CeCe (pronounced seh seh) Haba landed in Canada just over a month ago from Guinea. He’s a Djembe and Dundun drummer and after marrying Lua whom he met when she visited the West African country, he now hopes to apply his talents here in Canada.
It was a cold and blistery day when Lua and CeCe dropped by for a session in my home studio. When I asked what were his immediate and impressions of Canada, cold weather was the first thing that came to mind. But on reflection he contrasted the orderliness and calm he feels in Canada with Guinea where the rule of law is lax and occurrences of corruption are far higher. The potential for personal progress, financially speaking, is far more difficult as a result. He noticed that things go “by the book” when he encountered Canadian authorities. This suits him perfectly. Little to no corruption simply means more opportunities. If you don’t have money, you can’t “afford” bribing authorities and therefore secure the kind of jobs that could earn you money and so spins the vicious cycle. This is a human rights issue at its core.
After well over 2 hours of a talking over tea and a portrait session that followed, with Lua translating from French, it became clear that his journey is taking place on more than one path. Instead it’s a convergence of changes now happening in his life.
Recently married to a successful and well established Canadian choreographer and the driving force behind her dance company, marital life is a dramatic change - probably for both of them. CeCe is also coming to grips with a unique upbringing and its lingering effects on self realization and his relationships with others. And then of course there’s the act of immigration itself and the wrenching adjustments that it entails. It’s complicated.
There are well over 300 thousand people who immigrate to Canada every year. This is a significant number of newcomers for a country with relatively small population. Yet it felt special to be one of the first to welcome CeCe. It is a unique privilege for someone like me who made Canada his home well over 30 years ago.
