No more nightmares.
For the past two weeks, refugee family Omar Algiasena, his wife, Marwah, daughter Rahaf and twin sons Laith and Mohammed have slept soundly in their new North Okanagan home in their new city in their new country with no worries of being asked to leave.
The Algiasenas, originally from Baghdad, Iraq spent the last 10 years in the United Arab Emirates before officially being welcomed in Armstrong, sponsored by the Armstrong Spallumcheen Refugee Project (ASREP).
“From the very first person we met (at Toronto airport), we understand where we are,” said Algiasena, 35, fluent in English. “Canada is a very nice country with respectable people. We feel really good.
“It was our dream to come to a place like Armstrong, but sometimes things are even above your expectations. People have done a really wonderful job. The message from me and my family is thank you. We are safe. We have no more nightmares. This is big for us. We feel special and appreciated.”
Since arriving in town with all of their possessions crammed into five suitcases, people have been stopping the family as if Armstrong was one big Welcome Wagon.
Through the work of ASREP, the Algiasenas have a fully furnished and fully stocked house.
Rahaf, six, is enrolled for Grade 1 classes at Armstrong Elementary School. Laith and Mohammed are four, and both were running around with their sister with smiles and laughs enjoying Memorial Park as more than 125 people attended a meet and greet picnic for the family, hosted by ASREP, Sunday afternoon.
The Algiasenas did their part, bringing a delicious homemade pizza with vegetables and hot dog slices as toppings.
“Everybody is smiling when we go to the market and people already know who we are,” smiled a bewildered Algiasena. “They know me, they ask ‘how are you doing Omar?’ or ‘how are the kids?’
“My next challenge is to find a job, work very hard and give back to this wonderful community.”
Algiasena is a survey engineer, Marwah, 29, is a software engineer.
After graduating from the University of Baghdad in 2004, and with the war situation in his home country getting worse, Algiasena took a job in the oil fields in the United Arab Emirates as a chance to get out of Iraq to escape the escalating violence.
Both Omar and Marwah’s families remain in Iraq. Omar would return to visit the family, the last time being in February 2013. There, he said, he was kidnapped at the airport by people who said he was their enemy and “against them.”
“I said, ‘I don’t even know you,’” said Algiasena, who was taken onto a bus.
He said the vehicle went through three military checkpoints. At the first two, his captors said if he said anything they would kill him.
At the third, the voice inside his head said suggested to Algiasena to speak out.
“I started shouting and screaming,” he said. “The military captured them and I escaped.”
He was able to call his family to come get him and the next day, his father said he had to get out of the country. Algiasena returned to his family in the UAE.
“Our families are still in Iraq but they are happy for us; happy that we are safe,” said Marwah, whose English is not as fluent as her husband’s.
Whether you’re Iraqi or Syrian or any other refugee, immigration rules in the UAE are such that they can be removed at any time. Algiasena was told, he said, he and his family had to be out of the country by the end of June without reason.
Enter ASREP, who umbrellaed under the United Church which is pre-authorized to bring refugees to Canada.
The Algiasenas are private sponsors as opposed to government sponsors, paying their way to Canada. ASREP is responsible for the family for one year.
Canada was the Algiasenas’ first choice to start a new life.
“Everything has gone so smooth. The first people we met in Toronto (after 13-hour flight from Abu Dhabi, in the UAE) were kind and made us feel welcome,” said Algiasena. “Officers were gentle. The person who took our immigration papers said ‘please go sit, take a rest, I’ll finish your paperwork. No need to stand here, I’ll come get you.’”
“When they got off the plane in Kelowna, they ceased being refugees because they are home,” said Ron Brinnen with ASREP. “They belong here.”
The Algiasenas have made an immediate impact on their new community.
“I think we’re extremely fortunate to have this family come to Armstrong,” said Mayor Chris Pieper who, along with Brinnen, was instrumental in starting ASREP, a first for the city.
“I think they will fit in nicely.”
