December, 2021
Positive Vibes Elna Bitu
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met Elna years ago through a mutual friend; both with hearts of gold. Her beautiful Trini accent and loving nature captured her reserved, yet brave disposition. Elna has been through much, but still has a passion for what she does. Elna’s business of 15 years was closed for close to seven weeks starting in March of 2020 when the pandemic affected everyone. Even though we went into lockdowns, that didn’t deter this amazingly, resilient Canadian Caribbean woman. Within two hours of the news, countless emails and a concerned daycare owner, Elna took 6 of those children from the Daycare into her home and the next morning, she assisted parents who had to go to work. Born in Tobago, 66 years ago on the last day of the year, Elna is the eldest of 5 children born into a loving family. Her mother and grandmother, aunts and grandfather were there to support her. She has wonderful memories growing up in Arouca, Trinidad. She loved going to sit on the beach or going to the various bazaar booths. There were parties, baking sweet bread and cooking saltfish under her grandmother’s influence. She felt
Be whatever you want to be by doing something for the community, country and others, you will achieve much. very loved by her extended family. She now bestows that same love on her two grandchildren, ages 5 and 8. The hardest part of the pandemic was not being able to hug and be with them. Her son-in-law finally drove the children to her house one day. The kids had to stay in the car and they talked through the open window. Elna still has the video of them waving goodbye to her on her phone. When restrictions finally were lifted, they were back in her Daycare, like the other children. Not only did she miss having the children come over, but she missed walking in the mall and stopping for a cup of tea. Elna attributes her passion for early childhood care at the daycare to her being the eldest and caring for her cousins as they were growing up. Her nickname was “Pinky” and she remembers the craziest thing she did Seniors — Winter 2021
on holidays in Tobago. The cousins were swinging from one coconut tree to another, so up she climbed, hung on and swung across showing that she wasn’t a coward at all! Elna spent three years living with her cousin in New York in her twenties before coming to Winnipeg, Canada to finish her schooling. Eventually, she moved to Calgary and has owned her own Discovery daycare business for 15 years now. Elna believes that hardships build character. By overcoming various trials, walking with your head held high and respecting yourself and others, you can show leadership qualities. She loves her staff and they portray the good values Elna learned as a child from her mother. All the children are beautiful and her and her staff love them like family members. If Elna were to impart words of wisdom to others, she would tell them to be whatever they want to be. By doing something for the community, country and others, you will achieve much. Elna epitomizes this in her life by continually striving to be a positive role model.
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