Coming home from school and enjoying a quiet day is now the normal for the Hamadi family.
It’s a far cry from where the Syrian family came from. For more than two years, the family had been running for safety.
“With all his kids, two bags, two blankets. They're hopping from one abandoned building to another. They hear bombings one way; they then go the other way. Until there was no safe place in Syria,” says Ahmad Hamadi through a translator.
They also suffered another tragedy when their two-month-old son died in March, prior to arriving in Canada. With no money to pay for medical costs, they were unable to help their son.
“They said either you pay, or you’re not going in. At that time they didn't have the money. If he was alive today he would be nine months old. They wouldn't even release his body unless we paid,” says Jihan Hamadi through a translator.
Jihan and Ahmad say the memories still haunt them, but that it's getting easier.
“The most upsetting thing would be his kids never had a childhood before. All the wasted years there, but hopefully coming to Canada they're actually starting to have a childhood. They can go out and play and do stuff,” says Ahmad through a translator. “No doubt that those horrifying days are still remembered, but day-by-day you see them forgetting that.”
Thanks to a fundraising campaign, a local church and its parishioners raised more than $60,000 to bring the family to Sydney, and to provide them housing, clothes and toys.
Along with appreciating the freedom, they say they also enjoy the food.
“There are similarities between the food here and the food back home, but most of all they're enjoying the pizza,” says Ahmadthrough a translator.
They say it’s a happy ending to a journey that has had its challenges.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Kyle Moore.
