New Canadians

On the evening of February 21, 2017, Room for More was glad to drive out to Pearson International and welcome a family of five - mom and dad, plus three kids (9 and 5-year-old boys, and an 8-year-old girl).  They are from Damascus but have been in refugee shanty housing on the outskirts of Beirut for the last four years.

Waiting at the gate (for 1.5 hours after landing)

It had been a busy week for the group. We found an apartment near their extended family in Toronto, and furnished it almost entirely with donations from group members, friends and supporters. We had one beautiful but frustrating sofa that would not fit through the door but everything else went smoothly. Group members bought fresh bedding and towels, and someone brought a small army of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the kids' room.

Ninja Turtles ready to go on bedside table

They arrived late Tuesday night, and the children were registered for school on Wednesday and started on Thursday. The 5-year-old had a tough time his first day (he had never been to school before) but the big kids did great, and talked their little brother into going back in better spirits on Friday.  By the following weekend he was doing well enough to get an invitation to a birthday party where he apparently held his own in a dance-off (wish we had the video of that).

We have one more family waiting to cross the ocean to us, and we check on the Canadian Immigration website several times every week to see how they are doing. Still "in process" -- but we hope they will be cleared through soon.

Coming soon ...

Room for More just got the great news that our second sponsored family of Syrian newcomers will be arriving in Canada in three weeks! We understand they are very excited to be coming to Toronto, especially the kids, who have been out of school for a while now, but will be going into grades 4, 3, and junior kindergarten. We're all ready with the furniture, and trying to get the paperwork done on an apartment before they arrive, so we can get it set up for them. I think I have coats for everyone, somewhere, although I'm just guessing about the sizes... .