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Edmonton area program helps Syrian refugees overcome ‘barrier of fear,’ trauma of water

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Syrian refugees tackle anxiety over water
WATCH ABOVE: Local canoe and kayak clubs in Edmonton held a program for Syrian refugees on Saturday to help them overcome any fear or nervousness they may have over being near or in water. Hundreds of Syrian refugees have drowned trying to escape the civil war. Julia Wong reports – Jul 23, 2016

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.

READ MORE: Canadian family holds out hope missing 5-year-old Syrian girl can be found

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.

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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.

READ MORE: The European migrant crisis is only getting worse. Here’s what you need to know

 

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.

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“These children have been living the horror of the war. They have been glued to television screens, watching these capsized boats, drowning.”

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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.

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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.

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Alaarnous and his family fled to Lebanon via bus but it has been hard to shake the negative associations of water.

“Unfortunately because of the war, water [became] the symbol of death,” he said.

“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.

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“This is a small lake. We’re not going to stay a long time so I’m not scared. [But] my father…was considering [taking us] by boat [to Lebanon] and I was really scared. Fortunately we did not take the boat,” he said.

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.

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“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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