The sound of children squealing in delight, punctuated by the lower rumble of adult chatter filled Trinity Baptist Church at a potluck supper held last Saturday.
Joyful noises aren91裸聊视频檛 unusual in the space where community events of varying kinds are held.
What was different, however, was the sounds were coming from 100-plus Syrians who have left behind lives marred by loss and upheaval and made the Central Okanagan home at various times during the last year.
Among those at the gathering was Mohammed Al-Shahoud, his wife Sara and their five children. They were the first Syrian refugees to arrive in Kelowna last July. As Mohammed walked around the room, greeting both sponsor and refugee families alike, it appeared clear that he was at home amid the hubbub.
91裸聊视频淚 call him the unofficial patriarch,91裸聊视频� said one woman, when Mohammed came into view between rows of tables, where families had converged for dinner.
The Shahouds are from Homse, Syria; one of the first cities bombed by the government when the Arab Spring uprising began.
The Central Okanagan Refugee Committee sponsored Mohammed, Sara and the youngest five of their 11 children to come from Jordan, where they were seeking safety.
One of their older children, along with their own family, has since arrived in Canada as well.
In Syria, the family owned a business and had a large house. All was lost after their escape.
Now life is much smaller, albeit safer. Mohammed had a part-time job when he first arrived in Kelowna, but that ended and he91裸聊视频檚 now taking some programming that will help him be more employable in the future.
91裸聊视频淓verything is good,91裸聊视频� Mohammed said, Saturday, eschewing the services of a translator and putting his continually improving English skills to work. 91裸聊视频淲e adapted quickly because we found good people, a good community and very good friends.91裸聊视频�
The company of an increasing number of people who have a first-hand understanding of his plight was particularly welcome.
91裸聊视频淓very family I meet here, they are happy and interesting,91裸聊视频� he said.
Sara, his wife, offered a similar view of their experiences in Kelowna.
91裸聊视频淢ost people have been very nice,91裸聊视频� she said, using the services of translator, Ehab Ghanem.
91裸聊视频淓specially the sponsor families91裸聊视频e can see this being our home (for the longer run), if this is God91裸聊视频檚 will.91裸聊视频�
Hearing people who have suffered inconceivable indignities in just the last few years express thanks to the community that welcomed them isn91裸聊视频檛 new to Ghanem. He is Egyptian and one of a handful of Arabic speaking residents of the Okanagan who volunteer to translate for the Syrians who were moving to the valley.
91裸聊视频淎t first they are afraid of the past and afraid of the future,91裸聊视频� Ghanem said. The war killed more than 250,000 people across Syria and forced at least 10 million to flee.
The past leaving scars was of no surprise to Ghanem, but what he has found surprising is why the future caused such trepidation.
Hundreds of refugees arrived in Canada at the tail end of 2015, while the total number rose to 25,000 by the end of February.
Highlighting the change in tack from the previous government, newly minted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a number of messages encouraging Canadians to welcome their new neighbours.
91裸聊视频淎fter all, we share values of love, hope and compassion91裸聊视频攊t91裸聊视频檚 what we do, and it91裸聊视频檚 who we are,91裸聊视频� Trudeau said, in a taped Christmas message.
While Syrians were aware of what was happening, Ghanem said that and messages of its kind were viewed as a demand, making Canada91裸聊视频檚 new residents wary of the people they would be greeted by.
91裸聊视频淚 hear this almost every time91裸聊视频ome people thought when Trudeau said, 91裸聊视频榃e will welcome Syrians,91裸聊视频� that it was an order, not something that was truly coming from the people,91裸聊视频� Ghanem said.
91裸聊视频淭hey are shocked that people here are good by themselves and don91裸聊视频檛 need to be ordered to do something. It makes these guys want to return the favour, but they don91裸聊视频檛 know how yet.91裸聊视频�
Carol and Barry Martin say Canada91裸聊视频檚 acceptance of refugees is just part of its character. And they have no doubt that the Syrians will give back91裸聊视频攋ust like the Vietnamese refugees that went before them91裸聊视频攁nd that they91裸聊视频檙e already adding to the community.
The Martins are members of the Mission Creek Alliance Church which, alongside Alliance churches in Kelowna and Lake Country, sponsored the Alasmar family in December. A wider network of Alliance churches has been tapped to further fund the family expenses.
Maher Alasmar, his wife Emtithal and their three boys, ages one to four (plus one more on the way), fled from Homs, a Syrian city decimated by war, and lived in a Lebanese refugee camp for three years.
91裸聊视频淵ou91裸聊视频檝e taken me from death and given me life,91裸聊视频� Maher once told Carol, of the transition.
Despite the dire circumstance they lived in for so long, said Barry as he played a board game or two with a few children, they are remarkably well-adapted.
91裸聊视频淭his has been a wonderful experience,91裸聊视频漢e said. 91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 not a task to teach them English or to bring them to things like this. They are lovely, wonderful people.91裸聊视频�
The Alliance church has people visit the family every week to chat, and teach English to Emtithal.
In turn, Emtithal is teaching her tutors a bit of Arabic.
Maher is taking classes downtown, and Barry said he91裸聊视频檚 doing 91裸聊视频渆xceptionally well.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淲e took them all down to the Waterfront Park this winter, and the kids were there climbing and play-fighting and the husband and wife got on the swings and were delighted with it all,91裸聊视频� he said, recounting a fond memory.
Work will follow when they have English down pat. Without that, he said, they won91裸聊视频檛 find work that will sustain them.
Finding employment isn91裸聊视频檛 something they fear will be impossible. The community is already embracing its newest residents.
91裸聊视频淲hen we take Emtithal out for coffee, people ask if she91裸聊视频檚 Syrian, and when they find out she is, they91裸聊视频檙e delighted,91裸聊视频� she said. 91裸聊视频淭here are people out there who are bigoted, but that is not the norm.91裸聊视频�
The children are also having a good time. One 10-year-old girl named Haya said that she was loving school, in a perfect Canadian accent. The longest she91裸聊视频檇 been able to be in classes before coming to Canada was one month.
When asked if she had made some friends, she offered an even more Canadian thumbs-up.
In addition to the smiling faces and squeals of happiness, sponsor families had countless anecdotes of children enjoying their new lives.
91裸聊视频淚f you want a nice human interest story, here91裸聊视频檚 one about our three-year-old, Abud,91裸聊视频� said Carol.
91裸聊视频淗e was given a bike and he was over the moon about it. He got up early in the morning, and somehow got outside to where his bike was.
91裸聊视频淟uckily, it was locked up, so he decided to just go to sleep next to it and that91裸聊视频檚 where his mom found him.91裸聊视频�
Syrians with sponsor groups from around the Okanagan converge once a month for a get together. While their sponsor families are doing their best to fill the gap of family and friends, one organizer of the event, pointed out they are still isolated from each other as they91裸聊视频檙e spread far apart and few have a driver91裸聊视频檚 licences.
Mounties assign officer to help with new residents
Even the local RCMP are adapting to Kelowna91裸聊视频檚 new residents.
Const. Robyn Boffy is now a 91裸聊视频渘ewcomer liaison officer.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淚 will be of assistance if any issues arise,91裸聊视频� she said at last Saturday91裸聊视频檚 potluck supper.
Top of her priorities this week will be teaching Syrian children who were recently gifted their own bicycles, the rules of the road.
91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檙e going to have a bike rodeo,91裸聊视频� said Boffy.
Training on how to work with the refugee population came out of Vancouver and Const. Boffy is the only officer in Kelowna assigned the task.
City politicians acknowledge new residents
Kelowna91裸聊视频檚 new Syrian residents were acknowledged by the city last Saturday at a potluck dinner.
Deputy Mayor Luke Stack issued a 91裸聊视频渃ertificate of welcome91裸聊视频� to each of the families who attended the potluck.
91裸聊视频淲e welcome you to B.C.,91裸聊视频� said Stack.
Kelowna, he added, strives to be fruitful in unity and in that spirit it embraces all the new Syrian residents as neighbours.
