This is the story about a Colombian girl who wanted to move to Canada. She met a Colombian boy who wanted to marry her and move North with her. They did... (yes both, get married and move to a new country). They quit their jobs, sold their furniture, packed two suitcases and their Colombian cat, and took a flight to a new life. It was supposed to be easy, they would make it in no time. (yeahhh right!)
They quickly found out that starting a life in a new country wasn't easy... they got themselves a one bedroom apartment in the "immigrants" side of town... not exactly the best neighborhood, but hey... cozy enough to get by. - Yup, that's me in our new place... "unpacking" all of our belongings. - Oh! and the "mattress" in the back was a loan... anyway...
Tavo worked long hours, while I studied. It was hard work and long hours for both of us but at the same time... it was kinda of fun. We didn't worry about money... because there was NO money!! Just enough for rent and food. We were soooo broke I was happy I packed a lot of underwear when we left Colombia. And of course.... there was the weather!! Do you think is easy for a Colombian to adjust to Canadian type of weather?! Let me tell you something. Cold in Colombia is in a bad day, in the coldest city, maybe -3 to -5 Celsius. Far (very very far) from the Canadian minus thirties. Those temperatures are just unthinkable for a Colombian. But then again... ice skating wasn't so expensive, so besides our toes going a shade of blue... it was sort of "cool".
Anyway... year after year life got better. I finished university and we both got a decent job. We both love Colombia but Canada became "home". The winter still comes back every year... but so does the summer! So our heart is really big enough for two countries to fit comfortable together.
Yeap, that's us the day we became Canadian Citizens. (Nothing more Canadian than a Mountie eh?!)
We were both very proud and happy. So, we celebrate Canada Day and 20 de Julio; we still sing "ven, ven ven... ven a nuestras almas, Jesus ven ven, ven ven" in Christmas and get presents from el nino Dios and Santa. That's more presents for everyone, so why not?
The funny thing is I hardly ever felt discriminated against for being an immigrant. For having an accent or struggling with French or English. That is the beauty about Canada. You are not expected to stop being yourself and your differences are actually welcomed.
Part II
So this is the story about a Colombian/Canadian girl who married a Colombian/Canadian boy. They decided to grow their family through adoption. The funny thing is, you see, in the land of welcoming differences, adoptive mothers are not considered to have the same rights as mothers that give birth to a child. At least in what it concerns legal maternity/parental benefits. Which is a boomer when you consider that most companies base their maternity/paternity leave and benefits in the standing law. The company that I work for, being one of them.
This company, although a good company to work for, has different rules and benefits for adoptive mothers or "natural" mothers. But let's not get into the "naturality" of things for now. I don't even think that's a word but bear with me for now.
That's when my quest for justice started. (More draaamaaa!!)
The first step: Writing to my HR department a very articulate letter (by the way, I made sure there were no spelling mistakes on that one!) with copy to my boss, my boss's boss and my boss's boss's boss. In a summary, I requested to have the same benefits as belly-mommys do. The result of that first letter read something like: Dear Mrs. Jaimes, congratulations on the future addition to your family, however, we regret to inform you... blah blah blah.
Strangely enough, I was not at all shocked. I was thinking... well... you just described what the policy says... and I read the policy already... and the policy is wrong.
So what does a nice girl like me do when someone says no to something I strongly believe in? I get back into working on it, a bit harder. : ) Of course... that's me. As long as I keep it professional, I have nothing to loose... so why not?
The second step: Request a meeting with my boss's boss's boss's boss. I tell him the story about our family. He sympathizes and recommends we bring HR to a future meeting and I can talk to them about my request. So I organize the meeting.
The third step: The day for the meeting arrives. I present my case to my HR rep but the lady who recommends changes to policies never makes it to the meeting. My HR rep takes notes and asks me to send him a summary of my request and the justification behind it. It kinda of feels I'm not getting anywhere... but then again... I got to dance the dance of corporate chain of command.
So I'm working on my fourth step. The summary e-mail that will help my HR rep to present my case to the policy team. The good part is I got myself an awesome team to help me. These two ladies helping me write these letters are two of the smartest cookies in town... one of them is a lawyer so she provides the "legal" view and the other one has negotiated some of the biggest deals in the company so she provides the right corporate "persuasion". And most of all, they both keep me from getting too emotional... which I tend to do when something really matters. And they will both get chocolates this Christmas... (from el nino Dios which is even cooler)..
Anyway, this is really women power people!! Brains and of course... beauty.. (yes they are both totally hot!) ha ha!!
- And for my single male friends out there; sorry but they are both taken..- What? did you think women like that go around and about lonely for a long time? You kidding?
Oh and the question about how there are "natural" and ... what "un-natural" mothers! Give me a break!! Haven't you watch the discovery channel?! Many species adopt other female's babies... humans being just one of them. So can we change the language? And I am not being too sensitive... and you know why? because I don't want my Colombianito(a) to feel like an "un-natural" baby. Come on!!!
So before I get too emotional (neither of my friends are here and Tavo is watching some war movie, therefore not paying attention to me) I got to go. Wish me luck !.
Until the next post,
Luz M.
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