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Yasmin Lash
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Israel - Halifax
Art by Emily Honderich
Yasmin Lash story
Yasmin Lash grew up in a small Circassian community in Israel. She worked as an occupational therapist for 18 years before she immigrated to Canada in 2018 with her husband and four children. She is currently working at Immigration Services Association of Nova Scotia (ISANS). Yasmin truly believes in connecting through stories.
Getting To Tell About It
Driving through the streets in Halifax, I get goosebumps. It feels as if I am the only person in the whole city who has dared to go outside. The eerie sensation takes me back to the summer of 2006 in Israel. As an essential worker, I had to leave my two young kids with my mother and drive to a city that got bombed daily.
It was the second Lebanon war, and I worked in Tiberias as an occupational therapist. The drive to work was so peaceful without the usual traffic it felt surreal. While driving and singing along with my favourite songs on the radio, I searched for possible “stop and hide” areas on the sides of the road in case an alarm sounded.
I shake my head lightly and tell myself this is different. I mentally count my blessings: my kids and husband are healthy and safe at home. I can work from home. I live in Canada, and my community responded responsibly. Besides (I smile), I lived through worse and survived.
An old Circassian saying from my heritage comes to my mind: “May you live to tell about it.”
May we all get to tell our grandkids about how we survived a pandemic back in 2020.
"I shake my head lightly and tell myself this is different. I mentally count my blessings: my kids and husband are healthy and safe at home. I can work from home. I live in Canada, and my community responded responsibly."