Hotline Stories

This month Chinese Emotional Support Hotline has nominated four volunteer stars. Two Supervisors, Christina and Lang Lang, and two Listeners, Amy and Olivia.

Currently, Christina is taking care of the children at home most of the time. After having babies, she experienced minor baby blues, but she was lucky to have the support and love from her family. She recovered quickly. For Christina, mental health is probably more like the ability to do her best to feel happiness and sadness; it means to be able to feel happy and to pass that happiness to others around her.

Christina believes that the way to improve mental health varies from person to person. For herself: First, she must learn to love and care for herself, take care of her mental health. If she finds that her mental condition is not good and it is difficult to improve it by will, she must contact her family doctor or psychologist for professional help in time, as some mental health problems must be improved with the help of medication and psychotherapy. Secondly, learn to accept, appreciate and affirm yourself, and don’t be stingy with your praise and compliments to yourself. When we have self-confidence from the inside out, we may not care too much about the words from outside world, so we can take care of our spiritual home better.

Langlang is one of the hotline’s volunteer supervisors and also a new immigrant in Canada. She has her own anxiety about integrating into society and finding meaning when she first arrived. However, through participating in the hotline’s volunteer training and formal work, she has met many new friends and found her own meaning in this warm Chinese family, and she hopes to improve herself by participating in more hotline activities and learning more in the future, so she can help others more and better. She had friends with emotional problems and tried to help them, but because she didn’t have appropriate communication skills the results were not always perfect. She benefited from the communication skills training a lot.

Langlang feels that mental health means being able to have a happy life, to see problems in a positive attitude and to have the ability to overcome difficulties. She feels that mental health can be improved by talking to people (engaging with the community, being in the circle), practicing mindfulness (meditation, etc., but also through religious beliefs), and finding higher spiritual meaning (giving, volunteering, doing meaningful work, etc.).

Amy came to the Canadian oil city of Calgary from Victory Oilfield in late 2016. She has two master’s degrees, one in applied chemistry from China University of Petroleum (East China) in 2000 and another in chemical engineering from the University of Calgary. She completed the latter one in 2020. Amy used to work as a drilling fluid engineer in China and now is looking for a job. She likes reading history, biographies and literature books, and she has become interested in psychology books recently. She believes that a mentally healthy person should have a positive mindset. This person should seek solutions to problems and be able to look at the world with a tolerant mindset. One should not only towards family and friends, but also towards oneself, not demanding perfection in everything.

Amy believes that in order to improve one’s mental health, one must first face up to the stresses or setbacks in life directly. Because life is not always as it should be, everyone will experience a variety of hardships. We should have a normal attitude to face the problems encountered, we should not feel the end of the world when encountering problems, complain this or that; at the same time, we should allow ourselves to have emotional outbursts. Without causing serious consequences, we need to give ourselves the opportunity to release pressure or emotions; then we also need a positive attitude to face if we find that you can’t solve the problem, we can seek help from our family members and friends or relevant institutions for help actively. They can help us to get out of the bad mood quickly. Finally, we should have enough time to experience our feelings, think about our own experience, learn and grow from it, and find the right way to control or channel our emotions.

Amy believes that in order to be mentally healthy, you should also develop some good habits or interests, such as reading, sports, music, etc., which can enrich your life and give you a place to put your emotions.

Originally from Beijing, Olivia has worked in state-owned enterprises for 20 years and has been in Canada for three years. She says everyone, whether they are elderly, teenagers or even children, has emotional health issues and most people are not aware of their problems. A healthy spirit is one that can control whose temper and demeanour in any situation. His behavior is positive and his manner is proactive. He doesn’t use intense and negative words; he doesn’t speak aggressive and insulting language; he does not interpret society or others negatively; he knows how to forgive; he has empathy and does not use evil to fight with evil; he will protect himself in the right and appropriate way; and he is willing to give help to others as well as accept reasonable help.

Olivia says, “There are many ways to improve one’s mental health, such as a regular work schedule, adequate sleep, a nutritious and moderate diet; physical activity, fitness, relaxation in nature, social activities, finding a group of people with the same interests, setting goals for oneself, taking courses or training that will improve one’s You are welcome to call the Mandarin Helpline, which will provide effective information resources for those in need.”

The Chinese Emotional Support Hotline is made up of empathetic volunteers like Christina, Lang Lang, Amy and Olivia. If you would like to join the Support Hotline family, please scan the code below to apply. If you are experiencing a problem and would like to talk to someone, please call the hotline at 587-997-5977.

Looking back now, I can say with confidence that Jing lives up to my first impression of her: a strong, capable, and reliable woman.

Jing Chen and her family immigrated to Canada 18 years ago. Upon their initial arrival to Canada, Jing and her family worked many different jobs including at a dry cleaning store. Most people would assume this was solely due to financial reasons but for Jing it was primarily to integrate into Canadian society as quickly as she could. As if that wasn’t difficult enough, she went on to obtain a Bachelor’s degree after completing highschool courses, LINC, and an early childhood development program. In 2017, Jing learned about ECSSEN’s bread project through a friend and became a volunteer. Today, Jing is the volunteer coordinator for many projects of ECSSEN. Not only is she the senior coordinator for the bread project, she’s also responsible for 15 coordinators and hundreds of volunteers located in Calgary, Edmonton, Airdrie, and Lethbridge.

One of Jing’s first jobs in Canada was being the receptionist at an oil and gas company. She laughs now but said she could barely understand anything when she had to answer the phone and thought she would be fired at the end of the day. Instead of giving up, she pushed through and to her surprise, her supervisor praised her for her resiliency and encouraged her, even promising to then train her for the next week. Jing stayed at that company for 9 years, eventually being promoted to project manager from a mere receptionist and credits it to her mindset.

As a seasoned immigrant, Jing gave me some very solid advice for new immigrants. She believes there are three ways for new immigrants to quickly integrate into society while improving their English. Firstly, the federal government provides many free language programs such as LINC, and many colleges and universities such as Bow Valley, SAIT, Mount Royal University, and University of Calgary provide an assortment of programs to choose from.

Secondly, she believes it’s crucial to be employed regardless of how it relates to your previous education/work experience as this will further improve English skills and pave the way to make new friends. Even if this means the income is not as much as you hope for, it’s still a building block for your future. Through this initial job, it will be increasingly easy to find better jobs down the road and by then you’ll be better integrated into Canadian society.

Lastly, Jing reiterates the benefits of volunteering and how it provides a feeling of fulfillment and the positive impacts for both the volunteer and the community. As Jing mentioned, there are many volunteers (for both the bread project and the hotline project) who are just like her and all have a passion to give back. In fact, most volunteers excel in their workplace and many are highly successful leaders or entrepreneurs.

Before I let her go, she made sure to tell me that ultimately you must have a positive attitude no matter your circumstance. Language might be the biggest barrier for immigrants but hard work, determination, and gratitude will help you through anything. Since she quit her job in 2019, Jing’s focus is mainly on her family and helping her community. Now, she is a loving wife and proud mother of 3 teenage kids who fully support her active volunteerism and even participate with her when they can.

ECSSEN Career School has a multitude of volunteer stories similar to Jing’s. Through the Loving Heart Bread project and the Chinese Emotional Support Hotline we continue to provide support for those in need. If you or anyone you know is in need, or wish to volunteer with us, please contact us at 587-997-5977. We are also accepting new volunteers

The Chinese Emotional Support hotline is supported by a group of volunteers who have stories like Andy. If you and your friends and relatives around you want to talk and need resources, please call the hotline 587-997-5977. In addition, the hotline recruits volunteers and supervisors throughout the year. If you are interested, please copy the link below to sign up or scan the code to sign up through the poster below:

https://forms.gle/HVGG6zgB2CuZXYpS8

Please also have a reference form complete your reference in addition to the application: https://forms.gle/Xg6GvgaKJ26NUVYN7

The volunteer coordinator will arrange for you to participate in the training as soon as possible.

Melanie is a mother of two children. On her child’s sixth birthday, she said to her husband “I was sent to China at this exact age”.

Born and raised in Burma for the first 6 years of her life, Melanie and her family did not even have running water or electricity. Due to her Chinese descent, her parents wanted her to receive education in China. At the age of six, she was sent to live with her uncle in a rural farming village where many Chinese people would also return to. Despite still not having a hot water heater, Melanie was ecstatic to finally have running water and electricity. Without any complaints, she would happily come home from school each day and boil water with only firewood so the family could shower.

This is the second time I have met Andy, the first time was during his interview for the night shift listener position. He was promoted from a listener volunteer of the hotline to a supervisor of the hotline in just a few months, and then got an independent job opportunity as a night shift listener staff member.

Andy is a senior in Criminal Justice at Mount Royal University. I asked him how he usually handles negative emotions after answering the calls on our hotline – to which, Andy replied that the problems encountered by the hotline and the various criminals he learns about in his studies do not trouble him. His longest call on our hotline was two and a half hours, and although it was tiring, he felt that he was able to help the Chinese community which brings him satisfaction and enrichment to his life during the pandemic. 

Andy usually loves to keep his body and mind healthy through reading and exercise. He started learning Speed ​​Skating at the age of four and has won national championships in Calgary, Alberta and even Canada. He was originally going to enter the national team to participate in world-class competitions. Unfortunately, he dislocated his lumbar spine during muscle training when he was sixteen, so he could no longer participate in the competition.

The first impression Andy gave me was that he was a very sunny boy. After chatting with him, I realized that he also had his own rebellious period.  Andy was 12 years old when he immigrated to Canada with his parents. Soon after arriving, his father, who was an engineer in China, returned because he was not used to life in Canada. After that, his parents divorced. This has had a great impact on Andy’s life, because his father has always been helping him with his schoolwork. In addition, his parents’ divorce also had a negative impact on Andy’s mental state. Because his father stopped helping him with schoolwork, his little communication with his parents, and his phase of adolescence, Andy’s grades dropped many times. This led him to repeat high school for a year before entering university.

When asked why he chose to study criminology, Andy said that he originally wanted to study engineering, but he didn’t dare to choose science because he lost his father’s help. As a result, he finally chose criminology. However, after entering this major, an honourable person met and helped Andy, who felt defeated at the time, to stand back up. He changed from a student who was about to be kicked out of the school to a good student now on a scholarship. His professor is a great defense lawyer and the deputy mayor of Chestermere. Andy is the only Chinese in the class. Perhaps the professor saw his self-defeating state at the time, and often called him to the office to patiently edit his papers and talk to him. Andy said that this defense attorney with an hourly salary of 800 Canadian dollars put his time selflessly on him. This made him very grateful and want to work hard to become stronger.

It is precisely because of the help that he has received that Andy also wants to help more people through his own efforts. He said that there are no good people and bad people in this world, only good environments and bad environments. There are many criminals who grow in environments that are shaped poorly. Andy wants to become a policeman in the future. He hopes to use what he has learned to change criminals into people who can be integrated into society.

I learned a lot from Andy’s story. As another volunteer on the hotline, I hope that I can also be a person who can actually help the caller. As a member of society, I also hope to give back and be a guide for others like a teacher.

The Chinese Emotional Support hotline is supported by a group of volunteers who have stories like Andy. If you and your friends and relatives around you want to talk and need resources, please call the hotline 587-997-5977. In addition, the hotline recruits volunteers and supervisors throughout the year. If you are interested, please copy the link below to sign up or scan the code to sign up through the poster below:

https://forms.gle/HVGG6zgB2CuZXYpS8

Please also have a reference form complete your reference in addition to the application: https://forms.gle/Xg6GvgaKJ26NUVYN7

The volunteer coordinator will arrange for you to participate in the training as soon as possible.