PART ONE
Thousands of people have fled Colombia over the past 5 years. Many have come to the London area where more than one-third of the 35 hundred immigrants from around the world last year came from Colombia.
It's a staggering figure that's 10 times the number of any other immigrant group settling in London.
And most, if not all, of them fled because their lives were in danger in their homeland. Families in Colombia have been held hostage with their children threatened at gunpoint as guerillas turned on the middle class.
German Roza , a former tennis player, arrived in London four years ago barely speaking any English and lived in one room with his mom and sister. He's now trilingual, and he and his wife Joanna have a baby on the way.
Edgar Marcus, a human rights lawyer, is now a waiter who volunteers at " Rocoto" a Peruvian restaurant where many Colombians come for the food and friendship.He was held at knife point in front of his wife and child in Colombia. His wife Guimore was also a lawyer and an activist in Colombia who left a nice home there to start over here.
Edgar and his family now live in subsidized housing using furniture donated from St. Pauls... but their nightmares have been replaced with dreams for their 12 year old son Davd. Edgar and Guimore, meanwhile, are working towards their goal of practising law here in Canada.
PART TWO
It's hard to imagine leaving everything you have and know behind to move to another country. Yet thousands of Colombians in London have left their homes, friends, career, and language behind to come here and redefine who they are.
He or She may have a medical degree, but they work here delivering pizza. He or She may have been a journalist, but they deliver papers here.
It's hard enough learning a new language, but many of London's Colombian-born and bred residents also have to contend with people who just can't understand what they've been though. They also have to contend with xenophobia and racism.
PART THREE
However, it's a distant memory for about 6 thousand Londoners who have had their lives, and the lives of their families, threatened.. and then driven out of the country.
Nonetheless, most of them remain positive and are grateful to have a new home in London where they are determined to succeed.
Albeuro Rua has just opened London's first store specializing in Colombian food and other products, and he hopes to turn his training as a computer engineer into a career here in Canada.
Nanette Lloyd of the North London Resource Centre, who works with immigrants from all over, says she has been impressed by the drive of Colombians. A positive outlook and a strong worth ethic has enabled many of them to achieve succes in a relatively short time.
Felipe Rochas, for example, once hung his paintings in Colombia's top galleries, and he is starting to make an impact here by participating most recently in a group show at Museum London.
One year ago the Safe Third Country Land Agreement between Canada and the U.S. virtually shut this country's doors to Colombians and many others claiming refugee status. Many have been sent back to guerilla violence, with only about 100 making it to London this year.
