Why this newcomer is glad to be in Canada, even amid a pandemic

You'd think that being stuck at home with seven kids would be very difficult, but newcomer Hasan Silo wouldn't want to be anywhere else. 

In mid-March, just as Canada was shutting down schools, businesses and borders amid a growing global pandemic, Silo and his wife were celebrating a momentous anniversary: two years in Canada. 

"The Canadian government and the Canadian people, they helped me very much," Silo said. 

The couple and their seven children, ranging from three years old to 13-years-old, have been hunkering down like the rest of Canada, waiting for the country to return to some sort of normal. 

But Silo, who is a Yazidi from Iraq, is happy to be here, even though his extended family continues to live in a refugee camp, where cramped quarters and lack of proper sanitation make COVID-19 even more deadly.

"My brother and sister and parents, they are in a camp in Kurdistan. They, too, stay at home," Silo said. "They do not go outside. For them, it is hard, not like here." 

The Canadian government vowed to resettle 1,200 Yazidi refugees, an ethnic group targeted by ISIS. 

Studying English, playing games

Right now, Silo's priority is learning English. Last week, when picking up breakfast for his family through a Luso Community Services breakfast program, he stuck around and spoke to the staff members, trying to practice. 

Later that day, he had his first conversation circle via Zoom. Otherwise, the family passes the time just as everyone does, doing what they can at home. 

"All day, we sometimes play in the back garden, we study English, we play games, we write in books" Silo said. 

"I like to have my children at home with me because of coronavirus. Back home, it is very dangerous for Yazidi people. Here, it is good."