People

Leonor Valdez, 52 is one of four women in Cuba to suffer from fibroma or myoma, a non-cancerous tumour that grows in the muscular tissue of the uterus, and lives with the ongoing symptoms of pain and bleeding. Almost 90% of women who are diagnosed with this condition need to visit the operating room at some point. As the matriarch of her family, Leonor is in charge of her two daughters and waiting for her ninth grandchild. Had she carried out the procedure when she was initially diagnosed, Leonor would not have been able to care for her then pregnant daughter, who is sick with lupus herself. When this photo was taken, Leonor was waiting for the hospital, where she receives care, to have the necessary medical supplies to perform the operation.

Ross Ward also known as “Toronto’s Birdman" is pictured while carving some wood on Yonge Street on May 15, 2021. Ward, who is in his early 60’s, has been carving birds and other small figurines with recycled wood since his early teenage years. For his pieces, Ward finds discarded wood from garage sales, street corners and even construction sites. Once working in construction, Ward decided to fully dedicate his time to carving, which he has been earning an income from selling signed pieces of his work. Ward is a local sensation garnering popularity over the years as a number of media outlets reported on his journey to becoming an artist.

Coach Robert Perkins of the junior team passes by one of the volunteers skate instructors on Feb 26, 2022. Perkins' own son, who has Down Syndrome and is in his 30’s, joined the program during the 1998-99 season. Perkins who played shimmy growing up, volunteered to become a coach of the junior team his son played at and he has been with the program ever since. The Donaldson’s Diamonds hockey program in northern Toronto continues to support children, youth and adult athletes with disabilities and their parents.

Marie-Elisabeth Gagnon gives a snack of pumpkin seeds to one of the African grey parrots at the Parrot Sanctuary in Toronto on Feb 22, 2022. Gagnon talks about the challenges of having parrots as pets as most people don’t realize how long they live, sometimes outliving their former owners. The parrots also require an enriched environment that support their intelligent and curious natures, adds Gagnon. Many of the parrots that come in to the sanctuary have developed maladaptive and sometimes self-harming behaviours. Gagnon works tirelessly to provide for these birds and uses cooperative husbandry principles in her handling of the parrots to build a more trusting and positive relationship with them.

Sarah Taylor is pictured providing reiki energy healing at Sarah Taylor Wellness in Belleville, Ontario on Mar 25, 2021. Opening her business in the middle of the pandemic meant going through the ups and downs of offering in person services during a province wide lockdown. When services resumed, Taylor provides full-spectrum doula services, reiki energy healing and reflexology. Taylor is a survivor of domestic violence and domestic abuse and since September 2020 she supports other women who have also left abusive relationships by using energy healing to treat old and new trauma.

Lula Abdo, 32 (she/her) poses for a photo at her downtown Toronto apartment on Feb. 2, 2022. Lula is originally from Yemen, and arrived in Canada in 2019. Lula's document name is Ala, but she prefers to be called Lula, a name that was given to her by a close friend in Indonesia. Being a trans woman of colour, Lula said of her past life when she had to hide who she was, "You create a character that is not you." After coming to Canada as a queer refugee newcomer, Lula decided to go through a hormonal therapy and transition, and talks about how that experience has impacted her.

Amber Bartram spent most of her early life around horses, so working with one seemed like too good of an opportunity to give up on. Bartram, originally from England, decided to take part of her savings and travel throughout Central America when COVID-19 travel restrictions were lifted. Bartram signed up to be a volunteer at Finca Ixobel, a program that allowed her to contribute her animal husbandry skills in exchange for accommodation and food at the hotel supported by her employer. Bertram is pictured during a one on one grooming session with one of the horses on the ranch on Sep 30, 2022.

Natalie Sze Wai Ho is a visual artist and painter works on her latest project in her living room in Toronto on Aug 24, 2022. Ho arrived alone in Canada a few months earlier on April 2022, while she was 24 years old, after graduating from a fine arts undergraduate degree program in the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts. Soon after she arrived, Ho found out about a group mural project on the themes of Scarborough’s Golden Mile community and women’s empowerment, led by Next Generation Arts, a youth-focused arts organization in Scarborough. Ho signed up right away bringing her background in mural painting and colour theory to the project and for a chance to meet other artists in a new city with similar interests as hers.

Steve McCullough, who owns a roofing company in Belleville, is pictured with his fresh catch during peak ice fishing season at the Bay of Quinte on Feb 14, 2021. McCullough picked up the hobby of ice fishing during the previous season and purchased a lot of his own ice fishing gear more recently, including a new tent. He is convinced that the bigger catches will reel in within an hour before sunset, and the tent helps to shelter McCullough from the cold winds blowing across the frozen bay as evening rolls in.

Mohammad Beebeejaun, 69 is pictured at the Islamic Society of Belleville, also the local mosque, on Nov 5, 2020. Beebeejaun, originally from Mauritius, has been a resident of Belleville over three decades and became involved with an informal congregation that used to gather in someone’s house to later becoming the mosque administrator in Belleville’s only mosque. The mosque faced false complaints during the pandemic lockdown, which is why Beebeejaun stressed the importance of social distancing during communal prayers and following all provincial guidelines when restrictions were lifted for indoor gathering to avoid further misunderstandings within the community.

Muriel Rabbie checks in on the sheep and the goat barn as some newborn lambs bask in the warmth of a sunray seeping through the windows during late afternoon on Mar 20, 2021 in Northport, Ontario. The family farm managed to stop an outbreak or illness that was leading to a lot of stillborn lambs and baby goats. Muriel stops by the barn almost hourly to check on any new births during the farm’s peak birthing season and must make space right away in individual pens for the mother to tend to her newborns.