On Saturday, April 5, 2025, a sugar shack outing was organized by the Jesuit Refugee Service of Canada. The aim of this activity was to promote the integration of the refugees we sponsor, by enabling them to familiarize themselves with an emblematic Canadian cultural tradition, in a spirit of welcome.

The activity began with a presentation on the history of the sugar shack in Canada, given by Fannie Dionne, project historian for the Jesuit Province of Canada. The presentation offered participants a rich and meaningful cultural context. Some sixty people – children, teenagers and adults – from a variety of cultural backgrounds, gathered around the spirit of JRS: that of resettlement, welcome and human encounter.

Participants had the opportunity to taste traditional Canadian dishes: maple taffy, pork rinds, potatoes, pea soup, baked beans simmered in maple syrup, puffed omelettes, thin pancakes, cocktail sausages in syrup… A visit to the sugar shack and warm exchanges around the tables created a space for cultural immersion. Through shared laughter and gestures of hospitality, everyone experienced a living integration, enriching the host culture by their very presence.

In our simulation exercise A Journey into Exile, it is written that one of our missions is to raise public awareness of the dire situation refugees face before arriving in their host country. However, JRS’s activities reveal that we do much more: we help restore smiles, celebrate victories and inspire hope. It’s a real passage – from Good Friday to Easter Sunday – that we experience with refugees.

When we welcome them, listen to them, share with them moments of joy and culture – like the sugar shack – we participate in this living Easter, this crossing from night to morning, from death to resurrection.

In this Easter season, our team hopes that the spirit of the Risen Christ will inspire us to continue accompanying our refugee brothers and sisters on their journey of resettlement. May each activity be for them a place of encounter, immersion and integration – a space where their story does not end in the shadow of Good Friday, but opens up to the light of Easter morning, in the image of Christ’s disciples.

Jean Gardy Joseph, SJ.

Community Worker