Squamish's Doris Suarez, hopes her story of coming to Canada as an immigrant can inspire other newcomers.
Suarez, 57, her husband Robert, and their five children — four boys and one girl — came to Squamish in May of 2010.
They arrived after waiting for seven years for a visa in their hometown of Manila, Philippines.
The youngest child was 10 years old at the time.
In the Philippines, Suarez was a dentist and her husband was an engineer.
"We didn't think of ourselves... but my children," she said when asked why she wanted to come to Canada.
"For better opportunities. Life in the Philippines is hard and corruption is so rampant."
They arrived with 14 pieces of luggage and seven carry-on bags.
She said when they drove up the highway and saw Squamish for the first time they thought it was "amazing."
"The mountains and all the creations. We love it," she said, adding that though it was spring, it seemed very cold compared with back home.
"We layered four sweaters," she said, with a laugh.
It was hard to find an apartment that would take seven people, but she had a cousin here, who the family lived with for a couple of months as they settled in.
Suarez took a job as a dishwasher at a sushi restaurant and Robert worked at a gas station.
Currently, she works at a daycare.
The couple has been married for 31 years. They met as grade school classmates. They have two granddaughters now.
Suarez said she misses her family members in her homeland, but because she and Robert had their nuclear family in Squamish, they didn't feel too homesick.
"We met a lot of new friends," she added, noting that Squamish residents were kind and welcoming.
To mark 10 years here, Suarez has self-published a book called Halo-Halo In the Snow, about her experiences and that of other newcomers she met along the way.
She wants to be an example for other immigrants with her stories.
"To inspire them — not to show off or brag....— that we can thrive and succeed despite the great challenges."
She said most of her friends who are immigrants work two or three jobs. Those from the Philippines always send money back to relatives there, which makes life challenging.
The book tells the story of her family's immigration, some Filipino recipes along with some funny anecdotes from some friends.
"Love stories of 10 of my Filipino friends who married or are in a relationship with a Canadian," she said.
Instead of selling the 250-paged book, she is asking for donations that will go to relief efforts in the Philippines.
"It is so devastating what is happening in the Philippines the past few months and COVID is still rife there."
The name of the book, Halo-Halo, refers to a popular Filipino dessert.
The picture on the cover is the dessert in Squamish snow from last winter.
"There was a very thick snow, so I removed the top and got the middle part of the snow and then I put all the sweets on top. It is pure fallen snow."
Halo means "mixed up" in Tagalog.
"For me, it stands for the different regions in the Philippines because... all those different dialects and I thought the snow symbolizes Canada and all those different regions in the snow are the ingredients," she said. "I thought of Canada and all the Filipino immigrants, they need each other. Filipino immigrants work in Canada for their families — sending dollars to the Philippines — and Canada employs Filipino workers for its economy and that is how we get the Filipino dessert, with a Canadian twist."
To order a copy of the book or get more information, email Suarez: drbsuarez@yahoo.com.
