WINNIPEG — It’s been one year since Yaser Albakar and and his family arrived at the Winnipeg airport after fleeing the conflict in Syria.
The family of eight spent two years in a refugee camp in Lebanon before coming to Canada.
From adjusting to the frigid winters to learning a new language, it’s been a struggle to settle into a new country, but Yaser said his family is lucky to be here.
“Due to the Syrian crisis, my children were not able to attend school for five years. Now in Winnipeg they’ve started school and English class,” Yaser said through an interpreter.
READ MORE: Syrian refugees prepare for school in Winnipeg
Yaser is unable to work as he is recovering from an injury from a bombing back hope in Aleppo, Syria. But he is also taking English language courses, which he said is important in order for his family to start their life here.
“I would like my kids to be doctors and engineers,” he said,
That is exactly what Yaser’s 15-year-old son, Ayham, wants to do. He is on a mission to get his education and become a doctor.
Ayham loves his teachers and has made lots of news friends since moving here. He said it’s very different from his life back in Syria.
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“Over there it’s really scary before you go to sleep…. you’re really scared and you can’t sleep,” he said. “Here in Winnipeg, it’s different, you can sleep. My life has changed from Syria to here.”
Adjusting to a new world
Rita Chahal, the executive director of the Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Council, said one of the key problems for refugees is warm clothing.
“We also make sure they know the importance of wearing their winter clothes,” Chahal said.
Ayham said he remembers how cold it felt when he first experienced the winter here.
“When I first came here in Winnipeg, it was like surprise to me because it’s like really cold outside,” he said.
WATCH: Syrian refugees prepare for school in Winnipeg
Another major hurdle refugees, such as the Albakars, have to overcome is learning a new language.
“The bigger challenge is the language skills,” Chahal said. “Most of the folks who came didn’t have the English language that was needed to be successful in the work place.”
Chahal said Albakar’s children are quickly adjusting and are well on their way to learning a new language.
“I think that’s been one of the success stories in this whole operation, that the children have adjusted much better,” she said.
Syrian conflict
After almost six years of death and destruction as a result of the Syrian civil war, a cease deal has been reached in the country’s largest city, Aleppo.
READ MORE: ‘It’s like hell’: Winnipeggers watch as family and friends struggle back home in Aleppo
On Friday, thousands of civilians and rebels are expected to be evacuated from the city as part of the cease-fire deal. The evacuations seal the end of the Syrian rebels’ most important stronghold – the eastern part of the city of Aleppo – and mark a watershed moment in the country’s civil war.
Yaser said his family is closely watching the conflict from home, hoping for a peaceful resolution. It it a reminder of how far he has come since he moved to Canada.
“Our area was very dangerous between the protestors and the regime,” he said. “I went to help my cousin move from his home and when the move was finished and we came back, suddenly a plane bombed us and killed two of my cousins and hit me.”
Yaser said when he received the call from Canadian immigration, telling him that his family was welcome in Canada, he felt alive again.
“A big thanks for Canadian people for having us here,” Yaser’s son, Ayham said. “I want to stay forever.”
With files from the Associated Press
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