There are several notable dates in mid – March. Yes, the Ides of March is one of them but I am also thinking of Pi Day, International Women’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, and of course the day we switch to Daylight Savings Time (I am still tired). This year, for the first time, we had the National Observance of one year of the Covid pandemic. Last Thursday we held a brief ceremony on the front steps of the church to mark that day. And then there is the ten years marking the war in Syria.
On March 15, 2011 as part of the Arab Spring protests there was a protest raised in Syria against the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad. What began as a protest escalated into a civil war that has seen cities turned to ruins, the economy hobbled, thousands of men, women and children killed, and 5.6 million Syrians have fled the country is search of peace and safety.
Most of those who fled went first to Lebanon, Egypt, Iran or Turkey. Many have now made their way to places of security in Europe and approximately 75 thousand have come to call Canada home. Those who left Syria for a new life have had to build that life from scratch, often starting at menial jobs or scrambling to have credentials recognized and previous experience put to good use, not to mention learning a language, trying to understand a new culture, sometimes facing discrimination, and always, always homesick for family friends and all they left behind.
Those remaining in Syria continue to face the fears that come with conflict. The war is not over. The World Food Program has estimated that 60% of those in Syria now are at risk of going hungry. Education of the children there is severely threatened. Medical care is constantly hampered with shortages.
Here in Bracebridge it happened that yesterday, while marking the tenth anniversary of the war, we also marked the fourth anniversary of the arrival to our community of the Syrian family we sponsored, the Khaleds. I well remember the night they arrived. A handful of us took a small bus to the airport to greet them. It took a long time for all their paperwork to be reviewed until finally they burst through the doors and down the ramp into our waiting arms. We arrived back in Bracebridge in the middle of the night and it was about 20 below zero. They did not know such cold. That was only one of the many adjustments they had to make as they settled into life in Canada.
We have learned much together over these past four years, about life in Syria and their observations in Canada. It has been a journey of affection and insight for both them and us. While the situation in Syria is devastating, and has caused the break up of families, the destruction of dreams and forced so many to leave their beloved homeland, they have blessed many places in the world with their ambition, their pride, the commitment and their new citizenship. Heartbreak and gratitude go hand in hand.
