Couple randomly attacked, 1 stabbed, by group of teens in Toronto, police say
A man has been transported to hospital after police say he was stabbed in a random attack carried out by a group of teens in Toronto on Friday night.
We didn't have an address or even the faintest clue if the house my mother grew up in would still be there, but we were determined to find it, to return to a place that might strike a core memory by seeing familiarity in the branches of a tree or the sweet smell of mangoes in her small Ugandan village.
For me, it was a trip I've long wanted to make to reconnect with my roots. Even though my great-grandparents were born in what is now India, they -- like thousands of others -- made the long and perilous journey across the Indian Ocean to East Africa as labourers under the British Empire. They eventually settled in Uganda, where my grandparents and parents were born.
I not only benefited from a cross-cultural mix of cuisine -- kadhi and khichdi (an Indian dish) were as common in my house as matoke (a Ugandan dish) -- but also language. The particular Indian dialects I grew up speaking, Kutchi and Gujarathi, also had Ugandan words and phrases mixed in. A unique hybrid.
Those are connections that can't be severed, even if you are forced out of your country as my parents were in August 1972, when Idi Amin gave Ugandan Asians 90 days to leave. The only country most had ever known and called home.
Half a century later, my mother, the young woman who left as a teenager, returned. This time with her two children, my sister and I, beside her. We'd talked about making the trip when my dad was still alive, but unlike my mom, he had little desire to return -- too many difficult memories.
It took 30 hours and four flights to get to Kampala. Toronto to Montreal, then to Brussels, a stopover in Kigali, Rwanda and then finally, the capital of Uganda.
We set out for Nabusanke -- my mom's village -- shortly before sunrise, relying almost exclusively on the landmarks etched in my mother's memory and our local driver. The journey is about 80 kilometres, but because of the dirt roads, potholes, traffic and boda bodas (motorcycle taxis described as "mosquitoes of the road") it's a trip that took well over an hour.
In small towns, landmarks become critical reference points and this one was no different. The gas station from where my mom remembered turning right to get to her house was still there. But the mango and jambula (black plum) trees close to where she lived had been cut down.
We drove.
We walked.
We made a video call to my grandma in London, as this was once her home too.
My sister and I desperately searched in hopes of giving my mom and us a sense of peace in finding something tied to her past.
Soon, it was clear that the way my mom's mind's eye had preserved this town, a two minute drive from the equator separating the Northern and Southern hemispheres, was far different from reality.
Fifty years is a long time. Long enough for the momentum of life to take over, and for the familiar to fade away into the foreign.
It was a blur.
Until one man helped unlock the memories of the past.
----
Sachedina’s journey to learn more about not only his family history, but about other Canadian immigrants expelled from Uganda, will be released in a W5 exclusive documentary this October for the 50th anniversary of the Ugandan Asian Expulsion.
A man has been transported to hospital after police say he was stabbed in a random attack carried out by a group of teens in Toronto on Friday night.
Ron Ellis, who played over 1,000 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs and was a member of Canada's team at the 1972 Summit Series, has died at age 79.
The wildfire that sparked Friday and caused evacuation orders for more than 3,000 people in Fort Nelson, B.C., and the nearby Fort Nelson First Nation, has grown to nearly 1,700 hectares in size, according to a Saturday morning update from the BC Wildfire Service.
The final of the 68th Eurovision Song Contest kicked off Saturday in the Swedish city of Malmo after days of protests and offstage drama that have tipped the feelgood musical celebration into a chaotic pressure cooker overshadowed by the war in Gaza.
From London, to Grand Bend, Collingwood and Guelph, here are some highlights of Friday night and Saturday morning's northern lights display.
The rolling hills leading to the hamlet of Rosebud are dotted with sprawling farms and cattle pastures -- and a sign sporting a simple message: No Race Track.
Irresponsibly using a credit card can land you in financial trouble, but personal finance columnist Christopher Liew says when used properly, it can be a powerful wealth-building tool that can help grow your credit profile and create new opportunities.
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
A growing number of civilians and police officers are demanding the dismissal and arrest of Haiti's police chief as heavily armed gangs launched a new attack in the capital of Port-au-Prince, seizing control of yet another police station early Saturday.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.
The stakes have been set for a bet between Vancouver and Edmonton's mayors on who will win Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A grieving mother is hosting a helmet drive in the hopes of protecting children on Manitoba First Nations from a similar tragedy that killed her daughter.