Settlement

My name is Walida J. I am from Aleppo, Syria. I have been married for 15 years. I have three children, two boys and one girl. We moved to Lebanon in 2011 because my country was at war. We had lived in Syria until then. We stayed in Lebanon for four years. Life was so hard there, but we couldn’t go back to Syria. On January first, the United Nations offered us a chance to move to Canada. We accepted the opportunity and left Lebanon on September ninth, 2016 to start our new life in Penticton, British Columbia.

It wasn’t easy to settle in a new country with a different language and a different culture. When we first arrived, we could not communicate with anyone. We felt scared and sad, but as we started to learn English and make friends our lives got easier. During our first year in Canada, we got a lot of help from a group of sponsors. They helped my children register for school. They helped my husband find work at Rona. They also helped him to get a Canadian driver’s licence. They found a place for us to live. They found us a family doctor, and helped us to open a bank account. All of their support made our lives easier and more fun. We are now good friends with all of our sponsors.

We are very happy with our new lives in Canada. My children speak English perfectly now. They are happy at school and have made a lot of new friends. My husband likes his job. He has made a lot of friends at work too. His English is also really good. I also like my job and have made a lot of friends. My English is slowly getting better. All of us love Penticton. It is so peaceful and safe. We hope to stay here forever. It is home.

We want to say thank you to our sponsors, Canadian friends, and teachers for all their help.