, a teachers, etc," she says. "This is a special feeling."

As Penny's nomination letter notes, "Irina is a modest woman largely unaware of the tremendous difference she makes in the lives of those around her, clients and colleagues alike."

Irina Raduly, the 2008 Evelyn McKie Community Builder award winner, sums it up by saying, "I enjoy doing my job and I feel very special by receiving this award."