6.4 Families and Communities

According to the United Nations, a migrant is "any person who is moving or has moved across an international border or within a State." People may choose to migrate in search of work or economic opportunities, but others are forced to leave their homeland due to conflict, natural disasters, and persecution, among other reasons. The communities they join, along with the minority presences themselves, are what make societies unique. These societies have distinctly different qualities of life based on their customs and family life.

What parts of your community do you attribute to specifically your own culture or upbringing? Does any family dynamic or tradition improve or define your quality of life? Do you think certain communities exist where quality of life is decreased due to gender inequality, discrimination, governmental issues, etc?

Whether it be La Saint-Jean (Quebec, Canada), La Fête des Vignerons (Switzerland), La Fête de la Musique (France), or

La Fête Nationale (Quebec, Canada), Francophone countries (and every other!) are rich in tradition and culture. These celebrations and activities bring families and societies together and improve/enhance life quality. Think about some examples of holidays or traditions in your own community. How do you believe they enhance quality of life?

Quality of life can depend severely on the ways in which one is raised. In certain countries, for example, access to resources, education, and opportunities is much more plentiful than others. Additionally, other factors such as gender inequality, racial inequality, or other forms of discrimination can set apart groups of people within society and put one's quality of life at a severe detriment.

Consider certain communities in which the disparity between genders of children in school is very large, or where men hold more job positions than women. These features, among others, are common in certain Francophone communities and can decrease the quality of life. Of course, these go hand-in-hand with access to resources and poverty, which also directly affect and deplete life quality.

Consider your own community and what members of it hold dear to their hearts. Do these values improve your quality of life? If so, how?

Compare and contrast the quality of life between your community and a Francophone community through a specific lens.

Do you think traditions improve the quality of life in a community? Why or why not? Should we depend on tradition for this?

What age do you think has the highest quality of life? Do you think it's specific to your community? Why or why not?

Frontière - border

Réfugié - refugee

Demandeur d'asile - asylum seeker

Déplacé interne - internally displaced person

Origines ethniques - ethnic origins

L'intégration - integration

Identité nationale - national identity

Foulard - headscarf

Valeur laïques - secularist values

Français de naissance - French by birth

Français par acquisition - French by acquisition

Étranger - foreigner