People of Georgian: Applications officer explores world through books, language, travel

What’s your story?

October is Latin American Heritage Month. To celebrate, all this month we are sharing stories from members of Georgian’s Latin community. Plus, our International Centre is sharing fascinating information about a different Latin country every day this month on Instagram – make sure to follow along!

People of Georgian: Meet Martha Licona

My parents would take us to buy a Christmas gift, and I remember my cousins and my sister running for toys. I was always running to get a book.

I always have read, have loved books.

I am very curious about learning about how everything works.

Space, universe, science. There are so many things to learn, so I try to absorb as much as possible.

Two adults and a child hold hands while standing in the surf of waves at a beach.

Two adults and a child in a stroller take a selfie in front of a building.

Martha and family take weekly library trips

Now, my husband, son and I are a family of readers.

So, we were very happy to know there are beautiful libraries here. We like to go every week or maybe twice a week.

My son likes to read also and that has helped a lot improving his English.

I also love to learn languages.

My native language is Spanish, and then I learned English.

I studied Japanese when I was a university student. I studied it for three years and then I went to Japan for a semester as an international exchange student.

I also studied Italian for a few years, and now I’m trying to start French because I think it will be really helpful even though here in Ontario everything’s in English. Canada’s also a French-speaking country.

Beyond languages, I like travelling and getting to know new places, meet new people, and learn about cultures and ways of thinking.

I’m also a psychologist and worked in Mexico in an elementary school, working with kids, parents and teachers. It was a very beautiful, enriching experience.

Two adults and a child all dressed in red and white for Canada Day smile for a selfie.

Two adults and a child all dressed in winter gear smile and stand together on a frozen pond.

Canada is ‘even better than we thought’

My family and I just arrived to Canada last November, and we’re really happy here.

People have asked us if we are still happy with our decision, and I would say we’re more than happy because it’s been even better than we thought. We had very high expectations.

It’s a very kind and warm culture, and we are very happy to be here.
Martha Licona

We wanted to move to another country, give this international experience to our son, and we didn’t know where to go. There are so many options in the world, and we wanted somewhere with a positive environment that would give good values to our son.

We decided for Canada, and we’re not only surprised by how kind people are here, but we like very simple things that maybe Canadians take for granted. For example, walking down the street and saying “Hello” to people you have never seen before. That’s a very kind thing to do.

It’s a very kind and warm culture, and we are very happy to be here and give our son this experience and give ourselves this experience, too.

Martha Licona, International Applications Officer – Offshore.