A group of Syrian refugees in Edmonton headed out on the lake Saturday to try and tackle a fear of the water.
The St. Albert Canoe and Kayak Club held a free program at Kirk Lake for approximately 50 children and 15 adults, all of whom moved to Edmonton after fleeing the civil war in Syria.
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Many of the refugees have seen boats capsize or know people who have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea while escaping the war.
In January, more than 30 Syrians drowned after their boat capsized off the coast of Turkey. Hundreds more have died as they tried to make their way to safety in Europe.
The migrant crisis drew attention last September after a photo circulated of a young Syrian boy lying lifeless on a beach. The story of Alan Kurdi brought attention to the plight of refugees trying to reach Europe from Turkey using whatever means possible.
More than 234,000 people — an estimated 80 per cent of them Syrian — have arrived in Greece by boat so far this year, according to the International Organization for Migration’s latest numbers.
Region-wide, more than 350,000 people have tried to cross the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas to Europe; as of Sept. 1, 2015, at least 2,634 have died trying to make that journey, the IOM reported.
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The IMO says drowning deaths are running at four times the rate of 2015, when many thousands daily sought to enter the European Union via Turkey by reaching one of more than a dozen offshore Greek islands, chiefly Lesbos.
Ghada Ageel, refugee support manager for Edmonton’s Islamic Family and Social Services Association, said the goal of the program is to help change the perception of water for refugees.
“Water has been a symbol for safety and, unfortunately, for many people – death,” she said.
“These children have been living the horror of the war. They have been glued to television screens, watching these capsized boats, drowning.”
Ageel said many children have trauma of being near or in water and IFSSA, along with the Canoe and Kayak Club, wanted to change that.
“We just wanted to try and help these kids get back to normality – to look at water as something for fun, for sport, for activity, to break this barrier – the barrier of fear.”
Members of the Canoe and Kayak Club help fit the refugees with life jackets, gave them instruction on how to use a paddle, then helped put them into the water.
Ahmad Alaarnous, 36, arrived in Edmonton approximately five months ago with his family.
“It was so difficult. It’s horrible to believe. It’s bombardment and shelling and we’ve been displaced,” he said about the Syrian civil war.
Alaarnous and his family fled to Lebanon via bus but it has been hard to shake the negative associations of water.
“We have heard of relatives, neighbours that could not make it and actually drowned in the water.”
He brought his family to the event on Saturday to teach his children that water can be a positive thing.
Ten-year-old Bilal Alaarnous said he was not anxious to paddle at Kirk Lake, but it has been a long journey to that feeling.
Najim Shaikhasaad, 12, arrived in Edmonton about two years ago and said his relationship with water has been scary.
“We have seen lots of people dying in water. I’ve seen it on TV, on telephones and YouTube. Lots of people are fleeing the horror of the water and drowning,” he said.
“I want to learn the skill of swimming, kayaking or canoeing because I want to be able to make it if I am in such a dangerous situation.”
-with files from The Associated Press
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