Imagine fleeing your country under duress and landing in an unfamiliar place with a new language to learn, new cultural expectations to absorb and a new life to build from nothing.
For seven recent refugee arrivals to the Tri-Cities, the challenge was daunting but they managed.
Meet Vesal, Fereshteh, Abbas, Betul, Fariba, Heba and Suhail, who are the faces of a new campaign to raise awareness about the contributions of newcomers to community life.
“It’s a celebration,” said Abigail Cameron, manager of the Tri-Cities Local Immigration Partnership, who conducted the interviews for the ad campaign, which is being published in The Tri-City News and posted online (www.tricitieslip.ca) to coincide with Multiculturalism Week (Nov. 13 to 19).
Originally from Iran and Syria, the refugees arrived here recently, many of them in the last year, and all are making astounding progress toward their new life, said Cameron.
“You would be so surprised with how well they can communicate in English. How fantastic are they that they are so driven to learn the language and converse with everyone and to be included with society?"
Some are volunteering in the community, others are finding work or are going to school.
Vesal Amini, for example, is studying to be a pilot.
Fereshteh Torabi is studying accounting at BCIT.
Abbas Khanehzarrin is studying to be a security systems technician, also at BCIT.
Betul Nebhen was recently hired by a local company and says her favourite thing about Canada is the “lovely people who have helped me and my children so much.”
Fariba Hooshmand, who now works in retail, said initially her family faced many challenges in settling in Canada but the biggest was learning English.
“I took many language classes to help build my skills and employability,” she writes in her story.
The partnership behind the campaign, including government, social services and settlement agencies, hopes the campaign builds awareness and understanding.
“They have the same hopes and dreams we have: having a career and building a safe place to live in the community. We wanted to bring a human face to those stories.”
