Syrian refugees

After fleeing Syria, Aiman Ali finds a new home as co-ordinator of a U of T dentistry lab

geoff.vendeville — Thu, 21 Jul 2022 19:15:52 +0000

After fleeing Syria, Aiman Ali finds a new home as co-ordinator of a U of T dentistry lab

geoff.vendeville Thu, 07/21/2022 - 15:15

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After fleeing the Syrian war, Aiman Ali came to Canada where he found a job that matches his qualifications at the Faculty of Dentistry (photo by Jeff Comber)

Rachel Boutet

Dentistry

Faculty of Dentistry

Syrian refugees

Aiman Ali and his family fled war in Syria six years ago and came to Canada in hopes of a better life. But the move to a new a country wasn't easy, especially at first.

“I came here on a Visiting Scholar Visa for six months – our transition to Canada was extremely arduous and we faced many financial difficulties at the beginning,” Ali says. “We were living cheque to cheque and it wasn’t easy to make ends meet.”

Despite having two advanced degrees in dentistry from universities in Syria and Spain – a doctor of dental surgery and PhD in oral cancer – Ali initially struggled to find a job that matched his qualifications. But earlier this year he became the manager and lab co-ordinator for the Histopathology Research Unit at the Faculty of Dentistry.

Histopathology refers to the branch of pathology dealing with tissue changes characteristic of disease. The lab uses both human and animal samples for precise experiments to determine the role of specific proteins in cells and their role in the progression of cancer and other diseases.

As manager, Ali is responsible for everything that goes on in the lab, including experiments, ordering materials and chemicals and training students and researchers to use the equipment.

Ali programming one of the automated machines in the Histopathology Research Unit (Jeff Comber)

The job put Ali and his family on firmer financial footing, and it's a good fit with his credentials, he says.

Ali took it upon himself when he arrived to modernize the lab with newer equipment so that it could provide more services, including the ability to perform immunostains experiments and full soft- and hard-tissues services for anything related to histopathology and immunohistochemistry.

“Now researchers are sending us work from Sinai and MARS because we can do it all in house,” he says. “Having the ability to deal with dental implants, mineralized tissue in the teeth, [and] bone and jaw puts us at an advantage as it’s difficult for a lot of other labs to complete.”

Ali says he's enthusiastic about using the lab's new machinery to help researchers in Canada and beyond. He says the new equipment has made the lab more efficient by automating certain procedures, thereby saving time and improving accuracy.

“Our lab is an example of the way forward in histopathology,” he says. “I’m excited to see what the future holds for this type of research.”

Syria’s White Helmets speak at U of T about their dangerous front-line work and preparing for life after war

Romi Levine — Wed, 10 Apr 2019 20:50:07 +0000

Syria’s White Helmets speak at U of T about their dangerous front-line work and preparing for life after war

Romi Levine Wed, 04/10/2019 - 16:50

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The White Helmets, a Syrian emergency first-responder group, are on the scene in the city of Douma following reported air strikes (photo by Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP via Getty Images)

Romi Levine

Topic

Global Lens

Faculty of Arts & Science

Global

Graduate Students

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

Syria

Syrian refugees

The day after speaking to a room of students, faculty members and policy-makers at the ��Ƶ, Muneer Mustafa planned to make his way back to Syria where he will return to the front lines of a war that is now in its eighth year.

Mustafa, a former firefighter, is a volunteer with Syrian Civil Defense – also known as the White Helmets. The group is made up of thousands of volunteers across Syria who are first on the scene when disaster strikes in rebel-held regions of the country. The work is dangerous, often involving navigating the aftermath of barrel bombs dropped by Syrian and Russian planes. That includes combing through the rubble to find survivors and retrieve the dead.

“The ‘civil’ part of the civil defence was quite important,” Mustafa told a packed boardroom on Monday at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, as translated by political science PhD student Jamal Mansour.

“These are volunteers that come from all walks of life: doctors, pharmacists but also carpenters and regular folk who felt it incumbent upon themselves to actually go and step up and give these services where they're needed, where they were not available.”

The White Helmets are also targets – painted by President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and its Russian counterparts as enemies of the state, and attacked by the Islamic State, which, until recently, occupied parts of the country. The group says over 250 volunteers have been killed since 2013.

Members of the White Helmets were at U of T to talk about their work, the situation in Syria and the lives of those displaced by the civil war at an event organized by Munk’s Global Migration Lab.

“The Syrian civil war, and the displacement crisis as a result, touches on all of the aspects of our research,” said Craig Damian Smith, the lab's associate director.

From populist governments using the refugee crisis as a political leg up, to how the international community will tackle displacement crises in the future, Smith said the Syrian civil war has wide-ranging and long-lasting implications for the international community.

In addition to Mustafa, speakers at the event included White Helmets volunteers Majed Al Khalf and Maysoon Al Masri, as well as Farouq Habib, who works with the White Helmets in his role as the Syrian program director at the Mayday Rescue Foundation. The not-for-profit foundation supports first-responders in conflict zones.

(From left) Al Khalf, Mustafa, Al Masri, and Habib share their experiences at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy on the downtown Toronto campus (photo by Dhoui Chang)

Raed Al Saleh, who leads the White Helmets, was scheduled to attend the event after participating in talks in Ottawa, but cut his Canadian visit short in order to manage teams on the ground in Syria.

In a video message, Al Saleh stressed the White Helmets’ ultimate goal: “Our main mission is to save as many lives as possible.”

The group says they have saved more than 100,000 people, at great risk to their own safety.

“You’re faced with one of two existential questions at the moment that you’re heading to do your job: Do I save the other person’s life, or do I put my own life in danger and forfeit my own presence on this earth?” said Al Khalf, as translated by Mansour. “The decision has been consistent – to save other lives even at the expense of our own.”

Al Masri, one of the first female White Helmets, recently arrived in Canada after a tumultuous journey through Syria and into Jordan.

The former journalist was part of a group of White Helmets and their families who were evacuated from Syria in July, when they found themselves at ground zero of an aggressive Syrian government offensive.

Al Masri described her experience of being separated from her family as she awaited the green light to leave the country, and narrowly escaping attacks by government forces and Islamic State.

While Al Masri was on the run, Habib says he and his team frantically called and lobbied diplomats from other countries to ensure a safe passage out of Syria.

“The hardest part of this was waiting because you were never sure if you were actually going to make it or not,” Al Masri said, as translated by Mansour.

At the 11^th hour, Al Masri made it out of the country and, eventually, to a Jordanian refugee camp, where she said the conditions were “squalid.” She described her time there as “90 days in hell.”

Al Masri was eventually taken to Canada – and is now living in Hamilton, Ont. She said crossing the border into Canada was the first time she felt dignity and respect. Now, things are looking up, she said, adding that she’s seeing specialists to help with trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder.

More than half of the Syrian population is now displaced within Syria, in neighbouring countries or around the world. But countries like Lebanon are pushing for the return of refugees to Syria.

“States around the region that are hosting large populations of refugees are now agitating for them to go home to Syria,” said Smith.

“How the international community responds to the political pressure, to the dwindling humanitarian aid and the informal ways that states around the region would like to compel people to go home – to go back to Syria – will have significant impacts on the future of international protection and the international refugee regime.”

Mustafa said the White Helmets are doing their part in Syria to create post-conflict programs in an effort to help civilian society regenerate itself when the war nears its end. He said the group is supportive of refugees returning home if there is viable peace.

For the students in attendance, particularly those interested in global affairs and public policy, the U of T event provided an opportunity to hear real stories behind the events that dominate headlines, Smith told U of T News.

“This is a defining issue of our time,” he said. “Hearing from people who are humanizing what can be quite abstract stories given the scale of the violence and destruction in Syria, I think is crucially important.”

Tarun Sharatkumar, who is working on a master’s degree in global affairs, said the event was a reminder that being a policy-maker means connecting directly with those who are affected by your decisions.

“For me, the biggest takeaway was that, more than talking or saying what you think, it's more important to listen.”

At a student reception following the event, the crowd heard from Firas Shapsough Rajab, who left Syria in 2012 to live in Turkey and often worked alongside Syrian front-line workers. He came to Canada in August and is in his first year of the Master of Global Affairs program.

Rajab had a poignant message for his fellow students in attendance.

“We shouldn’t disconnect ourselves from the face of humanity, how these things happen on the ground,” he said. “Not only in Syria but you have many places around the world where refugees are under extreme situations and policy-makers, as much as they want to make the right decisions, usually they make the efficient decision.

“These kinds of interactions are what brings us up to the next level – which is the right decision.”

U of T music student to conduct Syrian children's choir that is staying in Canada over border worries

geoff.vendeville — Tue, 26 Jun 2018 15:24:50 +0000

U of T music student to conduct Syrian children's choir that is staying in Canada over border worries

geoff.vendeville Tue, 06/26/2018 - 11:24

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau surprises the Nai Children's Choir as they perform in the rotunda on Parliament Hill in 2016 (photo courtesy of Adam Scotti)

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Subheadline

Nai Children's Choir will be performing at the Aga Khan Museum on Canada Day

A choir made up of Syrian children will stay in Canada rather than risk getting caught up in the Trump administration's travel ban on mostly Muslim countries.

The Nai Children's Choir, a group of about 40 Syrian kids aged 5 to 13, was asked to perform at a choral festival in Washington, D.C., but turned down the invitation out of concern for the children's ability to travel to the U.S. and back.

Instead, the choir and its guest conductor Hussein Janmohamed, a PhD student in music education at the ��Ƶ, will perform on Canada Day at the Aga Khan Museum.

Many of the choir's members are refugees and some immigrated to Canada just two months ago. The program for their Sunday concert, titled “This World is Possible,” includes the national anthem, folkloric Arabic pieces and a traditional South African song as a tribute to Nelson Mandela.

Janmohamed has been involved with the choir for over a year, as a guest conductor and artistic adviser. He was commissioned to write a piece, called “Rise Children, Rise to Peace,” which will premiére this weekend.

“We want to sing a song that says, 'Thank you, Canada,'” he says. “We're so happy to be here and make this our home.”

Syrian-American rapper and activist Mona Haydar will join the choir on stage.

One parent, Hadeel Abou Ishmes, told the Canadian Press that her two children were upset about not being able to share their music with choirs from around the world at Serenade! Choral Festival in Washington.

But Fei Tang, the general manager of the choir, says she didn't want to “risk the children's mental health” if they were refused entry to the U.S. or if other complications arose.

The ban – which was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-4 ruling on Tuesday – restricts travel from Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, and Somalia, as well as Venezuela and North Korea.

While the children won't be travelling to the festival, they recorded a video of their performance that will be screened in the U.S. capital. A livestream of the festival while the video is playing will be shown at the concert at the Aga Khan Museum, so they can watch themselves perform.

Participating in the choir, Tang says, has helped the kids feel more at home in Canada and given them another opportunity to speak their language and connect with their heritage.

Janmohamed, who is Ismaili Muslim of South Asian descent, says being part of a choir while growing up in western Canada helped him deal with racism and discrimination. He says he wants to help the members of the Nai Children's Choir find the same sense of community while celebrating their traditions.

“We don't need a visa to celebrate our diversity and multiculturalism,” Janmohamed says.

New York Times, U of T team up to talk about Toronto's emerging Syrian food scene

Romi Levine — Mon, 15 Jan 2018 17:24:04 +0000

New York Times, U of T team up to talk about Toronto's emerging Syrian food scene

Romi Levine Mon, 01/15/2018 - 12:24

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Jala Alsoufi, a U of T alumna, opened Soufi's in 2017 – a Syrian street food restaurant on Queen Street West (all photos by Romi Levine)

Topic

Torontonians are obsessed with food. They stand in lines the length of city blocks to try Japanese tarts, share their meals religiously on Instagram and are on the constant lookout for the city’s hidden culinary gems.

It’s something Jala Alsoufi noticed as soon as she arrived in Canada from Saudi Arabia in 2012.

“It was definitely pleasantly surprising when I moved here to find that there were so many cuisines and cuisines I would have never imagined trying back home,” she says.

Alsoufi, who was born in Damascus, Syria, moved to Toronto to attend the ��Ƶ where she studied architecture and psychology, graduating in 2016. The rest of her family immigrated a few years later.

Noticing a lack of Syrian food available at the time, Alsoufi and her family decided to open a restaurant on a trendy stretch of Queen Street West called Soufi’s.

Two years after Syrian refugees began arriving in Toronto, a Syrian food scene is slowly starting to emerge with a handful of restaurants, cafés and caterers – a trend that has attracted the attention of the New York Times.

Alsoufi joined fellow Syrian restaurateurs as well as the New York Times’ food editor Sam Sifton and reporter David Sax for an event on Jan. 15 organized by U of T and the Times.

A Toronto Tasting With the Times explored the emergence of Syrian cuisine in Toronto, following an article written by Sax on the topic – the first of a series of stories about Canadian food.

“The emergence of Syrian cooking illuminates an immigrant community’s integration into the broader population, and the bridge that food can build to a new life,” writes Sax in the Times’ article.

Considering half of Torontonians were born outside of Canada, the city's food scene is as diverse as its population.

“There's no question that delicious food does a better job of greasing the skids of acceptance of immigrant groups than anything else I can think of,” Sifton says. “You see this in Toronto; we've seen it over waves of immigration in the States as well.”

While Alsoufi has enjoyed introducing Syrian cuisine to Toronto foodies, Syrian immigrants are also a big customer base for Soufi’s, arriving in big groups from Scarborough and Vaughan to eat the restaurant’s street food-style fare, she says.

“It's so nice to see and so nice to hear positive feedback from them because they know what they're talking about,” she says.

Most of Alsoufi’s staff are Syrian newcomers too, some of whom arrived in Canada as recently as six months ago.

Restaurants like Soufi’s serve as an important part of the city’s broader cultural identity.

“A lot of the vibrancy of the city, the social vitality of the city, the economic viability of the city revolves around food but more specifically, around the integration of immigration and food,” says Kenneth MacDonald, an associate professor of human geography at U of T Scarborough who spoke at Monday’s event.

MacDonald is also part of the faculty at the Culinaria Research Centre at U of T Scarborough, which studies the intersection of food and culture.

While reporting can reach a wide audience, the academic study of food is crucial to the way we understand the role of food in a city, says Sifton.

“The fact of the matter is that if left to their own devices, cities would simply consume the food and move on and never really think about how it arrived, why it's important, and what role it plays in the larger understanding of a city's fabric,” he says. “It's my job to eat some food and ask some questions, but the academics help explain what the ultimate effect of this over time is on the rise or indeed the fall of a city.

“I’m tremendously grateful to academics who do that.”

Celebrating a U of T initiative: Volunteers taught English to young Syrian newcomers and gained lasting friendships in return

ullahnor — Fri, 13 Oct 2017 04:00:00 +0000

Celebrating a U of T initiative: Volunteers taught English to young Syrian newcomers and gained lasting friendships in return

ullahnor Fri, 10/13/2017 - 00:00

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Syrian newcomer Hanen Nanaa (left) and U of T student Muriam Fancy (right) are both members of the university's Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations-Cultural Exchange and Support Initiative (photos by Noreen Ahmed-Ullah)

Noreen Ahmed-Ullah

Topic

City & Culture

Faculty of Arts & Science

Hart House

Humanities

Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations

Syrian refugees

It began with the germ of an idea: ��Ƶ students wanted to do something to help young Syrians newly arriving in Canada as refugees.

Almost two years later, the small initiative started by students in U of T's Near and Middle Eastern civilizations department with volunteers reaching out to refugees at their hotels has blossomed into a full-blown program of Saturday workshops and field trips that has helped more than 150 Syrian newcomers. The language and cultural exchange taps into a volunteer corps of 200 people – students from across the three campuses, community members, faculty and a roster of 160 Arabic translators.

Last week, the Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations-Cultural Exchange and Support Initiative (NMC-CESI) celebrated how far it's come with an evening of music, food, speeches and art at Hart House.

“When the government started talking about accepting Syrian refugees, my friend Rob asked how could we help. We’re not able to help people inside [Syria]. We should at least help the people coming here. We decided to do something,” recalled Rasha Elendari, co-founder and president of NMC-CESI, as she spoke to a crowd of supporters, U of T student volunteers and Syrian newcomers.

“We had no idea how long the initiative would last – half a year, one year. It kept growing and growing. And now, look at how far we have come.”

Some of the Syrian newcomers in the NMC-CESI program display their artwork at the Oct. 6 reception. The group is hoping to organize an exhibit of their works at a later date

At the weekly workshops, Syrian youths learn English and U of T students brush up on their Arabic. Some of the young Syrians are enrolled in full-time, English-language programs. At least one started classes this year at U of T Scarborough, and some have found jobs.

NMC-CESI focuses on young people aged 18 to 25, a critical age for refugees because they are trying to learn a new language, finish high school and pursue universities and colleges.

“We wanted to make sure that they have a community where they could feel belonging and interact with Canadian students their age to get assistance about applications, other important tests, and in return, they would exchange language and culture with the students who are learning Arabic and specializing in various Middle Eastern studies,” Elendari said.

U of T student helps arrange free eye exams for Syrian refugees

ullahnor — Fri, 05 May 2017 18:54:46 +0000

U of T student helps arrange free eye exams for Syrian refugees

ullahnor Fri, 05/05/2017 - 14:54

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The Malaks are a Syrian family who came to Canada after three years in a refugee camp. They received eye exams at the Kensington Eye Institute last weekend as part of a free clinic organized by a U of T student and faculty (photo courtesy of institute)

Jim Oldfield

Author legacy

Jim Oldfield

Topic

Tarek Bin Yameen, a second-year student at U of T’s Faculty of Medicine, has helped organize clinics to provide free eye exams for more than 600 Syrian refugees across the GTA.

Last weekend, dozens of U of T medical students and faculty came to Kensington Eye Institute to provide free eye exams for Syrian refugees. Altogether, they saw 113 patients and identified many for followups – 28 for vision correction and 12 for referral to a specialist.

About half the families who attended arrived in Canada in the last few weeks, and many have never received eye care.

“There is a really high need in this population,” said Bin Yameen, whose family spent time in a refugee camp in Yemen before coming to Canada in 2001. “We’ve seen rates of visual impairment or disease of almost 35 per cent in our clinics, compared to less than 10 per cent in the general Canadian population.”

Dr. Myrna Lichter, Professor Sherif El-Defrawy, chair of ophthalmology and vision sciences, and Tarek Bin Yameen (photo courtesy of Kensington Eye Institute)

U of T study looks at Syrian moms adjusting to life in Canada as refugees

Romi Levine — Mon, 01 May 2017 19:15:24 +0000

U of T study looks at Syrian moms adjusting to life in Canada as refugees

Romi Levine Mon, 05/01/2017 - 15:15

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Assistant Professor Neda Maghbouleh and a team of sociologists are studying the experience of Syrian mothers in Canada (photo by Romi Levine)

Romi Levine

Author legacy

Romi Levine

Topic

When the first Syrian refugees began arriving in Canada in 2015, ��Ƶ sociologists Neda Maghbouleh, Ito Peng and Melissa Milkie were determined to use their expertise to help the newcomers settle into their new country.

“As sociologists, we have a professional commitment to helping serve this community,” says Maghbouleh, an assistant professor at U of T Mississauga.

Thanks to a joint program between Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) the trio were given funding to study the impact of migration on the mental health of Syrian mothers. They've interviewed 43 Syrian mothers in Toronto and the Peel region who began arriving in Canada in November 2015.

Their research shows that many of the mothers have been dealing with the loss of those they left behind, and that there has been a disparity between the government-sponsored and privately sponsored refugees.

“Government-assisted refugees are reporting far fewer interactions with everyday Canadian people,” Maghbouleh says. “Their social networks are clearly much less expansive. Their worlds are more narrow. Their window into the city of Toronto appears to be very limited.”

Researchers hope their findings will assist practitioners like settlement workers and English teachers in better understanding how to assist Syrian newcomers adjust to life in the a new city.

“That’s a deep honour for us to provide this forum for agencies and the broader Canadian public to hear these women's stories in their own words,” says Maghbouleh, who studies immigrant populations from the Middle East in North America.

“What’s cool is I don't think this was anything any of us could have done individually, but together, we are capable of doing something positive.”

Peng is a professor of sociology and public policy at U of T’s downtown Toronto campus and is the Canada Research Chair in Global Social Policy. Milkie is a sociology professor at U of T Mississauga and an expert in gender, health and stress in parenting.

Some of the mothers expressed a sense of relief, having finally arrived in Canada, Maghbouleh says, recalling one of the mothers who said: “as soon as we got to Canada, my soul relaxed.”

“The idea of her soul relaxing – I think that really brought the urgency of this It wasn't just that she was actually physically safe, but her whole being was able to relax in a way she hadn't for several years.”

Researchers expected there to be challenges faced by the mothers when integrating their children into schools, but the findings painted a different picture.

“There were resources in place to solve those concerns, whether it was privately sponsored refugees who had sponsors step in to help mediate, or schools actually had translators or people in place to help,” Maghbouleh says.

The second phase of interviews are currently underway. Many of the mothers have now been in Canada for over a year.

“For them there have been significant disruptions – they've had to move out of apartments that were secured for them either through the government or their private sponsors – there's been a sense of upheaval,” says Maghbouleh.

Maghbouleh hopes this research will encourage community groups to connect these mothers with Torontonians who came as refugees from other countries in order to help them learn about how to adjust to life in the city, while maintaining cultural values.

“There can be a sense of solidarity across these different groups from different nationalities, different backgrounds. But at the same time, there are actual lessons, tips and tricks, and a lot to be learned and gained by creating that kind of dialogue and facilitating these connections.”

U of T choir sings songs of peace and inclusivity to support Syrian refugees

Romi Levine — Wed, 29 Mar 2017 18:27:03 +0000

U of T choir sings songs of peace and inclusivity to support Syrian refugees

Romi Levine Wed, 03/29/2017 - 14:27

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U of T's Spirit Singers will perform in support of Syrian youth (photo by Romi Levine)

Romi Levine

Author legacy

Romi Levine

Topic

City & Culture

Syrian refugees

Faculty of Arts & Science

Multi-Faith Centre

Near and Middle-Eastern Civilizations

Culture

Global

International

In a dimly lit room at ��Ƶ’s Cumberland House, a group of about 15 students belt out an upbeat South African hymn called “Siyahamba”.

They sing in Zulu and in English, but for many neither language is their mother tongue. The U of T students are members of the Spirit Singers choir – a choral group organized by U of T’s Multi-Faith Centre.

“The choir is a wonderful mix of Canadian domestic students and international students, including students here on short-term exchanges,” says Richard Chambers, director of the Multi-Faith Centre.

“We have students from Lindsay, Ont., exchange students from Hong Kong, international students from France and students from Montreal. It's really a fascinating mix.”

This Saturday, the Spirit Singers will be performing alongside community choir Common Thread for “Would You Harbour Me?” a concert in support of a U of T initiative that works with young Syrian refugees in Toronto.

Below: Spirit Singers perform "Would you harbor me" at a recent rehearsal

“It's turned into a wonderful project of youth supporting youth supporting youth – U of T students coming together to make music to support other U of T students working with Syrian youth and students,” says Chambers.

The performance will raise money for the Cultural Exchange and Support Initiative (NMC-CESI) created by students and faculty in the department of Near & Middle Eastern civilizations. NMC-CESI holds weekly workshops and activities for Syrian youth to help them learn English and settle into life in Canada.

U of T student reunited with family from Syria thanks to support from Toronto-area Muslims and Jews

ullahnor — Wed, 25 Jan 2017 17:20:07 +0000

U of T student reunited with family from Syria thanks to support from Toronto-area Muslims and Jews

ullahnor Wed, 01/25/2017 - 12:20

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Rasha Elendari, a PhD student of Middle Eastern archaeology, analyzes ceramics (photo courtesy of Rasha Elendari)

Peter Boisseau

Author legacy

Peter Boisseau

Topic

City & Culture

Syrian refugees

Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations

Faculty of Arts & Science

Newly reunited with her family who fled from Syria, and grateful for the welcome they’ve received in the city she considers her new home, U of T PhD student Rasha Elendari is feeling inspired by love, even as she tries to dispel hate and fear.

A flood of media coverage about Elendari and her family, who were reunited through the collaboration of Toronto-area Muslims and Jews, has generated hundreds of messages of support and well wishes, but also some expressions of intolerance and mistrust.

Elendari says she reads the negative comments – even the nastiest ones – without taking it personally.

“I understand why these people are feeling this way, and I don’t blame them,” says Elendari, a PhD student of Middle Eastern archaeology at the Faculty of Arts & Science. “They see some psychopath do something, and it’s all over the news. They have a right to be scared. We shouldn’t ignore them and call them racists. We should listen and educate them.”

That’s why Elendari is embracing the publicity around her family’s story even though she did not seek it out. In her eyes, the same media that often fans the flames of hatred also has a tremendous power to build bridges.

“The media here are doing a great thing by introducing the Syrian newcomers to Canadians. It’s for a good cause, and it shows beautiful things like the collaboration between the mosque and the synagogue.”

Another collaboration Elendari is excited about is the organization she runs at the department of Near & Middle Eastern civilizations and Victoria College called the Cultural Exchange and Support Initiative, or NMC-CESI, which is funded by the Faculty of Arts & Science.

Media coverage of the group has generated emails from envious Americans despairing about their own country and its new president, and offers of help from all over Toronto and Canada.

It’s just one of the bridge-building activities Elendari is juggling as she works to complete her studies, spread awareness about Syrians and now, help her family integrate into Canadian society and the city she loves for its diversity.

She moved here in 2012 after completing her master’s degree in the United States on a Fulbright scholarship. She was immediately struck by the differences she observed between Canada and America.

“In the U.S., people need to follow a certain norm in order to feel included and accepted,” says Elendari. “But here, you see all these ethnic neighbourhoods like Chinatown and Little Italy, and yet the people are still so Canadian.”

Elendari almost didn’t get to experience her new Canadian home. She wanted to go back to Syria when the war broke out, but her family convinced her to stay. Now she’s taken on the responsibility of helping them since their arrival in Toronto on Jan. 10th, a reunion that was filmed by CBC’s The National.

Read CBC story

It’s early, but she’s confident it won’t take them too long to start contributing to Canadian society.

Her sisters and brothers-in-law are already starting to practise their various professions, from filmmaking to pharmacy. Her parents, who were well-known as teachers and humanitarian workers in Syria, are eager to start learning English.

“They are educated and accomplished people, but they’ve come to a new country, and now they feel ignorant. It will take them a little longer, but they are hard-working and they want to be active,” she says, noting her father is always peppering her with questions about the nuances of English grammar.

In the meantime, Elendari continues her studies on fourth-millennium BC Mesopotamia, even as some of the most precious sites are being destroyed by the region’s fighting.

She can also relate to what some Canadians may be feeling now about the influx of newcomers from the Middle East.

A million Iraqis poured into Syria fleeing the war that started in their country in 2003, and met with some resentment for the pressure they put on an already poor country.

“Many Syrians were annoyed, but nobody said to close the door. Now, when people feel the same way here, we know where it comes from,” Elendari says.

“I am hoping those people will try to talk to Syrians and decide for themselves if they really are terrorists, or just normal people who are running away from terror.”

Finding home: U of T students carve space for Syrian newcomers

lavende4 — Wed, 19 Oct 2016 14:25:11 +0000

Finding home: U of T students carve space for Syrian newcomers

lavende4 Wed, 10/19/2016 - 10:25

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Photo by Rasha Elendari

Veronica Zaretski

Author legacy

Veronica Zaretski

Topic

Global Lens

Syrian refugees

Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations

Faculty of Arts & Science

On an otherwise quiet Saturday afternoon, laughter erupts and carries down the hall at the department of Near and Middle Eastern civilizations.

The source? A group of about 30 young Syrians, who recently came to Canada as refugees from the war-torn country.

They gather every Saturday for workshops led by U of T students to practice English, eat home-cooked Syrian food and develop the foundations to start their new lives in Canada. Sometimes, participants stay indoors, working in groups. Other times, they head outdoors for picnics and sports.

“The best day is the day when I am at the workshops,” says Yazan, a 21-year-old who came to Canada in February. Like many students in the group, Yazan asked to be identified by a first name only – to protect family back home.

The workshops are organized by the Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations-Cultural Exchange and Support Initiative (NMC-CESI), which is a volunteer effort started by a group of students and faculty at the Near and Middle Eastern civilizations department of the Faculty of Arts & Science. The workshops are meant to raise awareness about the ongoing issues in Syria and the Middle East, and to help Syrian newcomers settle into their new country.

The Syrian newcomer program was featured on CBC

Yazan moved here with his mother and brother after spending three years as a refugee in Jordan, where he says he worked gruelling, 14-hour days in a restaurant. Going to school was out of the question.

He speaks in English and sometimes in Arabic, translated by U of T PhD student Ian Costa, one of a number of graduate students who began the NMC-CESI.

“Because of the war, I couldn’t continue living in Syria,” he says. “Before the war, there was a stable life.”

Yazan says that since he began to attend the NMC-CESI workshops, organizers such as Costa, PhD student Rasha Elendari, Robert Martin and other Syrian-Canadians have provided a place where the newcomers and U of T students can learn from each other, together.

“When I came to Canada, I met Rasha and everyone here, and they told me not to worry,” he says, recalling his fears about moving to a new place and how little he knew about Toronto or Canada when he arrived.

The student-lead program was also featured in The Toronto Star

Karam, a 24-year-old who arrived in Toronto via Lebanon, is keen on building his future, despite the difficulties of the past.

Read the Metro News story about the program

In 2011, he had tried to enroll at the University of Aleppo but to study in a Syrian university he would have needed a certificate that showed that he was enrolled in the army.

“It was a complicated and very difficult life,” he says.

Karam arrived in Canada in April after spending five years in Lebanon. But even in a refugee camp in Lebanon, he was not free from danger, Karam says.

“Hezbollah kidnapped me four times, and I survived,” he says. “They left me in forests. The last time I escaped, they told me that they would take me to hell.”

The purpose of the kidnappings, he says, was to get Syrian civilians back into Syria to serve in the Syrian army.

“Every night when I go to sleep, I think, ‘Wow, I am safe. But other people, lots of Syrian people are stuck in Lebanon,’” Karam says. “They can’t move everywhere. That’s really bad.”

It's also been difficult for him to be away from family. Karam lives in Toronto by himself.

“I heard about the language exchange between Arabic and English, and I thought that sounds amazing,” he says. “We have fun every Saturday.”

He wants to apply to study business administration in Toronto after he finishes his high school certificate – he could not bring his certifications from Syria here. In the meantime, he is working on his computer programming and guitar playing skills.

“I’m working part-time and have a small income from the government but next year I will take a full-time job at night," he says. "In the daytime, I will study.”

Read about other U of T efforts for Syrian refugees

The path to a new future is one many of the attendees are embarking on, supported by the NMC-CESI volunteers. Organizers for NMC-CESI were able to secure a scholarship for Yazan to attend the Study English in Canada program for six months.

The NMC-CESI workshops also create a social network that can be invaluable.

“I met so many people through [the workshops], I have all of these friends now,” Yazan says.

Heba, an 18-year-old, moved to Toronto more than a year ago, also via Lebanon. She is the oldest of four kids in her family.

In an interview translated by Costa, Heba says that her father had special medical needs, and that her family was accepted to Canada a year after applying for asylum through the United Nations.

“When I first came to Canada, I didn’t know the language, but that has gotten easier when I started to go to school and make friends,” she says. “When you know the language, life becomes a lot easier”.

Heba says she would like to become a doctor.

“The workshops helped me meet friends in a new, different country, and helped me to communicate with Canadian people,” she says.

And the volunteers have gained something too.

"It's like coming every Saturday to see your friends," says Costa.

Syrian refugees

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U of T music student to conduct Syrian children's choir that is staying in Canada over border worries

New York Times, U of T team up to talk about Toronto's emerging Syrian food scene

Celebrating a U of T initiative: Volunteers taught English to young Syrian newcomers and gained lasting friendships in return

Read more about Elendari

Read more about NMC-CESI

U of T student helps arrange free eye exams for Syrian refugees

Read more about Bin Yameen at U of T Magazine

Read more of the story

U of T study looks at Syrian moms adjusting to life in Canada as refugees

U of T choir sings songs of peace and inclusivity to support Syrian refugees

Read more about NMC-CESI

U of T student reunited with family from Syria thanks to support from Toronto-area Muslims and Jews

Read CBC story

Read more about Elendari's group

Finding home: U of T students carve space for Syrian newcomers

The Syrian newcomer program was featured on CBC

The student-lead program was also featured in The Toronto Star

Read the Metro News story about the program

Read about other U of T efforts for Syrian refugees