It is hard not to smile when listening to Imran Khan recount some of the story which brought him to where he is, living and working in Williams Lake.
Khan radiates joy as he tells his story, despite the hardships he has overcome and Canadian winter weather.
"This whole journey was fantastic," he said, describing it as somewhat of a "dream."
"We can't believe how really we made it."
He clearly appreciates every opportunity he has been given, and he is incredibly happy to be in Williams Lake.
To get here, with a job at the Cariboo Regional District as a geographic information system (GIS) professional, Khan has come from circumstance many of us can barely fathom.
Khan was born in a rural village in Pakistan in the 1980s. There was no electricity in the village at the time.
He was raised by his grandparents after losing one parent when he was very young. They lived in a simple house, he said, surrounded by farm fields. By the age of 11 or 12 he was already working for the family business while also going to school.
He grew to teenagerhood in the rural village with his grandparents and then, after Grade 10, he moved to join his surviving parent and his fellow siblings in Karachi, the largest city in Pakistan.
This significant shift from a small rural community to a city with a population estimated at around 25 million people awakened him to a different world.
"I have to carry a little of my own burden," he said of the realization the change in life circumstances brought him.
While he applied to join the Pakistani Navy, he was not accepted, something he looks back at with relief now, because instead it lead him to his profession in geography and where he is now.
Through his studies, Khan was able to secure a high-paying job in Saudi Arabia, where he and his wife Umrah Imran lived for some time, but also knew they had no real future there. The couple were married through an arranged marriage in Pakistan and have been married 11 years.
In Saudi Arabia, which relies heavily on foreign workers, it can be hard to become a citizen and Khan said the couple hoped to travel, which isn't necessarily easy with a Pakistani passport.
So they applied to immigrate to Canada and after going through a lengthy application, they were accepted. Upon travelling to their new home, their plane was diverted to New York due to a snowstorm in Toronto. They sat waiting on the plane for hours before eventually flying back to Toronto and then getting on another plane to finally arrive in Calgary in March 2023.
Khan said the big challenge in the beginning was to find a job and while he actively searched in Alberta for months, despite making the short list and getting interviews, he wasn't having a lot of luck. He did find a casual position with the University of Saskatchewan with a collaborative research project, which he still holds, but the role is only a few hours a month.
Eventually he was offered a position on a contract basis at the Cariboo Regional District, so the couple decided to take the leap and move to Williams Lake.
"For me it was a really interesting journey," he said.
"This place was really welcoming," said Khan, adding the city has been "full of pleasant surprises."
The job at the CRD turned into a permanent one and Khan said he appreciates the opportunities he has had in Williams Lake.
He and his wife still travel back to Alberta every month as she works to complete her Masters degree through the University of Lethbridge at the Calgary campus.
The couple have had some scary experiences driving back and forth, from weather and bad roads to people throwing eggs at their vehicle one night, yet Khan still seems undeterred and proudly states his wife has only been a little late for class once.
Khan is now on the board of the Williams Lake Muslim Association, is volunteering with the Cariboo Chilcotin Partners for Literacy and is enthusiastic about being in Williams Lake.
"I want to be a positive member of the community," he said.
