Syrians hold party to thank Winnipeggers for welcome

With food, dance and music, Syrian families are marking their one-year anniversary in Manitoba on Saturday night — and they're inviting everyone as a thank you for the warm welcome.

"The biggest reason we all meet together [is] to invite all of our friends, all the organizers, all the settlement agencies who helping all the refugees to just thank them and celebrate together one year," said Nour Ali, one of the organizers.

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All are invited to the party at the Freight House Recreation Centre, which runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Ali left Syria in 2006 but welcomed his sister, Shler Ali, to the city last June. After the Kurdish siblings fled Syria they were separated for 10 years.  

"I think the biggest success, what I see right now, is the community coming together and thinking 'How will we be part of Canada? How will we be Canadian? How [will] we integrate with this country?' " Ali said.

"They like to feel Canadian."

The newcomers are also embracing a pass-it-ahead philosophy, Ali said. The idea is that once newcomers are settled, they set their sights on helping the next new person in the community.

Ali said when he came, he had a lot of help from other former refugees in the community and the Mennonite Central Committee.

"When we arrived here I asked, 'How I can give back?' [They] said, 'We never give back. We have to pass it on,' " Ali said.

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Ismail Ibrahim came to Manitoba only four months ago but is eager to start passing it forward already. He has been accompanying other newcomers as they prepare for driver's licence tests.

"They are poor in English and I can help them with that," he said.

Ibrahim was a civil engineer in Syria and helped build the 163-storey Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which is the world's tallest skyscraper. He is working hard to get his Canadian credentials to work in his profession.

"For me, I can tell you that I have a vision, I have an aim, and this is the correct place to achieve it," he said.

"The aim is to keep or to leave a mark in Winnipeg especially and Canada."

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