By CBC News |
Nesreen Nassleh will be speaking about her experience raising 4 children in a multicultural community
Nesreen Nassleh, an immigrant mother who moved to Vancouver from Syria, used to watch Michelle Obama’s speeches and admire the former U.S. first lady for her empowering messages to women.
Now, Nassleh is helping spread that message herself.
She’s opening the show for Obama’s talk in Vancouver at Rogers Arena on Thursday evening, one of five women sharing their stories with the audience.
“Every time I saw her on television, I felt, ‘That’s a woman who is empowering all women,'” Nassleh said.
“And I was lucky enough to have this chance to go to her event.”
Nassleh will be speaking about her experience as an immigrant mother in Canada and how she’s raising her four children in a multicultural community.
“I’m teaching them to be respectful and accept all religions and culture in this country,” she told CBC’s The Early Edition.
“[But also] so they are proud of their religion and their culture.”
‘We try to meet in the middle’
Nassleh, who is originally Palestinian but worked as a biomedical engineer in Syria, moved to Canada in 2005.
Her four children, two boys and two girls who range in age from 14 to three-and-a-half, were all born here.
“They are Canadian,” she said.
“Sometimes, I feel like I’m talking in a way and they are in different ways, but we try to meet in the middle.”