Families new to Calgary are celebrating the success of the Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) program and the three-week Adopt-a-Reader campaign.
Iman Aalhomsi’s three-year-old son was born in a refugee camp and her family fled the war in Syria. They have called Calgary home for the last year, building a future far better than the life they left behind.
“Where they live in Syria and stay in Lebanon, they have no opportunity to go to schools and learn,” said her translator Rana Mahmood.
Mahmood is the family’s designated home visitor. She helps them adjust to life in Canada.
The family is one of several in the HIPPY program, which encourages parents to read out loud to their young children every day–before they enter kindergarten.
“They get the knowledge and expose their kids to the new system of education in Canada,” Mahmood said.
In the spirit of one newcomer helping another, Alhomsi is spreading the word by asking another family to take part in the program.
It’s only her third month in Calgary, but Siham Hadri was happy to join and use the opportunity to give her son a fresh new start.
“After one month, we see the progress,” said Alicja Richards, who started off in the Adopt-a-Reader program and is now a HIPPY home visitor.
“You have to use language–English–if you want to interact with other people,” said Richards, who came to Canada from Poland two-and-a-half years ago.
She said she realized the importance of actually living in a new community and not merely existing in it.
“I didn’t know people; I didn’t have any friends or family. Everything changed when I met with a home visitor.”
Richards said she doesn’t feel alone anymore and is happy to pay it forward.
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