Prior to volunteering as a Translator at the Immigrant Centre, Saad was a client. He arrived in British Columbia from Dubai in 2019 but earlier this year, decided to move to Winnipeg. 

When he came to Winnipeg, friends who had worked with the Immigrant Centre referred him to the organization. Saad expressed that the Immigrant Centre had supported him during the transition and gave him good advice. 

When asked why he chose to volunteer at the Immigrant Centre, Saad shared that when he came to the Immigrant Centre as a client, he observed “how excited other clients would get when they received their translated documents”. He realized how very helpful this service is to newcomers, and has now been volunteering at the Immigrant Centre for over six months.

Before coming to Canada, Saad worked as an Operations Manager at Dubai World Trade Centre. Saad has continued to work with restaurants, although not as heavily involved, which has allowed him to work within the customer service and hospitality sector. This has driven his interest/passion to help people through volunteering wherever needed. 

He noted that his time volunteering at the Immigrant Centre as a Translator has been “fantastic”, and an opportunity to give back the support that he received. It also has been an opportunity to practice and use the languages he speaks to assist others.

Written by Manjot Mann