Anzhela Said is Immigrant Services Calgary’s Volunteer of the Month
Anzhela Said is Immigrant Services Calgary’s Volunteer of the Month
Anzhela first came to Immigrant Services Calgary (ISC) in 2011 and joined our team as a volunteer translator and interpreter for the languages of Russian, Ukrainian and Pushto. For eight years now, Anzhela has been a dedicated and constant contributor at the Language Bank and has volunteered over 250 hours with ISC.
“Anzhela has shown a high level of commitment by actively volunteering for ISC for eight years. Always trustworthy and responsive, Anzhela is one of our most dedicated and supportive volunteers. She is the person that we can count on when a last minute rush request comes up, and she always tries her very best to ensure the quality of her translation work. We are very honored to have Anzhela's support!” – Lisa Yi Cai, Translations/Project Administrator
“I am happy I had the opportunity to work with Anzhela. I am always impressed with her eagerness to get involved, the ability to work on several translations at the same time, and punctuality. She is wonderful to work with, reliable and accountable, and her language skills make her a valuable contributor for the Language Bank.” – Alina Ghita-Visinescu, Volunteer Developer
This is Anzhela’s story.
“My name is Angela (Anzhela). I was born and raised in Ukraine. While working as a nurse at the hospital, I met my husband, who is from Pakistan and was in Ukraine to study Engineering at the University. We married in 1995. After graduating, we both moved to Pakistan and lived there for two years. During my stay in Pakistan, I learned my husband’s native language, Pashto, to better understand the local traditions and culture, and to better communicate with my husband’s relatives. Our eldest daughter, Maryam, was born in Pakistan in 1998.
In 2000, we moved to Almaty, Kazakhstan. There, my husband and I both worked in the same company. Our second child, Sardar, was born in 2007 in Almaty. Together with my husband and two kids, we immigrated to Canada in 2008, and we landed in Vancouver. In 2010, we moved to Calgary, Alberta, where our other two kids, Safiyya and Daniyal, were born.
We love to spend our free time in each other’s company as a family. We enjoy skating, sledding, swimming, and travelling all over the world to places such as Italy, Switzerland, Turkey, and more. In other words, my family means the absolute whole world to me and they always come first to me before anything or anyone else.
I successfully completed my diploma in Nursing, and then decided to do a Law Degree as well, both completed in Ukraine. Initially, I worked in a hospital as a qualified nurse, and later began my career as a Lawyer in Ukraine and then in Kazakhstan. In Canada, I decided to obtain a license as a qualified lawyer, and started my efforts to fulfil all of the required prerequisites to be a professional registered lawyer with National Committee of Accreditation (NCA).
Since April 2017, I have been working as a Legal Assistant at NE Law Firm “Jan Law Chamber”. I am planning to start my articling once I complete the remaining required courses with the NCA.
Upon immigrating here to Canada, I noticed that Canadians love spending their free time helping people. I gradually involved myself in volunteering and started getting the taste of helping others. I feel very satisfied and proud whenever rendering my services to people in need. It is an honor and immense pleasure to give my time to others, as this is a quality of mine that further grew here in Canada. I truly enjoy sharing my skills and knowledge with others.
It has been a great occasion and honor for me to give back to the community and share my knowledge and skills with people, as I found it helpful when we were supported by others.”
Thank you for your contribution to making the world a better place, Anzhela. Congratulations!