African Canadian History Month: Sharon Kambale, Founder of Afro Mentorship Initiative
Sharon Kambale, Founder of AMI.
REM was honoured to speak with Sharon Kambale, the founder of Afro Mentorship Initiative. Sharon is a clinical social worker, who has experienced living and working throughout Saskatchewan. AMI is an amazing group which creates a safe space for children, youth, and young adults to embrace their culture and learn. They offer camps and hold events for both Afro, and non Afro identifying people to connect the community. Here is our interview with her.
What is your story?
I was born in Stockholm, Sweden and grew up in Calgary Alberta. I came here ten years ago, I arrived in Saskatoon when I was 21 because I got accepted into University and at that time I had just gotten married, and we lived there until 2018. When we came to Regina, I think the difference between the prairies and the fast lifestyle of growing up in Calgary has just been the access to people who look like me. I think here there are an increased number of people who are of the afro community, whereas when I grew up I was one of the few [african canadian people] of the circles that I walked through. I felt as though I was alone, oftentimes I would bring forward some of the challenges I was experiencing and had experienced at the time. I felt that nobody really understood me, because they hadn’t walked the journey I was on. It wasn't until I got here that I realized that it wasn't an isolated issue and rather based on systemic racism. Just being able to have the intent behind the society I was living in is one that is eurocentric and really disregards the voices of the minority. I knew that ever since I was a little girl that I wanted to create something that children and youth felt belonging to and that was a recurring passion and purpose that I felt that was encouraging me to overcome those challenges. I always had the sense that despite facing the barriers that I am encountering, that one day I’ll be able to give back in a way that others will not have to face the same journey. That they can take pride in who they are, and ultimately that’s what AMI has come to be is exactly that. It is able to offer safer spaces for children, youth, young adults and families and even those who don't identify with the afro community can become educated and why things happen the way they do and really take responsibility by journeying into allyship. It may have not been their direct action to lead to a certain outcome in the barriers we face to this day but its pulling together through the resources we currently have, really ensuring there is sustainability in the mission that AMI carries.
Who inspires you the most and why?
I would say the person who inspires me the most presently is my husband. His drive and consistency within his life. His ability to overcome challenges even when he is having a hard day he still wakes up and takes action whether he is feeling motivated or not. He perseveres quite a bit and is the anchor to our home. With me currently being on maternity leave, his worth ethic, ability to build relationships and support people here in Regina for the work he does in the community and back home. He remains connected to his culture. Being able to use his skills, and knowledge to fix, he is indirectly involved with AMI. He has donated the devices we use, what I appreciated is him being able to give me the space to lead in the ways I'm being led, and to support the daily needs.
What is your opinion of Regina’s cultural diversity?
My perspective on Regina’s cultural diversity is that there is still a lot of work to be done. Yes, we're up and coming but even with the work that AMI does, I wondered why this didn’t exist and even anything focused on the African population. Yes, there is Black in Sask, that focuses on youth and young adults aged 18-25, and Black Lives Matter YXE in Saskatoon. But here in Regina, we are one of the only groups that specifically focuses on the issues that are community, children, youth, families and professionals. We also have the association, we are still in the beginning stages of that. The Social Work Association by Professional and clinical Social Workers, and we are really creating a community where professionals within the Afro Community- both African and Caribbean can feel heard and acknowledged, and confirm the work that they are doing within their field. Imagine, this is social work, so that speaks to the entirety of the province of Saskatchewan, that they can have a place for them. The fact that I am sitting as an executive on that mission as well, it just goes to reflect on the work that needs to be done.
What do you think the government and the public can do to make those changes?
I always want to shed light on other amazing projects that are happening within the African community. Being able to have people connect within the association of social workers, being able to connect with all levels of government more directly, whereas AMI is more so focused on programs, camps, and events for youth as young as age three all the way up to 17. We pull in partnering organizations, although we may not be directly involved with decision making, but because of the experience that I have, I am honoured to sit on this other organization because through that, policy and legislation can be shifted both on the ground level and provincial jurisdiction. Being able to see from a federal, provincial and municipal level what things can change into, and cultivate safer spaces. The area that is welcoming is the Hampton Hub in the Heritage neighbourhood, the work that they do is amazing.
What lead you to creating AMI?
So the AfroMentorship Initiative was ignited by the Lady Via Foundation, so that’s been my past work. Once I arrived in Saskatoon, ten years ago, I knew that there was so much skill and talent that I have, so that self awareness and that confidence and self leadership we always put into the work we do. I knew that I had the ability to lead, I just didn’t know what the next steps or ladder looked like. I started off offering services and they were therapeutic in nature and it was to women, more specifically caucasian women tended to be my clientele. That was through the birth of my first daughter, I knew there were women who resonated with the message that I was aiming to share, and the mission I carried at that point in my life. They could take in and feel empowered and bring back into the spaces that they walk through. It was a reflection of where I was at in my life, I was comfortable being part of the eurocentric view, I was comfortable feeling accepting and feeling a sense of exception. It's often that we go with the dominant perspective and get assimilated into larger society. As a mother I would always reflect on parenting and how I want to show up as a parent and what do my girls need. I then had just had my second child, and we had just created the Lady Via Foundation. Lady Via Foundation still had the eurocentric viewpoint and was starting to bring forward aspects of culture. We would connect with organizations that were accommodating and saw that culture is important, but still the eurocentric view was dominant in society. My second daughter had turned two and both [my daughters] needed something more than that. That’s when we created AMI, essentially I had to dig deeper into myself and really acknowledge that the dominant message in systemic racism and the triggering that continued to happen was not okay. I needed to be able to self advocate in order to advocate for the needs of my girls, but by a large extension, the larger community. So I know as people the only way we can effectively lead is through self acceptance and you can only fully accept who you are if you understand who you are. A lot of that is being able to dig deeper, self reflect and heal, and be intentional about healing and access the resources that we have in the community, and really be able to be honest with yourself that things are not okay. That you’ve experienced things in your life that you're not okay with and that have led to certain outcomes. Once we take a stand for our own selves then we are able to help others. By extension, not only do we help those that matter and depend on us, but those who look up to us, and they may never say anything, they may never come and speak to you directly but they're watching. There are so many people watching, and seeing how you are going to navigate the next thing in your life or how you are going to overcome specific struggles you are challenged with.
Did you have a cultural mentor as a child?
I didn't have a culture mentor as a child, I always looked up to Oprah on TV. Just seeing the work that she's done, but in terms of someone to go to and assess a little bit of how I'm doing and walk beside me I didn't have that. I knew I needed that, and I knew I’d be that for so many.
Having Oprah, if there was more representation do you feel like you would have seen more mentorship?
I will reveal another layer of myself. I didn't have the easiest life growing up. I grew up with parents who divorced, and already divorce is challenging for children but when you add the layer, not only are you a child of divorce and a result of that divorce and the reasons that lead to the divorce and the aftermath, you're also dealing with the lack of identity. You don't know really who you are, or your purpose on this earth is until that is affirmed, and that is through acceptance. I always felt a sense of belonging in the church. I would go to youth group and feel like they heard me and that I could self-express whatever that looked like, whether that's art or sports. Also being a part of music, I play piano, and I also sing, and that was an opportunity for me to heal through musical therapy. I became quite independent when I was 14, I actually went into the foster system, and prior to that I was in a shelter for a week. I was really rebellious, I knew very clearly that was not going to be my life, I was going to go and venture out on this earth however that looked like. I went into a shelter, then foster care, and at the time my father was living in Ontario and he came and picked me up. He was like no child of mine is going to be part of this system, he knew that this system was not meant for us, it would break me as a person. He came from Ontario and then he sent me on a flight to Ontario, and he stayed in Calgary because my younger sister and brothers were there. I stayed with my stepmom, and she had just had my half-sister at the time, and still I felt alone. I didn't have a sense of belonging, I felt like I needed to lead my life in the way I needed it to be. There was a point where I told my dad it wasnt working and I left and came back to Calgary. I then went to highschool and was in between my father and mothers home. I had a voice of my own, I knew I didn't want a part of any of that. They were still battling with some of the challenges they had encountered and had resulted in divorce, and I did not want to be in the middle of it. School became my safe haven, so I had church and school, so I would focus all my time and energy on becoming a star student. I then went into college and later went to social work and became the valedictorian my year of convocation. I say all of that because all of those pieces influence how we show up in AMI. That spiritual piece, however people come and determine their walk of life through a spiritual lens is, we are so welcoming to that, because it's only in knowing that there is something greater than ourselves that we can overcome because we know that the challenges we are walking through are temporary and there's something bigger than that.
What is your goal with AMI?
The goal with AMI is to be able to create safer spaces all across the province of Saskatchewan. We have actually ventured into a partnership with Black Lives Matter YXE, they’re based in Saskatoon, were based primarily in Regina, however we originated as an organization in Saskatoon. Because of the move of our family we are able to do more direct work through in person events which tend to be in Regina because that's where we're at. Ultimately, we will open up virtual spaces more accessible for the entirety of the province for children and youth coming during this year. Three to five years from now we'll be able to have a place of our own, we actually have a location in Rouleau that we have been able to utilize and have as our safe haven. Ultimately it is creating something that is something closer. Transportation tends to be an issue for a lot of families that are of the visible minority because oftentimes due to the economic structure of how things work they tend to be consumed by professions or jobs that don't allow that space or time to focus on the children and transporting them. If they do have that, it is very limited time, and usually what we do is have more children and youth enrolling in our virtual programming. Having summer camps more consistently, having programming weekly. We have a segmentation, so we have juniors, preschool ages 3-5, elementary 6-12, and then we have seniors who are high school students 13-17. Being able to encompass effective tools, strategies and resources that enable our children, youth and mentees to receive transformation on a level that far exceeds what is currently being done. Being able to have prominent afro leaders that really stand before these children and increase the representation these children have access to currently. We're currently doing the work to get there, we've reached out to the Regina police service and they are going to be part of our February Camp at southland mall, we are reaching out to the school district. We have Kohdi Dill, an afro author based in Saskatoon, SACHM, whose literature on Li’l Shadd, increases exposure to the work that is being done. Partnering with the Science Centre, all these amazing things that have led us to the point were at. Really doing it on a larger mass, our goal is literally in the next 5 years to have every household that is of afro community have access to our programming.
What part of the impact your making makes you most proud?
I think the ability to know that we remain transformative for the children and youth that are accessing our initiative. That we are inspirational to both those who are of the african community and those who are not identifying. That we’re needed for parents to continuously be vulnerable to us, [members have said] “Sharon if you hadn't been doing the work that you're doing our children wouldnt have access to the opportunities that they currently have”. These are parents that are well established, and so to know that even at the higher level, there still remains the need for AMI. To know that is literally my push every single day. To know also that my girls look on to my journey and hold such a large legacy for them to also continue even after my lifetime, so I am grateful for that.
Was there a memory that you have that you realized what you're doing is making an impact?
I can't say that there's been a specific moment. Currently, my mindset, even my paradigm in my present moment in my life is day to day. I don't necessarily have the space to really sit back and reflect. Actually this interview is the first time I’m looking back to reflect on how far we’ve come. I’ve never processed it. I think that my innate ability to understand who I am and what I deserve and what I am worthy of helps drive me. Even sitting as an executive on provincial bodies, having AMI as a provincial body, having the government really reach out and having radio and TV saying we want you. Having other community members saying we need to hear from you is amazing, however it's a process and I don't necessarily have an end goal. I know the direction that I am going but for me it is so much greater than an achievement, it's more so a lifestyle.
What do you find most important that AMI is doing for the community?
A few of the examples we have work with both afro and afro non identifying communities. We have really been healing, and healing from intergenerational perspective, through the root of who we are as an afro community, but also those who don't identify who are not part of the community have reached out and said “Sharon, if it wasn’t for me to know you and the work that you do, I don't know where my life would be''. Ultimately, I know how life changing that is and it is something I don't take for granted, and it's confirming, however it's the realization that the work we do far exceeds the generation that comes up next, it's their generation that they are leading, and even several generations after that. To know that like Martin Luther King, and the segmentation of race, that he worked so hard to break free from, were a part of that legacy. There have even been people from Europe, Africa and other areas of Canada that contact me asking me “how can we create something like this in our communities?” I think the greatest thing that I can ever say to that is be willing to heal and be willing to do the work, because until you heal you won't see change. You are part of the circle that you're walking through that needs changing, so if you can't change, they can't change either.
What do you think someone can do to heal and accept themselves?
What has been influential in me accepting who I am was my mother and father. My mother would always be really intentional in travelling back to Uganda, which is where I am originally from. Just seeing the beauty and the culture, and it showed me that I am a part of something so beautiful that no matter what society says and the lack of education going through our school systems or being celebrated once a year. We are so much more than that, and we have the ability to really maintain that as long as we fully understand that, and that is what AMI does for so many is just to increase that cultural aspect. My father would always encourage me to state how much of a leader I am and how important education is. That has always helped me see from my personal perspective that I myself have so much to give, and together merging those two support systems has really driven me. The day to day is my husband's ability to work and wake up whether he's sick or not carries my day, to say that if he can do it, and carry the weight of our home and household then I can do a little bit even, and that's what has enabled me to be consistent. I had to come to a place in my life to fully accept myself and to forgive myself for some of the challenges that I also encountered and experienced and to know that tomorrow is another day no matter how heavy today was I took action.
Can you give me some of the details of what AMI does?
Some of the work that we’ve done is animal therapy. We have partnered with a farm to have children and youth go onto the farm and really connect with the animals, connect with nature and understand the environment through an ecosystem. We have had partnerships with the Princess Shop in Saskatoon, for them to gather together and gain social skills and really feel supported. We have partnerships with the library, being able to have access to increased literature. Some of the work we’ve also done is we have on February 25th an event with the government house. Through parliament we have been able to have our afro dancers go out and perform and increase the education and awareness of the issues that we are facing. We have also done Kwanza most recently with partnership with SACHM as well as Black in Sask. Being able to partner with them and rally for black entrepreneurs. Saying how can we remain effective, and I think the minute you can financially stand on your own then you have a sense of liberation that far exceeds so many others. Not tied to a boss or uncontrolled system, but you have a sense of freedom that equips you to do so much more, you have a level of freedom that so many others don't have. Being able to offer workshops that really focus on that lens as well has been something that we have done. Within our programming we offer math, science, art, music and most recently physical sports. Being able to have on our team Josiah St. John, who is a CFL player for the Rough Riders. We are doing the work, but it is all through that healing.
What do you want Regina to know about your organization?
That we exist and are a safer space for those who are part of our public, whether you can identify or learn more, we have opened up our space to have increased educational awareness for children, youth, and young adults to bridge that gap. When our kids that are of the afro community go into the educational school system, who are they seeing, they are seeing other children who may not understand their walk of life and the children's parents may not understand either. Being able to create spaces that everybody is welcome while still maintaining focus for the afro community, and even have closed events for those who identify, for the nature of the event, but also creating access to allies as well.
As a clinical social worker, you have probably seen some of the worst things that Saskatchewan has to offer. What do you think is the biggest issue within Saskatchewan culture that needs to be improved?
The prejudice and discrimination that is obvious. The maltreatment to service providers and users. The judgement is cast onto the people who are not part of the dominant, who aren’t caucasian. The lack of education and awareness.
I found that at a previous job I worked that dealt with a lot of new immigrants, many of my coworkers who were mainly white often lacked the patience to understand what that person needed or to change the phrase to help them understand it.
Patience and language. Language that we use and terminology are even topics we are learning. Because we offer different age levels, we are able to remember that the language that we are using for the little ones will be different than what we use for the older ones, even if they are discussing the same focal point. Language is something we use to self-express, so when that's rushed, there's no patience to understand the body language and non verbal queues. How isolated certain issues tend to be, for example if I’m not part of that and that problem doesn’t directly impact me I don't have any business investing or offering any support, or not part of that problem or part of the solution because that has nothing to do with me. I think that could be shifted, however, coming from both sides, I am very solution focused and very optimistic, the realization that there are reasons for that. Being able to meet everyone where they are at, say if I cross paths with a white person and because I know who I am and have the skill set to communicate what I need or even have that individual self express what they need, I tend to have the ability to have a more preferred outcome. That shifts the dialogue in the conversation that is being had and also has been a driving force of AMI because you realize that just because they're white they have to do all of this, no. AMI came from my core, and it was my self acceptance of who I am that enabled the energy around it and what continues to maintain that and influence the sustainability of our mission is knowing the work we have [done] as people, and innately people will be attracted to that. It will just be part of the conversations that people have, even if it’s questions or discomforts. Maybe I have triggered something indirectly, but I have brought forth something within themselves that they are needing to reflect on, both on those who are part of the afro and those who are not the afro. Being open and healing around that and always remembering that it is based on a social system, it is based on a society that was internationally created to break those who are of this minority: colonialism and slavery.
What do you think can be done about the racism and prejudices within Regina?
Prejudice and discrimination are driven by fear. Fear from both the dominant perspective as well as the acceptance from the minority. So if someone was coming towards me, and they were leading the conversation that I was uncomfortable with, because I have healed and know my worth I quickly shift out of that. I can stop and be preventative, rather than trying to resolve it after the fact. They are being prejudiced and discrimination because their forefathers built a system that is held and strengthened by racism. They might not necessarily know, like my girls might come home from school and say this person was mean to mean or made me feel uncomfortable. They may not have the language to understand that they are treating them differently because their skin is different, and those children that are being mean are termed as being that rather than being prejudiced, even though they are showing discrimination, they have been taught that. As adults we model how our children end up in this world, so they are coming from a space of innocence. When you go into a space and they are showing education and awareness, and someone is coming in being prejudiced and showing racism, then that becomes a problem because they have the ability to understand but they choose not to. It becomes a problem for me if I accept that, but until I am able to speak up and use effective communication to break free of that, then I will continue to live a life that is dysfunctional, hurtful, retriggering and broken. As an adult I set an example of how children show up in this world. That is why I say both sides need to bridge that gap. I dont think it's the other’s problem, it's not like oh because they are not part of this culture they are using these terms, they are treating me with this behaviour that is not conducive to my growth. These are the skills, the knowledge, and experiences that I have, and what am I doing to break free of that and create a space that invites acceptance and healing from both sides. There are things that I may have done that have hurt, maybe because I didn't have the ability to respond that was supportive, I reacted and reinstilled the stereotypes moreso. My own healing I had to do at that point in my life, whereas now that doesn’t happen because I learned so much. There have been years of growth and continuous growth, even in mental health. By discussing mental health with my daughters, and using that language they are able to self express and are able to become part of their vocabulary so the next time that they are facing that, they have the ability to overcome that much sooner.