A sense of place and belonging: Lloydetta Quaicoe helps newcomers to N.L. feel at home
Lloydetta Quaicoe's work with Sharing Our Cultures has brought together thousands of students since 1999.
In 1999, Lloydetta Quaicoe conducted a study on the psychosocial needs of new immigrants and refugee schoolchildren, interviewing students from grades 4-12 in Newfoundland and Labrador. She found a number of them were being bullied or had experienced racism at school.
Her findings led her to start Sharing Our Cultures, a program in which high school students come together to celebrate their culture and to share it with their peers, school children and the public.
Twenty-two years later, the program is still going strong, and so are Lloydetta's efforts to help newcomers to Newfoundland and Labrador.
"It's helping people really feel their sense of place and a sense of belonging. Because you can live in a place and never feel that you're part of it," she said.
In the latest instalment of Being Black in N.L., Ife Alaba chatted with Quaicoe about Sharing Our Cultures and her work to make the province a more inclusive place.
WATCH | See Ife Alaba's interview with Lloydetta Quaicoe:
More about Being Black in N.L.
You might already be familiar with Ife Alaba — she's one of the charismatic hosts of CBC Newfoundland and Labrador's series Stuffed.
Alaba is host and producer of our Being Black in N.L. segment, in which she chats with members of the Black community about their lives, businesses and passions.
For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.
