Why we share our experience with the public

Our sponsorship group continues to get a quite a bit of media attention, possibly because the family we are sponsoring arrived a few days before most of the other Syrian newcomers who are coming to Canada this week.

One of the reasons we have accepted to do so many interviews is that from the start, we wanted to be advocates and encourage others to get involved. We also feel it is important to put a human face on the overall refugee issue so that people move beyond the numbers.

Our group's chair Andrew FitzGerald talked to the CBC News Network today about our group's experience with the sponsorship process.



He was also a guest on the CBC's Power and Politics last night, following a discussion of MPs in Ottawa about the refugee settlement program. 

The CBC posted a very nice video of Anas' memorable first week end in Canada on their website, which he spent at the cottage of his temporary hosts Lisa and John.

And a photo of the Abdallah family featured prominently in the online version of a wonderful Toronto Star editorial welcoming newcomers from Syria into Canada. 

The whole Abdallah family is finally in Toronto!

Today was the day we have been waiting for so long! After a sleepless night, a very tense and excited Anas went with 9 of our group members to Pearson Airport, where the rest of the family landed early in the morning on a plane from Beirut, via Cairo. 

Everything went smoothly, and we were relieved that Oais' scooter arrived in one piece. Seeing the Abdallahs was like meeting old friends  - partly because we had already been in touch via social media for 10 days - and there were smiles, hugs and a flurry of Arabic and English greetings all around. Anas' incredibly cute nieces Aya and Reemas kept on shouting 'I love you' and charmed all of us. We all felt quite emotional and teary-eyed. 

The family members are now in their newly furnished apartments to take a rest and start the first day of their new lives in Canada. After losing everything in Syria and living in dire conditions in Lebanon as refugees for several years, they will finally live in a safe place they can call their own. The family's life has been changed forever - but so have our lives, in more ways than we could have imagined. The arrival is not the end of the journey, it's a beginning. 

To see more photos of the family's arrival, please click on this link

The emotional reunion of the family was captured by a camera team of the CBC's The National

Everything is ready for the family's arrival

Saturday was moving day! Several group members and a few student volunteers from Ryerson University moved furniture and other donated items from different places in Toronto to the two apartments we found for the family. Everything went smoothly and the two places look terrific. Thanks so much to our very generous in-kind donors, who only gave us high-quality items, and to the volunteers who helped out! The strong community support continues to amaze us.
To view more photos of the move and the apartments, please click on this link. 

And another ripple effect: Julie Dabrusin, the liberal MP for the Toronto-Danforth riding, met with Anas to learn about his and our sponsorship group's experiences. She wants to talk to other groups too and plans to convey their comments and suggestions to the federal government.  

Julie mentioned our group when she addressed the House of Commons.

"I love the humanity here", Anas tells the CBC's The Current

After just ten days in Canada, Anas was already interviewed by Piya Chattopadhyay on the CBC's The Current!  Our group member Ammar translated. It was nice to hear all the positive things he had to say about his first few days in Canada, about how welcoming everyone has been or, as he calls it, the 'humanity' he has witnessed in the country - a far cry from the harrowing experiences the family has gone through since they were forced to flee their home in Syria more than two years ago.

The first family member arrived in Canada!

What an exciting week – the first member of the family of eight we are sponsoring, 30-year old Anas, arrived in Toronto a few days ago, tired and very excited at the same time. He did not know what to expect when the plane landed at Pearson Airport – the family did not receive our welcome letter and was not informed that they are being sponsored by private people. The rest of the family is scheduled to leave Beirut in about a week.

Our group’s chair, Andrew, talked to the CBC’sThe Current about Anas’ first few days in Canada:

Various group members spent time with Anas this week to brief him about the next steps and how we will support the family, to show him the apartments we found, to take him to the dentist, shopping or just sight-seeing. He met most of the rest of us at a potluck dinner on Friday. Spending time with Anas has been a real pleasure. He is very sweet, open and warm – as appears to be the whole family, who sent us a heartfelt video message from Lebanon.

We have been overwhelmed by all the support we and Anas’ family have received. Everyone wants to help. Lisa, John and their children, a family we did not know before, offered their beautiful basement apartment to Anas until his family arrives and everyone moves into permanent housing. They treat him like a family member and even took him to their cottage for the week end where he will have a ‘real’ Canadian experience. 

The dentist of one our group members offered free dental work, as Anas arrived with a toothache. The manager of the building the family will move into has been very flexible and accommodating. And a great number of people have been extremely generous with their monetary or in-kind donations.

We can’t thank the interpreters enough who are helping us – most of all Ammar, but also Moustapha and Mahmoud from the Arab community center. 

Technology has been our friend. Smartphones have helped Anas share his first impressions of Canada with his family, and we found apps that have helped us communicate when no interpreter is around, such as google translate and ‘say hi’. 

Ripples are spreading

At one of our first meetings, a seasoned refugee sponsor came to talk with us about his experiences. In the face of our uncertainty about the path ahead, he told us that this process would affect our refugee family’s life, but it would enrich ours too, and change us in ways we can’t imagine. 

My husband Tony and I have already begun to reap those very personal rewards. Last week, arriving at Pearson Airport after a twenty hour trip from Asia, jet lagged by 13 hours, we staggered to the taxi rank at 2 AM, just wanting to fall into bed and sleep for as long as possible. In the middle of the night, there was no queue and we got into the first cab waiting, and logged onto the internet after a long period off line. We were delighted to find that citizens had quickly funded the repairs needed for the mosque that was set on fire in Peterborough, and we chatted about this and about our excitement that the first member of our Syrian family was arriving soon. 

Our driver, who wore the beard and white skull cap typical of Afghan or Pakistani Muslims, suddenly asked – who is arriving? And we told him a bit about ‘our’ family. Where are they coming from? We told him that they were in Lebanon, and how our Ripple Refugee group had worked to formally sponsor them to come to Canada. By this time we were approaching our neighbourhood. The cab driver, previously silent, quietly began a stream of “may god bless you – it is wonderful what you are doing – you are good people”. We nearly missed our turning, as he became more and more animated! 

And before we left the vehicle, we talked a bit more, establishing a warm bond with someone we might barely have exchanged a word with on previous rides. He welcomed us back to our home in the best possible way, and we hope that we, too, reaffirmed his place in our city and our country. Ripples are spreading!

(By Beth Savan)

CBC The Current: 'Ripple Refugee Group' in Toronto welcomes Syrian family of 8

Thank you very much to Piya Chattopadhyay for producing a great documentary about our group for the CBC's The Current!