They researched and decided not only on Canada, but Kelowna specifically. They arrived with six suitcases, their children, and their dogs, knowing no one and never having visited. She says: “Kelowna seemed like a good place, with mountains and lakes. It was beautiful! The size of the city as well, that appealed to us, so we ended up here.” She spoke to how Kelowna was “the right choice” because it “is a place that's so welcoming and so peaceful. Everything and everyone is safe. We can go to the park and play, and we feel at peace, just how we wanted.” 

But Belen’s story of starting over in Canada is also a story of discovering her own strength as not only an immigrant, but more importantly, as a woman and mother. 

     Before immigrating, Belen had worked as an industrial designer, specializing in furniture design. But after giving birth to her first child in Ecuador, something changed. She experienced birth as something incredibly powerful and realized she wanted to help other women feel and realize that same sense of strength.

     Belen gave birth in Ecuador to her first born through a natural water birth, alongside a midwife, and she describes the experience as empowering. She says: “I felt like I was capable and that my body was strong. I left that with my baby in my arms, birthed on my terms, and I couldn't ask for more.”

     Her experience was especially meaningful because Belen had grown up in a culture where women often gave their agency over to doctors during childbirth. She described how women throughout her home country were often told what would, and should, happen rather than being encouraged to ask questions or make informed decisions about their own bodies.

Belen wanted something different.

     During her pregnancy, she began researching her options and eventually met a doula who connected her with a midwife. Suddenly, choices she had been told were impossible became possible. “Everything was yes,” she remembered.  After speaking with these women, she recalled thinking: “Oh my God. I can do whatever I want.”

     At 36 weeks pregnant, she changed her care provider and ultimately had the birth she wanted.

      “It was amazing. It was so powerful and so hard, but I wouldn't change it for anything.”

     That experience inspired Belen to become a doula herself, hoping to help other women feel informed, supported, and empowered during one of the most vulnerable moments of their lives. Today, she works with families in the Okanagan, including a growing Latin American community where mothers-to-be can access support, translation, and communication in their first language through Belen, which proves especially helpful in the hospital setting.

      “You don’t need to be thinking in a second language. You’re in so much pain, confused, and the hormones… oh my goodness. It is so helpful to have someone supportive that can communicate to you in your first language. That is so valuable.” 

     For Belen, helping another woman give birth is about much more than the physical experience. It is about reminding women that they have a voice in what happens to their own bodies, and supporting how they want to bring their babies into the world. 

Immigrating to Canada has brought its own challenges. Belen left behind her career, family, friendships, and the familiarity of an entire life.      Her husband also had to begin again, retraining as an accountant in Canada. Yet when I asked what immigrating taught her, she told me:

     “It taught us that we have everything inside of us that we need.”

     She also learned that fear does not necessarily mean we should stop.

     “Being uncomfortable is not something that we must always run from. Just face and start over. Start making new friends, making new connections. The thing is, everything that we had back in Ecuador, now, we had to build here. But, it’s kind of better that way because we chose those people to be in our lives.” 

     And perhaps that is the greatest thread throughout Belen’s story: the courage to build again and find empowerment in that process. 

She came to Canada searching for safety for her children. She rebuilt her career. She created a home where her children can grow up with the freedom to explore, play, and simply be children.

     When I asked what advice she would give someone settling somewhere new, she told me:

     “I think you should follow your intuition as well as be true to what you are telling yourself. If it feels like a path you need to follow, just do it.”

     For Belen, that path brought her to the Okanagan. And now, she contributes to our community in such beautiful ways: by raising her children to be creative, imaginative, and curious, and by helping and empowering other mothers to find their own strength and voice along the way.
 

This is Belen’s story, and it is one of many that make up our beautiful Okanagan community.