Ana Maria Cruz is from Peru. She worked as a journalist there and owned her own radio station. She wanted to help her native Peruvian people, especially those who were poor. She took their side and spoke out very loudly against the terrorists she vehemently opposed. She also conducted a campaign against the abuse of children and women and she received great opposition to this as well.
She told me that she received three serious death threats while she worked at the radio station. One time a bomb was planted in her office but someone dismantled it before it went off. Another time, a gun was put to her head. "God always protected me . . . I called out to Him when I was in danger," she remembers.
Because there was so much danger to her life, she fled to Ecuador with the help of the Red Cross and International Human Rights. In 1995, the United Nations helped her obtain her permanent resident papers to come to Canada. She brought with her one of her children, her youngest daughter, who was 10 years old at the time.
Ana Maria has been working at Oasis now for seven years, volunteering as a receptionist and advocacy worker on Wednesday mornings.
She says the following about her work at Oasis: "I am able to use my own experience to help clients at the community centre. Many clients that I help are suffering from trauma. Others are experiencing depression and need orientation about their new life in Canada and also need information about many services offered in the city. I am able to do this on an individual basis and I always try to give them up-to-date information.
“I am so grateful to be able to use my gifts and skills in the work at the Centre. Since I am a Christian, I feel happy to use my faith as I minister to people. Listening is a very important part of what I do. Since I understand loneliness, I can empathize with the clients.
“Being at Oasis is a mental and spiritual cure for me. Just to be at Oasis takes my mind off my own problems. Before I started to volunteer here I was extremely depressed and could find no purpose for my life. I now suffer from fibromyalgia, but I forget about my pains when I am at Oasis and think about others who are going through many problems . . . even more serious than my own."
By Phyllis Ortiz
