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Sajedeh Zahraei leads FIFSW students, faculty and staff on a Healing Connections Hike

Posted on October 23, 2024
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6 people sanding next to a bench with trees and buildings in the background on a sunny day

On October 2, FIFSW students, faculty and staff joined alumna Sajedeh Zahraei on a Healing Connections Hike across U of T’s campus and beyond.

A graduate of FIFSW’s MSW and PhD programs, Zahraei is a Certified Hike Leader, Psychotherapist, and Founder of Saleemeh Wellness Centre for Women. (Read our 2022 story on how Zahraei has worked to improve mental health support for immigrant, refugee and racialized women.)

The hike led by Zahraei offered participants the opportunity to reflect on and share stories of Indigenous, Black, and Immigrant histories of Tkaronto (Toronto), while deepening connections to the community, the land — and each other.

The group strolled along Philosophers’ Walk, which follows the path of a ravine created by the buried Taddle Creek river. It also stopped by some of the buildings and landscapes on the University of Toronto’s St. George campus including a recently opened landscape project, just south of Hart House, named Ziibiing, the Anishinaabemowin word for “river.” The new site was created as a space for ceremonies and storytelling to honour Indigenous cultures and as a place for community members to gather.

While exploring the pavilion, the group happened upon Dan Seljak, a U of T graduate who works as a marketing director with the firm Brook McIlroy, whose Indigenous Design Studio collaborated on the project. Seljak shared some of the project’s details, such as the reclaimed wood from local Toronto trees that was used for the benches. (Visit utoronto.ca to read a story on the September 23 opening of Ziibiing and learn more on the Indigenous U of T website.)

Crossing campus, the group made its way along College Street, following the path of the buried Taddle Creek river down an alley behind the medical buildings that line University Avenue. Before long, it was time to head back to FIFSW’s building on Bloor Street while continuing to reflect, connect and bask in the sun before it set for the day.