National Adult Literacy Database

March 6, 2006

Isaac was recently enrolled at Bow Valley College in Calgary, doing literacy and English as a Second Language course.

Play an audio version of this story

Isaac Tor Garang's Story

by Isaac Tor Garang

Charles: All right, so thank you very much. Could you start this interview off by telling me who you are and what you do here at Bow Valley College?

Isaac: My name is Isaac Tor and I am here at Bow Valley College as a student. Last year, I was here as an ESL student, but when I completed my year end courses, I applied for other courses. Now, I'm taking upgrading courses, which is Writing V, Reading V and Math preparation courses.

Charles: Great, and that means to prepare you to finish high school, and once you finish that, what do you want to do?

Isaac: Well, it will depend on what I will do - things depend on your interests. I want to take a Petroleum Engineer (P.E.). After my high school courses, I will take P.E. courses, let's say at SAIT, for the two years, and if I plan to go to HAIC, it will be after I complete the first two years.

Charles: Wow, well it's great that you can do all that right in Calgary, that Bow Valley College will give you your academic upgrading and then SAIT is right here in this same city. And you can do that...So what kind of jobs exist for somebody who has that kind of background? Where do you plan to work when you finish?

Isaac: Well, it depends. Here in Alberta, I have read that in some areas, that they are reaching oil and the same back home country is also rich in oil. It depends on when, if I get a job here and maybe you others in Sudan now.

And some days, they are looking for people to go and work there. And if I go and work there, I can go as people here and work there with them. It depends on the situation, if I complete my courses, I will be able to legally work here in Canada too, with what I have done and learned. There are two choices. I can go working there.

Charles: Tell me about Sudan. What is it like there and how did you make your decision to come here to Canada? I find it quite interesting that you could come here, upgrade your academic skills, take some further occupational and professional development and then perhaps go back to Sudan. So, tell me a little bit about Sudan and how you came to Canada.

Isaac: Well, Sudan is the largest country in Africa. It was at war for almost 20 years. And for that war, it destroyed everything in the country. It killed more than 2 million people and displaced many people. Also, it destroyed many buildings and different things.

So, in this case, I have been living in nearby countries, neighbouring countries like Ethiopia, Kenya... those countries, in 1987, I lived in my homeland too - Ethiopia. And in 1991, during the regime of Mangisty Haille Mariam was the present government. I left Ethiopia and went to Sudan and from Sudan I went to Kenya. And from there, I went back to Sudan. And when I go back to Sudan, I tried to stay there for some time, and you may know that where there is conflict, they don't want to stay there. They want to stay where there is no war. That's why I went back to Ethiopia.

When I stayed in Ethiopia, I pulled on my process to come to Canada. That's the way I came to Canada. And in Sudan, people were fighting, and the reason why they were fighting was to get freedom. Like here in Canada, there is freedom. Eveyone has the right to say what he or she doesn't want. And in Sudan in previous years, there was nothing like that. You cannot be allowed to point out what you want, and it was dominated by legions.

And we, the Southerners, we don't want to believe what we don't want, like, to be governed by Islamic Law. That's why, the thousands took arms against the army. And they fought for almost 21 years now. So, I hope now that they reach peace at the beginning of this year. So, we the South, we were fighting in order to get freedom, to achieve, to do, to participate ourselves in different activities in the country. So, that is why I came here, because of the war in Sudan. And when I plan to upgrade my courses here in Canada, I want to create something that my life can depend on. And if I achieve it, I can work here or there in Sudan. Because, as long as there would be peace in Sudan, everybody will go there, whether you are from Sudan or from other countries, you can go there and do your business or do something you want to do and then go back to your country.

Like most of them who are in Canada, most of them came from where there is no work, but they want a better life and if they are looking for a better life, you can have something that your life depends on. So that is how the story of Sudan is and that is how I came to Canada.

Charles: That's excellent - it's really quite promising that you have done so well so far, and that you are interested in going on and that all of what you want to do can be done right here in Calgary, so that you can get the qualifications that you wanted and make the choices that you have been looking for.

That's excellent. Well, thank you very much again for coming here today. I wish you the best in what you are planning to achieve. Thank you.

Isaac: You're welcome. Thank you.