The Jeanne-de-Valois Pa-

vilion of Université de

Moncton was wound back

through a thousand years of culture as Chinese

parasol dancers, Indian

Bollywood troupes, South

Korean percussionist and

Filipino fashion models

took to the stage to bring

Asian Heritage Month to a

close for the last Saturday

of May. The Greater Monc-

ton Asian Heritage Society

Cultural Gala traditionally

serves as the grand finale

to the month-long celebra-

tion, as four of the main

Asian societies represented

here in Greater Moncton

(China, South Korea, India

and the Philippines) gather

to share their vibrant cul-

tures with the entire com-

munity, leaving standing

room only in the packed

auditorium.

Fashion from across South-

East Asia was showcased in style, ranging from tradi-

tional Chinese hanfu to

modern haute couture from

the Philippines, including

these traditional outfits.

Interval provided the oppor-

tunity to feast on the mouth

-watering range of Asian

delicacies, including Indian

mini samosas with tama-

rind chutney, sweet jalebi

pretzels, Chinese dump-

lings and sweet Filipino rice

cakes, all washed down

with some refreshing

Korean ginger tea.

Entertainment from the grace-

ful to the lively continued into

the night, with Chinese tradi-

tional dancing and Filipino pop

music, and was finally brought

to a flamboyant close with an Indian Bollywood-style dance

spectacular.

The night’s highlights were

certainly the children. From a

Korean stringed solo perform-ance through to tiny, beaming

fashion models, even the

youngest hit their marks per-

fectly and made the mood of

the night truly special.

The crowd left with a true sense of how much multicultur-

alism has grown in the Greater

Moncton Area. As one audi-

ence member put it,

“Tout ça à Moncton?!”

Yes, all this in Moncton.

ASIAN

HERITAGE MONTH

Inside this issue:

Volunteer Night 2

BEST program 3

Sima: Welcome back 4

Asian Gala 5

Summer Recipe 6

Senior events 7

New teacher profile 8

MAGMA’S CULTURAL CHORDS

June 2012

To cele-brate the

great work and

dedica-tion of

over 60

volun-teers, the annual volunteer

Recognition Night was held on Thursday May 3rd at the

NBCC in Moncton.

Together , board members of MAGMA, staff, volunteers

and their families enjoyed a

delicious buffet prepared by

the culinary stu-dents of Chef Dun-

can . One person makes all the differ-

ence in the world was the theme for

the event. In recog-

nition of all the commitment to the MAGMA organization,

several certificates and prizes were handed out

throughout the evening.

In the photo, our guests of honor : Maxwell and Re-

becca Dixon with a friend of

the family, Miss. Sarah

Katige. Mr and Mrs. Dixon have volunteer many, many

hours in the Community Connections Program of

MAGMA.

P a g e 2

Volunteer Night

at MAGMA

Outing with the students of

LINC 3- Angela`s Class

These LINC 3 students enjoyed a glorious Friday

morning visiting Tidal Bore Park & Trietz Haus

1931. They were on a mission to collect informa-

tion about the local area to complete an upcom-

ing class project.

M A G M A ’ s C U L T U R A L C H O R D S

Students and teachers from MAGMA spent the day in Fredericton on May

31st to visit the New-Brunswick Legisla-ture and Government House. Thank you

to our Education Department for

organizing this great outing.

Upcoming event:

Multicultural Day

June 27

The Canadian Government

has designated June 27th

as Multiculturalism Day.

MAGMA will host a small

lunchtime celebration at the

Moncton Market Stage for

the day. All welcome, food

to be served.

Trip to Fredericton

With funding from NB Popu-lation Growth, MAGMA has

launched the first BEST pro-gram in the province of New

Brunswick.

BEST stands for Business English Startup Training. Its

goal is to help immigrant entrepreneurs develop the

advanced English skills and

background knowledge nec-essary to build and present

a working Business Plan according to Canadian Busi-

ness Communication stan-

dards.

During each twenty week

course, Students will learn

advanced techniques for improving their Business

English communication and presentation skills. They will

simultaneously learn about

Canadian business culture, how to do market research,

how to prepare and present financial projections, the

Federal, provincial, and mu-

nicipal regulations and taxes which will impact their

business, and the unique

vocabulary they will need to understand to communicate

on a business level. Stu-dents will be required to use

what they learn by continu-

ing to put it into practice on the days they are not in

class. By the end of the course, students should

have a solid Canadian Busi-

ness plan based on prov-able assumptions, and the

ability to present it in a con-

fident, professional manner.

REQUIREMENTS

Students must be per-

manent residents

Students must be

evaluated at least as having level 6 English

listening and speaking skills (MAGMA will pro-

vide the evaluation free

of cost)

The course will be pre-

sented twice per year, with

intakes in April/

May and Sep-tember/

October. The course is taught

two nights per week (usually Monday and

Tuesday), but, as men-

tioned, students are ex-pected to work on their busi-

ness plan and practice their English skills during the

week when they are not in

class.

The first class filled in two

weeks, and instruction

started on the 14th May. If you want us to put your

name on the waiting list for the second BEST course

which starts in October…

please contact Bob Gracie for more information, or to

arrange for an appointment.

Bob Gracie

Business English/

Entrepreneurship Instructor Bob.gracie@magma-

amgm.org

P a g e 3

Business English Startup Training

Are you a

Business -Class Provincial Nominee?

Or…

Do you wish to start a business in Canada within the next two

years?

The BEST course

can help.

President’s reception was held on May 30th at MAGMA

Mike Timani, President of the Multicultural Association of the Greater Moncton area welcomed many Ethno Cultural Associations of the Greater Moncton area;

Board members and Past Presidents.

The President asked everyone to introduce him or herself and to say a few words about their relationship with MAGMA. He also mentioned the upcoming

Annual General Meeting to be held on Thursday, June 14th at 5:30 p.m. at the

Curling Beauséjour Building (Wedgewood Hall) at 80 Lockhart Street.

Robert Gallant from Raven’s Sun Management invited the Associations to par-

ticipate with a stand at the Mosaïq Multicultural Festival on July 20th& 21st, 2012. There is no fee to the Ethno Cultural Associations as their deposit will be

returned to them following their participation in the Festival.

An array of finger foods from different countries were served .

M A G M A ’ s C U L T U R A L C H O R D S

We are pleased to announce that Sima Roohani joined our Seniors’ team again; we look forward to working with her and taking

advantage of her experience. If you come to MAGMA, there are certain familiar and friendly faces that you are sure to see. One

of these individuals is one of MAGMA’s clients, volunteers and employees, Sima Roohani. Sima arrived in Canada almost 5

years ago, on November 25th, 2007.

Hailing from the capital of Iran, Tehran, Sima comes from a city

with a population of 13 million people. Having now lived in Can-

ada for several years, Sima says she loves the country, and

many things about it. When asked what her favorite aspect of

her new country is, she responded “the safety, people’s kind-

ness, and the culture here is the same as my country before the

revolution.”

Although, culturally Canada may be different for her, Sima

seems to fit right in with everything she does. She has been

very involved within MAGMA’s organization since arriving here.

Beginning as a client, Sima has utilized MAGMAS’s services

both inside and outside of the classrooms. Once settled into her

new country, Sima also began volunteering with MAGMA, help-

ing with many events in the educational department, in the sen-

iors’ programs, as well as in many other aspects of the organi-

zation. Furthermore, Sima has also worked on a temporary pro-

ject for the seniors’ program.

She is now a part-time Childminder at MAGMA and she recently

joined the New Horizons project in seniors’ program. Sima en-

joys many extra-curricular activities and hobbies including knit-

ting, sewing, going for walks, as well as doing some carpentry from time-to-time; she is very talented at everything she does.

“Back home, as a hobby, I used to make Iranian carpets, but I can’t anymore because I don’t have the tools or materials here”,

she says. Sima worked as a Food Inspector for many years in Tehran and she successfully completed the National Food Safety

Training Program of Canada.

Welcome back Sima!

The Voice of Ages

P a g e 4 M A G M A ’ s C U L T U R A L C H O R D S

The Canadian Government declared the Month of May as Asian Heritage

Month to recognize and acknowledge the important contributions and history

of Asian Canadians to the development and growth of our Nation.

On 26th of May 2012 at Pavilion Jeanne-de-Valois at the Université de Monc-

ton, Asian communities outdid themselves through beautiful and diverse

dance, music and fashion performances. Delicious Asian drinks and finger

foods were provided.

The gala was fuelled by the time, spirit and energy invested by community members of all ages. The active participation and guidance of seniors in these

activities says a great deal about our seniors’ precious abilities and the impor-

tance of their role and support in the community.

P a g e 5

Seniors at the Asian Heritage Society Cultural Gala 2012

P a g e 5 M A G M A ’ s C U L T U R A L C H O R D S

The Voice of Ages

This rhubarb cake is a show–stopper. Its electric pink sweet-sour rhubarb and strawberry Jello layer sets off the richness of the

yellow cake beautifully. There's a certain yin yang about the whole thing and the marshmallows add a chewy texture. If you are

a texture person, you're going to want to get a piece of this cake. It's flavour, flavour, flavour with this cakey crunch and con-

centrated strawberry candy-like layer. Each slice can be tempered with a little creme fraiche or ice cream, but it's hardly neces-

sary.

Big Pink Rhubarb Cake

Serves 12

For the yellow cake:

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

Yolks of 4 large eggs, beaten

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

For the rhubarb layer:

3 cups rhubarb, sliced into 1/2" pieces

1/2 cup sugar

1 package strawberry Jello

3 cups miniature marshmallows

1/4 cup powdered sugar Creme fraiche or vanilla ice cream(for

optional garnish)

Grease and flour a 9" x 13" pan. Preheat oven to 350°F. First

make the yellow cake batter. Using a hand mixer or stand

mixer, cream the sugar and butter. Add egg yolks, milk and

vanilla until fully mixed. Finally add flour, baking powder and

salt to the mixing bowl and mix until fully combined. Set aside.

Evenly distribute the rhubarb on the bottom of the greased

baking pan. Sprinkle the 1/2 cup sugar and contents of one

strawberry jello mix onto the rhubarb. Layer the marshmal-

lows on top of the rhubarb as evenly as possible. Lastly, pour

the cake batter over the entire surface of the rhubarb/

marshmallow. It's okay if a few marshmallows poke through, it

will be a thin layer of batter.

Bake for about 35 to 45 minutes until the cake is set. Allow to

cool and sift the powdered sugar through a strainer to dust

the top of the cake. Serve with creme fraiche or vanilla ice

cream.

Suggestion: You can divide the ingredient by half or third for

baking a smaller quantity.

Reference: http://www.thekitchn.com/1950s-recipe-rhubarb-

cake-170436

P a g e 6 M A G M A ’ s C U L T U R A L C H O R D S

Delicious Summer Recipe: Big Pink Rhubarb Cake

The Voice of Ages

Do you know the Tantramar College? It is a non-

profit place of learning where seniors 50 years and

over can broaden their horizons and further their

education at an affordable price. An annual mem-

bership runs from September to August and costs

a very reasonable 100$. This includes access to

as many classes as you want to take in varied dis-

ciplines such as literature, music, crafts, computer

skills, language and more. For more details, con-

sult the Tantramar website, http://tantramarseniorscollege.ca/.

We would like to invite you to share your insights with our MAGMA Seniors Newsletter.

Please share with us your journey, your ideas, your suggestion, your life skills advice, any poem,

recipe, or story that you like and enjoy. We like our newsletters to reflect our members,

their interest and their life journey. We thank you for your partnership,

Samuel Sabor & Sima Roohani

Upcoming events: SACKVILLE

Senior learning at Tantramar College

P a g e 7 M A G M A ’ s C U L T U R A L C H O R D S

Last Summer, our seniors enjoyed a trip to Parlee Beach in Shediac. This year, an excursion to Sackville is in the works. This picturesque town is the home of Mount Allison University, a small, highly regarded undergraduate liberal arts college. The cam-

pus is charming and well worth the visit. Sackville also shelters the Waterfowl Park, winner of Environment Canada’s National Award for Environment Achievement. Several kilometers of trails and boardwalks crisscross through the home of over 160 spe-

cies of birds and waterfowl.

The Voice of Ages

The Multicultural Association of the Greater Moncton Area (MAGMA)

is an umbrella organization of ethno-cultural associations and indi-

viduals in the Greater Moncton Area(Moncton, Riverview and

Dieppe).

Since its foundation in March 1980, MAGMA has remained actively

involved in the settlement and adjustment of new immigrants and

refugees in our area. MAGMA is a bilingual (both Canadian official

languages), non-profit, non-sectarian, and non-political organiza-

tion.

years working in defence, Wayne decided he wanted a change of pace so he left for South Korea to teach Eng-lish. He loved teaching in Korea so much that he stayed for nine years. And after nine wonderful years of cultural experiences, Wayne recently moved home to Canada and was fortunate enough to be hired by MAGMA. His first

We are so happy to wel-come Wayne Letcher to the MAGMA Team as Workplace English and Multilevel Lan-guage Instructor.

Wayne grew up in the coun-tryside, outside Amherst, Nova Scotia. He started his career off in electronics communication engineering software design, working as a contractor for the Cana-dian military. But after some

impressions of MAGMA has been wonderful. The staff and volunteers have been very welcoming and it feels like a family. Teaching at MAGMA has also introduced him to people of other cul-tures and allowed him to learn more of the world, without having to travel. Wayne is really excited about this new work oppor-tunity and he is looking for-ward to the days to come.

New Staff Profile Wayne Letcher

22, Church St, Suite C170

Moncton, NB, E1C 07P

Tel: (506)858-9659

info@magma-amgm.org

Instrument of the month: Gayaguem (Korea)

Left: Wayne Letcher