Baksho Ghangass, with daughter Manjeet, is excited to be a presenter at CLBC’s new Welcome Workshops, and to share her story to help families start planning the next phase of their lives.
Baksho Ghangass is passionate about reaching families who feel isolated and helping them find supports and opportunities in their community. A mom who is always looking to make new connections, she encourages families to stretch their imagination about what is possible for their sons and daughters.
Baksho knows firsthand the struggles of isolation. Thirty-two years ago, Baksho gave birth in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, to a beautiful baby girl who happened to have Down syndrome. There were no resources for parents of kids with special needs and no access to support. Baksho’s family lived in England, and her husband’s family lived in the Fraser Valley.
“I know what it’s like to be alone,” says Baksho, “Families are vulnerable and need encouragement to hang in there and listen to their heart.”
Soon after their daughter Manjeet was born, Baksho and her husband Davinder asked the question, “What can we expect?” The doctor answered honestly. He said he didn’t know. To Baskho, ‘we don’t know what to expect’ meant anything was possible. She says,“I treated his answer like an open slate. The sky was the limit for our family.”
Davinder’s career with BC Hydro moved his family from Yellowknife to Hudson Hope, and then to Kamloops, where Manjeet went to preschool and elementary school. Baksho spent Manjeet’s early years becoming an advocate for her daughter, researching and learning what would best support Manjeet to reach her full potential. When Manjeet turned 13, they moved to Nanaimo where she went to high school and then college.
Being a parent first
Baksho remembers a point in time when she stopped seeing ‘the Down syndrome,’ and began seeing herself as a parent first. “I just did what I would do for any child, but with a little extra effort.” Manjeet’s brother Sooruj was born when Manjeet was ten years old. Baksho explains her son went through his own “acceptance” phase, but is now very protective of Manjeet. At the same time, he does not let her get away with anything and, like his parents, has high standards for his big sister. Both Manjeet and Sooruj were raised to be proud of who they are and to believe that all people need help in one way or another.
Today, Baksho and her family live in Surrey where she and Manjeet are intentionally sharing their story at public events and throughout social media channels that connect directly to ethnic groups in their community, where parents can feel especially alone. “In my culture, boys are favoured over girls, and so being a woman and having Down syndrome creates an even bigger myth of what is possible.” Parents and other family members who speak Punjabi and Hindi are seeing or hearing about Baksho and Manjeet’s story and looking to them for advice on how to move forward and think outside the box for their own children.
Sharing her story to help others
Soon more families will be able to hear Baksho’s message. This fall, CLBC is launching a new approach to planning with the people they serve. Individuals and families new to CLBC will be invited to attend a series of four Welcome Workshops to help prepare for adulthood. Workshops are designed to bring youth and families together, and provide them with information and tools to start planning for the next phase of their lives.
Baksho and her husband Davinder, raised their children Sooruj and Manjeet to be proud of who they are and to understand that everyone needs help in one way or another.
Workshops will be presented by a family member, self-advocate and CLBC facilitator. As one of the presenters of these new workshops, Baksho is excited to be able to deliver the information in Punjabi and Hindi so that families from her culture will feel safe and supported to participate. “I do this anyway, says Baksho “many ethnic families don’t know there are resources – that people with Down syndrome are having full and happy lives. I hope these workshops will help change that.”
For Baksho, the CLBC Welcome Workshops will just be one stop on her journey to dispel myths and bring people together to learn about possibilities. She is accessible on social media and shares her contact information with anyone who needs help connecting to resources or who just need someone to talk to. She believes the more families hear stories about what others have done, the more they will trust professionals and the community they live in.
“I would have liked to know that everything was going to be okay,” says Baksho, “I had no idea how great life would be.”
Learn more about CLBC Welcome Workshops
Families new to CLBC services can join the new workshops and learn from parents like Baksho, as well as self advocates and CLBC staff starting in fall 2018.
Contact your nearest CLBC office to learn about the workshops in your area here, and you can read more about the workshops here.
