‘I’m so glad ... I’m so thanking Canada’
Surrey Christmas Bureau was there for young refugee’s family, so he’s happy to return the favour by pitching in
Khaled Aldarwish is 13, but as a Syrian refugee, he has likely experienced much more than most people three times his age.
He and his parents and their other four boys and one daughter came to Canada as part of a wave of Syrians fleeing their home country, unrecognizable after years of battles for land and power by ISIS, rebel fighters and the Syrian army.
“It was lots of fighting,” said Khaled of their city of Deir ez-Zor in eastern Syria.
The scene of clashes between the Syrian army and Syrian rebels in the early years of the civil war, Deir ez-Zor was besieged by ISIS forces more than 2½ years ago. The siege was lifted by a Syrian army offensive this year, and all areas of the city and its surrounding areas were in Syrian army hands by earlier this month.
Rather than being scared or bitter, Khaled and his family are grateful to be in a new, safe country as part of the wave of 26,000 Syrian refugees welcomed to Canada, a tenth of them to B.C.
After spending three years in a refugee camp in Lebanon, they came to Canada and are living in a three-bedroom suite in the basement of their sponsoring family’s Surrey home.
His parents, Abdullah and Nadiah, warmly welcome visitors into their modest home, which has among its decorations a small ceramic Christmastree that six-year-old Mariam said her brother found and brought home. They offer guests small cups of strong cardamom-flavoured coffee and baklava and, later, sweet cinnamon tea.
Khaled is always smiling and a bit mischievous as the family poses for photos. He tells The Province’s Empty Stocking Fund why he’s so happy to help out at the Surrey Christmas Bureau, where the Aldarwishes turned for help last Christmas and this year.
Khaled became the bureau’s unofficial volunteer translator for other Syrian families visiting the bureau. He said he’s happy to be able to help out after learning of the bureau’s gifts of food, clothing, toys and gift certificates for groceries for his family.
“They are helping us so much,” said Khaled, who is in Grade 8 at Kwantlen Park Secondary. “I get some hours (of free time) and I go there because they are helping us. As much as I can, I want to help. I don’t want any money (in payment).
“I’m so glad,” he said in English. “I’m so thanking Canada for bringing us here.”
He said his father, Abdullah, is looking for work as a window washer, having lost an earlier job he had at a lumber mill. He keeps busy sweeping the large yard and driveway and arranging brick borders around the trees in the front yard.
His mother, Nadiah, keeps house for her six children, who besides Khaled, includes Hussein, 12, Mahmoud, 9, Mariam, 6, Saleh, 4, and Ibrahim, 2.
The parents are also taking English classes — “English makes my head hurt,” said a laughing Nadiah — and are grateful for the chance to bring up their family in a free country, says Khaled.
“We got to come here,” he said. “My uncle didn’t.”
“We did come to Canada because we did need help,” he said, matter of factly. “Right now, we don’t have anything.”
But that doesn’t stop Khaled from happily counting his blessings.
“I love it here,” he said. “I don’t ever want to leave this house.”
Khaled and his family are Muslims, but got used to celebrating Christmas in Lebanon, where folks set off fireworks at midnight, and are looking forward to celebrating the holiday in Canada.
And like all immigrants, Khaled is hopeful for the future, asking visitors for advice on what kind of jobs he should get, and whether he could work two jobs.
“Maybe I will work as a translator and then have my other job,” he said.
The Surrey Christmas Bureau is among the charities supported by The Province’s Empty Stocking Fund. The 2017 fundraising campaign for the fund starts today.
“As much as I can, I want to help. I don’t want any money.” — KHALED ALDARWISH SYRIAN REFUGEE