Hussein and Safaa, a young Syrian couple with two small daughters, were hard at work building their lives on the family farm just east of Aleppo when the bombs started falling in 2012. With two toddlers in tow, they fled to Beirut in Lebanon, along with Hussein’s younger brother, Fawaz, his wife, Amira, and their three small sons.
Lebanon had hosted refugees for many decades, including hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who lived in camps. But as 1.5 million Syrians fled across the border to a country of barely 6 million citizens, the Lebanese government, unable or unwilling to keep up with the flow, did not create more UN refugee camps. Instead, Syrians were left to scramble precariously, most often seeking shelter among the poorest host communities.
Hussein, Fawaz and their families ended up in the struggling village of Hadatha, Lebanon, near the Israeli border. They found themselves unwelcome, with few rights and even fewer opportunities for paid work. It was not uncommon to have rocks thrown at the kids, or through their windows.
Together, Hussein and Fawaz registered with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). Both stated their interest in resettling their growing families in another part of the world. But it was only Hussein, many months later, who was randomly selected, interviewed, and approved for sponsorship by the Canadian government.
Today, our friends Hussein and Safaa are doing amazingly well in their home in the St. James neighbourhood of Winnipeg. Their older girls are strong students and avid hockey players. Safaa takes the two youngest with her to English classes every morning and Hussein has recently got his Manitoba driver’s license and is registered to begin job training in September. They are all well on their way to becoming proud, contributing Manitobans.
- some pictures of Hussein & Safaa’s family since they’ve come to Winnipeg:
But in the meantime, life for Fawaz and his family has become increasingly perilous. In September 2017, the UNCHR ran out of cash and discontinued the $27 monthly stipend they had provided for each Syrian refugee in Lebanon. With no work available, the family has found themselves with no place to live, and no longer able to provide the books, uniforms, and fees to keep their three oldest boys in school.
Using WhatsApp, which allows for free and easy communication with those half-way across the world, the two brothers have kept in touch daily ― mourning the loss of friends, family and country; sending videos of each other’s kids, sharing their trials and triumphs.
And so the question for our group became:
how can you stand by while a family you know becomes a tragic statistic?
Next: Meet Hanan’s family
Project Reunite 