One year later: Syrian refugee family growing in numbers

By Tara Henley

BELLEVILLE – After travelling over 9,000 kilometres away from their war-torn home, Raghda Hamada and her family were reunited with her brother, Ahmed Al Mansour, on Dec. 28 when they arrived in Belleville from Syria.

Hamada along with her husband, Mohamed, and their three children joined the growing extended family in this region that includes Al Mansour, his wife, Maysoun and their three children. Al Mansour’s family first arrived in December 2015, followed 10 months later by Maysoun’s mother, Fawziah, brother, Bilal, his wife and their three children in October of 2016.

The 16 Syrian family members are sponsored by United Syrian Family Support, a local group comprised with more than 80 volunteers. The volunteers are from very different religious groups and organizations, from Bridge Street United Church to the Bahá’í Community of Belleville.

Ian Sutherland, head of the organization, said the family is doing well and has not yet faced any direct discrimination.

“Culture shock on the other hand is something they’ve experienced everyday,” he said. “I remember near Halloween when Bilal’s family first arrived. We were discussing the possibility of dressing up the kids, taking them trick-or-treating. Fawsiah paused and she said, ‘I don’t think so. We’ve seen enough monsters.'”

The Islamic Society of Belleville, one of the many religious groups in the USFS, hosted a potluck Sunday to celebrate the anniversary of the Al Mansour family’s arrival as well as to welcome to the Hamada family. Sutherland said it was an opportunity for different cultures to share a meal and celebrate diversity.

The extended family is in Belleville on what Quinte Immigration Services executive director Orlando Ferro calls a “blended visa”. This means the family receives federal financial support for their first year in Canada, financial support through their personal sponsors during their second year and will eventually be receiving financial aid at a provincial level during and after their third year in the county.

Ferro went on to say that right now the family’s biggest focus is learning ESL, which United Syrian Family Support has set aside funds for. The volunteers are also covering the cost of housing, food, transportation, translation services and youth recreation for the children.

The Al Mansour family, who have now lived in Belleville for over a year, are adjusting well to Canadian life, said Sutherland. Their oldest sons have been playing soccer and piano in their spare time, and both parents are quickly learning how to hold conversations in English. While Sutherland said he was unable to comment on their lives in Syria, he did confirm that the families lived in Damascus before the war where Ahmed worked as a bricklayer.