We see them around the community, often enjoying an afternoon in the park with their families or picking up some groceries at the store.

But few of us know much about the Low-German speaking Mennonites who call Perth County home.

Service providers got a chance to learn more about the people, and their culture, at a networking day held at the Stratford Rotary Complex last Friday.

Called Low German 101, the event included breakout sessions touching on family life, health and education, newcomer families and engagement and enrichment.

When mennonites move from Latin America to Canada, they’re exchanging comfort for the unknown, said keynote speaker and researcher Dr. Kerry Fast.

Many mennonites Fast has interviewed are what she describes as being “betwixt and between,” or at the midway point, unsure of their paths.

“They don’t know what life has in store,” she said.

Most who move here imagine a better life for themselves, with economic stability as a priority. Others seek to move to a colony with less restrictive religious practices, or even a more conservative way of life.

Either way, many run into roadblocks when they encounter the unknown.

This can lead to confusion. For example, they may have to choose which church they would like to attend, which is perhaps different than the one they were raised in.

Their neighbours may not longer be Mennonites, and they may have job opportunities they’ve never experienced. They must craft a new identity – and risk having one imposed upon them – and get used to being viewed as different by others in the community at large.

Sometimes it’s the little things. Fast reports speaking to women who have become overwhelmed by the amount of selection of food at the grocery store.

There are four different ways Mennonites take advantage of the hybridity of moving to a new country, Fast said.

First, is cultural adaptation, which allows the new culture to inform the old culture in order to maintain and strengthen that culture.

Second is cultural accommodation. Through this, said Fast, Mennonites are willing to accept aspects of their new culture that contradict the traditions of the past. This shift allows them to settle and make a life for themselves in their new home.

Third is cultural resistance. New immigrants will often use their cultural life in the Latin American colonies as the norm against which the new culture is assessed. Some may insist the new culture threatens their traditional values.

Finally is cultural embrace. Fast said some people are eager to leave behind the traditional aspects of colony life in exchange for aspects of Canadian culture, a move which can often be controversial.

But one thing is clear – Mennonites who migrate must continually make decisions, sometimes in the face of threatening sets of values.

“There is no templates for Mennonites to follow,” Fast said.

Last Friday’s workshop was hosted by the Perth Low German Advisory Committee with support from a grant from the Stratford and Perth County Community Foundation.