Syrian family's arrival at Edmonton airport becomes music jam session
David Thurton | CBC News | Posted: December 30, 2016 2:05 AM | Last Updated: December 30, 2016
Family of four is eager to escape their Syrian ‘hell’ and begin life in Canada
A Syrian refugee family started their new life in Canada on a high note Thursday evening after musicians played them a welcome song in the arrival area at Edmonton International Airport.
A guitarist, drummer and singers performed a song for Roy Abdalnor, Samar Mansour and their two sons that was more than a year in the making, Abdalnor immediately took out his violin and began playing along to a song he had never heard before.
"It was awesome," Mansour said, "I can't tell you how much I was delighted to see all these people just welcoming us."
Since 2011, over 4.5 million Syrians have fled a civil war raging in their country and, according to the federal government, almost 1,300 have settled in Edmonton since November.
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Staff and students from MacEwan University sponsored the family. Many had been waiting to greet and perform for them for over a year, including singer-songwriter Mohsin Zaman.
But finding a family comfortable with the public performance put the plan on hold, he said.
Music, the universal language
Zaman used a song to welcome the refugees because he said music is a universal language everyone understands.
"That was one of the biggest purposes behind this," Zaman said, "It was to have togetherness between a foreign land which is now going to be home for these people."
The name of the song, Marhaba, Marhaba, translates to Welcome, Welcome. The verses are in English but the chorus is in Arabic.
Zaman said they are going to perform the song for other Syrian families arriving in Edmonton.
'Thanks Canada'
Although the family was exhausted after travelling for more than a day from their refugee camp in Lebanon, they spent about an hour greeting the welcome contingent, speaking with the media and trying on winter clothing.
They also spoke about the hardships they experienced in the city of Homs where they used to live in Syria.
"It was not like hell. It was hell," Mansour said, "I wanted to live in peace."
The family now begins a long journey of settling in their new home and getting to know the community that is sponsoring them.
"It's the best place actually on the earth. Thanks Canada. Thanks for everything," Mansour said.