2025 Welcoming Ottawa Ambassadors
WOW Ambassador: Antoinette Irarera
Nominator: Annie Victoire Aminfack Ndonfack
Finding a Role Model in a New Country
Annie Victoire Aminfack Ndonfack’s family faced many challenges after immigrating from Cameroon in 2023 through the Ontario provincial nominee program.
Initially they had planned to live in Toronto, but two days before arriving, their house rental agreement fell through. So, the family of seven (Annie Victore, her husband and children aged 15, 10, 7 and five-year-old twins) stayed with the cousin of a friend of her brother-in-law in Valleyfield, Québec.
WOW Ambassador: Jean Christie
Nominator: Magdalene Cooman
Building Community Together
Magdalene Cooman remembers her seven-hour flight to Canada in June 2003, filled with tears and a deep sense of uncertainty. She was navigating the pain of a broken marriage and the difficult decision to leave her three children (aged 6, 9 and 13) behind in Saint Lucia.
In her despair, she surrendered to a higher power, asking for guidance as she felt incapable of making sound decisions after a series of personal setbacks.
WOW Ambassador: Kaywana Malcolm
Nominator: Gbenga Lemo
Ensuring a Soft Landing for a Newcomer Family
Gbenga Lemo remembers the exhaustion him and his wife, Olufunke, felt when they arrived in Ottawa at around 2:00 am on May 16, 2022, after a long flight from Nigeria. “Despite working a full day herself, Kaywana Malcom stayed up, booked us an Uber because we had no working credit cards, and waited patiently outside the house to receive us,” explains Gbenga.
WOW Ambassador: Shaida Jamani-Lakhani
Nominator: Razmohammad Nazari
The Kindness of Shaida Apa
In Afghanistan, the term “Apa” is a respectful way to address an elder. The respect and gratitude Razmohammad Nazari and his family feel for Shaida Apa (Shaida Jamani-Lakhani) is immeasurable.
“Shaida Apa is a very kind and dignified person,” says Razmohammad. “From the very first day when she met us at the airport on June 5, 2024, she has accompanied us in every stage of life and has helped us immensely.”
WOW Ambassador: Denis Saumur
Nabila Melzi
A True Ambassador of Canada
June 13, 2024, is a day Nabila Melzi will never forget. She arrived in Canada from Algeria with her sister Nawel and immigrating through the express entry program. They had been accompanied to Montréal by their brother Nassim, who lived in France. After exploring the city, they headed to Ottawa three days later. While she looked forward to the opportunities this bilingual community would bring, she didn’t expect all the challenges ahead.