In Calgary’s northeast, a small non-profit has a unique way to fight postpartum depression and anxiety.
Called Porridge with Love, the program from the Immigrant Outreach Society is modelled on cultural traditions from Ethiopia.
They hold a special prayer and ceremony at the mother’s house within days of the birth, then 15 volunteers — many of them mothers and seniors in the community — sign up to cook, clean and take her to vaccinations or just to come over and have coffee.
Doctors who work in this field are impressed.
“That is just fantastic. I’m just so impressed because social isolation is huge,” said Dr. Deirdre Ryan, B.C.-based co-founder of the Canadian Alliance for Maternal Mental Health. “It would be lovely if (programs like this) were all over the country.”
The alliance estimates up to 20 per cent of new moms experience mood and anxiety disorders after birth.
Some of the volunteers with Immigrant Outreach Society join a celebration to welcome a new baby and support the mother. (Submitted by Adanech Sahilie)
She said rates are significantly higher for newcomers, who often experience trauma before or during the journey here and leave behind their family support network.
The time during and after pregnancy is one of the most vulnerable times in a woman’s life, with hormones, sleeplessness, stress and increased responsibility. And it can also grow into something more serious: a sense of tearfulness, loss of joy and appetite, and at the extreme end psychosis and suicidal thougths.
Adanech Sahilie leads the Immigrant Outreach Society. She said Porridge with Love started four years ago, when she and others were shocked by the number of newcomers who ended up in hospital because of mental health challenges.
She also noticed how isolating the experience of parenting can be in Canada and decided to try to replicate the best of the traditions from Ethiopia.
“Back home, when a mom gets pregnant, everybody — even neighbours and villagers — will come and help prepare porridge, oats, anything that she can use. But when you come to Canada, like, you don’t have that much support,” Sahilie said.
Traditional barley porridge is served with chili-flavoured melted butter. (Elise Stolte/CBC)
Now they have 169 volunteers and they help up to four mothers a month, supporting them for a few weeks to several months and longer, depending on what they need.
“They take responsibility (for the mother), taking her to any vaccinations or giving help with groceries,” Sahilie said.
It’s simple, but it works, she said.
“We have this support network to fill the gaps. So this Porridge with Love really, really minimizes postpartum depression. (It’s one of) my favourite programs because, like, you see your fruit right away. Some of the mothers even become volunteers.”
Sahilie invited CBC Calgary to a welcome celebration for one mom in a small basement suite in northeast Calgary.
Before the rest of the guests arrived, Edom Gebremichael was toasting barley flour for porridge in the kitchen.
“That’s the best flour, especially for breastfeeding mothers,” she said. They toast it, then add salt and water and keep cooking until it’s smooth. Then they serve it with a deep well in the centre filled with chili-flavoured melted butter.
Gebremichael said she volunteers regularly because she remembers what it was like the first time she gave birth.
Edom Gebremichael toasts barley flour to make a traditional porridge, considered to be very healthy for breastfeeding mothers. (Elise Stolte/CBC)
“It was difficult for me. Nobody was there, just me and my husband. It was in Ontario, not in Calgary,” she said. “You feel loneliness. I would watch movies and then just play with the baby, just talk to him.
“But for my second one, I was here in Calgary,” she said. “Oh my God. All my friends, cousins — it was a big celebration for me.”
The basement suite was decorated with gold cloth, and with traditional items from Ethiopia — woven baskets and stringed instruments.
When the parents — mother Ruhama Alemu and father Alemneh Aligaz — came out of their bedroom for the guests, they were greeted with cheers and wrapped in traditional black and gold cloaks.
Alemu had tears in her eyes.
“I don’t even have words. It’s so amazing,” she said.
The couple arrived as refugees one month before the ceremony, when Alemu was already eight months pregnant.
They had been staying in a refugee camp in Kenya for three years before getting permission to come. They also have a five-year-old son, Peniel.
Women share a taste of the traditional Ethiopian barley porridge as part of the celebration for a new mother in Calgary. (Elise Stolte/CBC)
“It was tough. It was tough and I was so stressed and anxious about the country,” she said. “I didn’t even get a health-care provider. I was rejected by some of the health-care providers because (they said it was) too late in the pregnancy.”
Several clinics suggested she should just go to emergency when her labour started, but the outreach society eventually helped her find a doctor to be assigned and support her care. Her baby was born healthy. They named her Yohana.
Volunteers have also helped gather equipment for the baby: a stroller and car seat.
Ryan said awareness of postpartum depression and anxiety has been increasing in recent years, leading to more women getting screened and treated.
Her organization has also seen a benefit from the increase in virtual options for health appointments, which came about as a result of the pandemic. It means a mother with multiple kids can get help without worrying about child care and transportation.
Baby Yohana Alemneh Amare was born one month after her family arrived in Calgary. (Submitted by Adanech Sahilie)
“Postpartum depression is common but it’s also very treatable,” she said.
Group therapy and counselling can help, and for more serious cases, there are medications that are safe for breastfeeding mothers.
Dr. Rachel Talavlikar, a physician with the Calgary Refugee Health Program, said she’s impressed with the Immigrant Outreach Society program.
She said trauma, isolation, stress and a history of depression or mental illness are risk factors for postpartum anxiety and depression, but even mothers without those risk factors can suffer.
One study local to Alberta found roughly 15 per cent of mothers have impacts that are serious enough to be diagnosed, she said.
“If you look at the immigrant and newcomer communities, those rates are up to five times higher. It’s one of those things that is common yet also easy to miss.”
“People who have a village or something they can go to for support do better.… It certainly needs to be taken seriously.”
Sharing Knowledge: An invitation to all local East African communities. (Lianne Sabourin/CBC)
Last fall, CBC Calgary launched a new community project with local East African community members. This included a workshop to help young adults to tell stories of importance to their community and a joint celebration organized with community leaders.
Read more at cbc.ca/sharingknowledge and check out other reporting sparked by this partnership.
The federal government is ordering the dissolution of TikTok’s Canadian business after a national security review of the Chinese company behind the social media platform, but stopped short of ordering people to stay off the app.
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced the government’s “wind up” demand Wednesday, saying it is meant to address “risks” related to ByteDance Ltd.’s establishment of TikTok Technology Canada Inc.
“The decision was based on the information and evidence collected over the course of the review and on the advice of Canada’s security and intelligence community and other government partners,” he said in a statement.
The announcement added that the government is not blocking Canadians’ access to the TikTok application or their ability to create content.
However, it urged people to “adopt good cybersecurity practices and assess the possible risks of using social media platforms and applications, including how their information is likely to be protected, managed, used and shared by foreign actors, as well as to be aware of which country’s laws apply.”
Champagne’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking details about what evidence led to the government’s dissolution demand, how long ByteDance has to comply and why the app is not being banned.
A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement that the shutdown of its Canadian offices will mean the loss of hundreds of well-paying local jobs.
“We will challenge this order in court,” the spokesperson said.
“The TikTok platform will remain available for creators to find an audience, explore new interests and for businesses to thrive.”
The federal Liberals ordered a national security review of TikTok in September 2023, but it was not public knowledge until The Canadian Press reported in March that it was investigating the company.
At the time, it said the review was based on the expansion of a business, which it said constituted the establishment of a new Canadian entity. It declined to provide any further details about what expansion it was reviewing.
A government database showed a notification of new business from TikTok in June 2023. It said Network Sense Ventures Ltd. in Toronto and Vancouver would engage in “marketing, advertising, and content/creator development activities in relation to the use of the TikTok app in Canada.”
Even before the review, ByteDance and TikTok were lightning rod for privacy and safety concerns because Chinese national security laws compel organizations in the country to assist with intelligence gathering.
Such concerns led the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a bill in March designed to ban TikTok unless its China-based owner sells its stake in the business.
Champagne’s office has maintained Canada’s review was not related to the U.S. bill, which has yet to pass.
Canada’s review was carried out through the Investment Canada Act, which allows the government to investigate any foreign investment with potential to might harm national security.
While cabinet can make investors sell parts of the business or shares, Champagne has said the act doesn’t allow him to disclose details of the review.
Wednesday’s dissolution order was made in accordance with the act.
The federal government banned TikTok from its mobile devices in February 2023 following the launch of an investigation into the company by federal and provincial privacy commissioners.
— With files from Anja Karadeglija in Ottawa
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?
It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.
Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:
Apple
The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.
For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.
You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.
Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.
Google
Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.
When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.
You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.
There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.
Facebook and Instagram
Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.
When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.
The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.
You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.
TikTok
The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.
Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.
X
It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.
Passwords
Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?
Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.
But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.
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Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s competition watchdog said Thursday it’s opening a formal investigation into Google’s partnership with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.
The Competition and Markets Authority said it has “sufficient information” to launch an initial probe after it sought input earlier this year on whether the deal would stifle competition.
The CMA has until Dec. 19 to decide whether to approve the deal or escalate its investigation.
“Google is committed to building the most open and innovative AI ecosystem in the world,” the company said. “Anthropic is free to use multiple cloud providers and does, and we don’t demand exclusive tech rights.”
San Francisco-based Anthropic was founded in 2021 by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, who previously worked at ChatGPT maker OpenAI. The company has focused on increasing the safety and reliability of AI models. Google reportedly agreed last year to make a multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic, which has a popular chatbot named Claude.
Anthropic said it’s cooperating with the regulator and will provide “the complete picture about Google’s investment and our commercial collaboration.”
“We are an independent company and none of our strategic partnerships or investor relationships diminish the independence of our corporate governance or our freedom to partner with others,” it said in a statement.
The U.K. regulator has been scrutinizing a raft of AI deals as investment money floods into the industry to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom. Last month it cleared Anthropic’s $4 billion deal with Amazon and it has also signed off on Microsoft’s deals with two other AI startups, Inflection and Mistral.
