GAZETTE CHRISTMAS FUND

For Nadia and Hossein, French class lays the foundation for their family’s new life.

For Nadia, learning French is so important that she stayed in school until three days before her second child was born. Two weeks later, she was back in class.

“If you want to learn a language, you have to practice every day,” she said. “If you stop practising, you forget everything.”

Nadia, 33, is a nurse from the Middle East. She has to pass a French test before she can get her nursing equivalency to work in Canada, and she doesn’t want to waste any time.

She and her husband Hossein immigrated here a year and a half ago in search of a better future for their family.

Hossein explained that back home (for privacy reasons, they asked that the name of their home country not be identified), Nadia’s hospital shifts were so long that she would sometimes fall down from exhaustion.

He, too, worked 13-hour days, and still the family barely had enough money to get by.

“We were so tired, something had to change,” he said. “For the sake our family, we needed to go somewhere more developed.”

The couple were in for a few surprises once they arrived in Montreal.

“Everything was 180 degrees different,” Hossein said.

They quickly learned that the cost of living was much higher than what they were used to, and that their savings would not last long.

Hossein looked for work as an auto mechanic, but found that the job requirements were different here. Back home, he had specialized in engines and transmissions. In Canada, he was expected to work on every part of a car, from air conditioners to rustproofing.

He and Nadia also found that, despite having studied French before they arrived, their language skills were nowhere near good enough to find jobs here.

Nadia and Hossein are enrolled in the immigrant francization program. They depend on social assistance to support themselves and their children, a 7-year-old girl and a month-old baby boy. For now at least, money is very tight.

Their family is among the thousands who are to receive a $125 cheque from The Gazette Christmas Fund this year. The money helps families and individuals in need get through the holiday season.

Nadia and Hossein both say that they have been overwhelmed by the support they have found here.

Everyone, from government officials to landlords to people on the street, has made them feel instantly at home.

“Even though we are far away from our extended family, we have never felt alone here,” Hossein said.