PETRA MAUERHOFF, Germany
From east to west, north and south, Petra Mauerhoff has traveled to all corners of Canada since she first visited almost 20 years ago during a student exchange trip.
Now the CEO of the Shortgrass Library System, Mauerhoff came to Canada from Germany, landing in Halifax County, N.S., in Grade 10.
“I loved it, and it felt like home to me immediately. Maybe I was meant to be in Canada all along instead of Germany, which sounds really hokey but it’s true.” she said.
And, as often happens, there was a boy. So when the exchange trip ended, she returned to Canada as soon as she turned 18.
The boy didn’t last — but Canada did, and Mauerhoeff completed her Masters in Library and Information Sciences at Dalhousie University.
“And then I was lucky that my career allowed me to move across the country,” she said, having worked in locations ranging from Montreal to Nunavut to Cape Breton to the East Kootenays and now to Medicine Hat in January 2011.
She loves the diversity of Canada, and the laid back nature of its citizens compared to Germany — it’s friendly, but there’s privacy as well.
“Generally when people find out that I’m from Germany, they always try to immediately connect you with other German people,” she said with a chuckle. “I always say, if I wanted to hang out with Germans I’d have stayed in Germany.”
TAFADZWA BAMHARE, Zimbabwe
The first time Tafadzwa Bamhare saw snow was when her plane touched down at the Calgary International Airport in December 2009.
“It was quite a shock,” said Bamhare who hails from Harare, Zimbabwe. “When I arrived it was in the middle of one of the worst snowstorms that had happen in a long time I was told. I couldn’t even see the runway, I didn’t even know the plane was about to hit the runway.”
The first things she did was buy the longest winter coat with the most fur she could find.
“I think I’ve only worn it a few times,” she recalled.
With family in Medicine Hat, Bamhare came to Canada study global tourism and marketing at Medicine Hat College.
Having working as a marketing executive for a hotel and resort in Zimbabwe, it was a good match for her background.
“The plan was for me to come to school, to study, and to have a little bit of an adventure, a experience anew culture, the opportunity to grow and learn,” she said. And after graduating, she’s kept Medicine Hat as a home having found a job with the college.
“I’ve been very blessed to work my way up,” she said, starting at the information desk, then being a financial aide assistant, and now as the student retention officer in the International education department.
She loves that she gets to work with international students as they experience and discover Canada just like she did, as well as Canadian families who host the international students.
“I love different cultures, learning about different people, and different parts of the world — even though I don’t get to travel, I get to meet people from all over so it’s awesome.”
41139342/03/25/14 our communities ❚ our region ❚ our people 89
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