Settlement

Imagine that you are in a country that is very beautiful. You are living in a big house that has a huge garden, there are many different  kinds of trees and plants, such as palm, fig and grapes. I am from this beautiful country called Syria. Syria is much smaller than Canada, but has a large population. There is lots of water and there are many green spaces.

In Syria, we had almost everything we needed including a house and a car. I was working in a hospital as a nurse. My husband had his own business. We had all our family and friends close by. We were very happy. One day everything changed. There was bombing and shooting everywhere. It was very dangerous and very scary for us, especially for my little son who began to loose his hair from the trauma. I couldn't make it to work most days and neither could my husband. I was present when my eighteen year old cousin died. After that, we decided to leave our country.  Imagine having to leave everything behind!

With much difficulty, we were able to travel to Jordan, where we  lived for three years and three months. We rented a small space with one bedroom, one washroom and no garden. It was very expensive. My husband and I could not work there legally. We could not own a car, a house or anything else, My children, because they were refugees, could not attend a Jordanian school. There was a school for refugees but it was only in the afternoon and not very educational. The government gave us very little support. For all of us, it was a very troubled life. We felt that we had left a piece of our life behind in Syria.

Moving abroad to Canada and starting all over again seemed one of the most terrifying adventures yet. Life as we knew it would be very different. I'm not just talking about addresses and laundry detergent! Our family is now happy and I wish peace, tranquility and a safe home to everyone .