Mir
Mir is from Bangladesh and moved to Canada in 2012 to study at the University of Guelph for Environmental Sciences. In 2018 she was offered a job with Roots to Harvest and made the trek up to Thunder Bay and has been here ever since. Her parents are still back in Bangladesh but her brother is only one province away in Manitoba. She loves meeting new people, spending time with her friends, and sharing her cooking with those daring enough to try her spices. One of her favourite activities is simply driving – whether it’s taking a drive with friends to catch up or taking in the views of Lake Superior, her happy place is on four wheels.
Many of us know what it’s like to drive the Trans-Canada into Thunder Bay and how breathtaking it can be. For Mir, that first time was in the winter. “I was taken by the sight of the towering conifers frosted with snow. At that moment I felt like I was in one of those movies I watched growing up.” She has embraced the northern lifestyle and all the creatures that come with – seeing her first bear while camping at Sleeping Giant, canoeing while being surrounded by forests and water, jumping into a lake after a hot sauna, and making the mental transfer from calling it a ‘camp’ not a ‘cottage’. She realized the image she had of Canada, the skyscrapers and crowds of Toronto, wasn’t all there was and if(when) her parents ever were to visit, it would be to the north.
Mir believes her work with Roots to Harvest is what helped her immediately welcomed in the community – the name the organization has made for itself and the community outreach meant most people have a connection to it. The work they do has provided a number of opportunities for her – the Polar Plunge and the "Really, Really, Really Long Table" on St. Paul Street which served a massive 5-course outdoor dinner for a fundraiser are two of note for Mir. “Before Roots, my professional life and my personal life, especially my Bengali Community always stayed separate. But Roots is so well connected in the community, that line started to blur…Roots used to have a Culture Kitchen Program (pre-covid) with newcomer Syrian women. That was the first time in my 7 years in Canada I had seen women gathering to offer the afternoon (Zuhr) Prayer while at work, and during Ramadan the Kitchen had so much Syrian cooking with cucumbers and cilantro the kitchen actually smelled like it did back home when my mom prepared Iftaar (the food to break the fast with).”
Covid taught her that while she always thought of herself as an introvert, she has more extrovert leanings than she expected. After having her hours cut back (due to starting her Masters), moving to the other side of the city from her friends, and general distancing protocols, she found herself going stir crazy without her people. She now takes part in online cooking classes and enjoys the time she does go into work with the youth group. “I realized, being with people, connecting with people, and working in the kitchen and the garden isn't just a job or a means to an end, it is what makes me happy and it gave me a greater appreciation for the opportunities I have been given in Thunder Bay.”
One item she couldn’t live without would be her moisturizer (which isn’t at all weird to this fellow dry-skin-haver). She always makes sure to have some with her and her recent favourite is from the local Bare Organics, which has saved her skin this past winter.
Not having a vehicle in the city has limited Mir’s adventures, but one of her favourite things to do was getting a big hot chocolate from Calico, climbing up the stairs on Bay St, and sitting on the rocks at Hillcrest Park and looking out over the city. “It made me feel grounded and calm.”