ABSTRACT
This chapter chronicles the experiences of Cuban-educated South Sudanese who emigrated to Canada, beginning in the late 1990s. Most were employed in a massive cattle slaughterhouse, working long hours in difficult conditions, and experiencing various levels of acceptance and rejection from the local community, made up of predominantly European-descent Canadians. Relations between the Cuban–South Sudanese and the wider South Sudanese immigrant community were complex, with new immigrants arriving in Canada directly from East Africa adhering to ethnic divisions that had been largely abandoned by the youth during their more than ten-year residency in Cuba. Reconnecting with relatives in East Africa brought challenges, including pressure to provide financial assistance, as well as a new sense of belonging for the long-absent South Sudanese, several of whom later relied on kin to arrange marriages with South Sudanese women resident in East Africa. The chapter provides an ethnographic account of labour inside the cattle slaughterhouse and details incidents of racism experienced by South Sudanese immigrants.
