Welcoming Syrian Migrants
The Syrian migrant project started with a call to Carol Swallow from Zane
Cohen: “Would the Division of General Surgery be interested in sponsoring a
Syrian family?”. Carol gave enthusiastic approval. Carol and Zane then sent a
note to members of the Division, including both the staff and the residents,
listing the requirements as defined by “Lifeline Syria”, a non-governmental
organization (NGO):
- A committed group
- $27,000 to support the incoming family for one year.
Lifeline Syria was launched in June of 2015 and incorporated as a not-forprofit
in September of 2015 in response to the ongoing humanitarian refugee
crisis, to assist sponsor groups to welcome and resettle Syrian refugees as
permanent residents in the GTA. The organization is committed to helping
Syrian refugees settle in Canada.
Carol and Zane polled the Division and received an
immediate positive response. Some did raise the question
whether it was appropriate to bring in more people when
we have indigenous and homeless people already here,
but a Committee formed quickly and began making contributions,
mostly small donations. The Division quickly
raised $35,000. Zane Cohen describes the preparations:
“The next step was to break up into specific task
forces to organize an apartment, food, look after language
issues, and arrange for transportation and guidance
of the family around the city. The residents held a
raffle for tickets to a Raptors game, a Jays game, and a
Leafs game. These tickets were provided by Maple Leafs
co-owner Larry Tannenbaum, a member of the Mount
Sinai Hospital board. Lifeline Syria gave the group a
choice between a government sponsored family, or a
family with a Syrian relative here in Canada. We chose
the latter. The mother of our sponsored family is the
sister of a Syrian Canadian in Toronto. The father works
in Human Relations in Syria. There are 2 boys ages 12
and 10. The sponsoring brother worked for Rogers on
wireless systems. Everyone wanted to know the story of
the family. They were bombed out of their home, fled to
Turkey, and then came to Toronto on February 28, 2017.
Zane contacted the philanthropic Latner family who
helped by providing an apartment on Dunfield Ave. near
Yonge and Eglinton. “The Committee organized donations
of furnishings for the apartment. Shiva Jayaraman
provided a bedroom set. Jim and Mari Rutka provided
plates, place settings and chairs. Furniture was moved
at no charge by Polanski movers. It was not necessary
to buy anything except for a couch. Everything else
was contributed by members of the Division. Sav Brar
provided room for collecting the donated furniture and
appliances at his home. Everybody, especially residents,
picked up and helped store the donations. Resident Rod
Turzer provided a pick-up truck.
“The next step is to settle them in”, says Zane. “We
have great organization. Carol’s assistant Faryal Mehboob
was an organizing force. Lifeline Syria will direct the new
arrivals to establish channels for English classes, school
and emergency needs. These and other private sponsors
will take Justin Trudeau’s promise of 25,000 placements
to well over 30,000 just within the Toronto area.
“The one year contract with the Latner family expired
and they did not arrive until one year later so the apartment
was left barren with all the furnishings. The Latner
family have renewed this for another year on a pro-bono
and that is quite generous of them to do that. They
finally arrived at Pearson on February the 28th. I picked
them up along with Hala Muadi, one of our surgical
residents. There was an incredible response, particularly
from our residents, eight of whom speak Arabic, as well
as from Najma Ahmed. I also had Salah Metwaly, my IT
person at our Digestive Diseases Centre meet them. We
had three cars there. They had 12 suitcases and they were
unbelievably grateful, crying, and very relieved. It was
quite an emotional scene at the airport.
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“We took them to their apartment and we have
worked with them, a number of us, on various aspects.
First and foremost, we took them shopping. Najma
Ahmed organized a Halal dinner and we found them a
community centre where they could pray. Importantly,
the parents had full assessments done by one of the
Toronto Community Centres that placed them in an
English as a Second Language school at Eglinton and
Yonge, nearby to where they live. The mother has some
English background and in fact, in school she took
some courses in English literature. The father speaks less
English. They have been put at level 5 and 4 respectively
and they are in school every day and they have to get up
to a level 8 before we can really try to find a job for them.
“As far as the children are concerned, they are 12 and
16, both boys. The 12 year old was placed at Hodgson
Public School and he integrated almost immediately
and has a ton of friends already. It was a different story
for the older boy who needed to be assessed as far as his
skills were concerned. His home school was chosen to
be Forest Hill but they didn’t have a specialized program
for him to catch up and, therefore, for the next few
months he goes to George Harvey, which is at Keele
and Eglinton. They are fully aware of the transportation
system in the city. When they arrived they were given
permanent residence status as well as federal health cards
and have already applied for OHIP. They have opened a
bank account. We do give them a certain allotment each
month and they have a credit card as well. They have a
television that they are watching for English language as
well as learning from the internet. In my opinion, they
are doing very well and the kids in particular, are being
integrated into the system. The parents are a little more
challenged. They need their language skills improved. I
think that the father feels marginalized because he does
not yet have a job, but hopefully that will come.
“So, that is exactly where we are. I have been keeping
in fairly close touch with them. Their Canadian family
has been keeping in close touch with them and our
residents, particularly those who speak Arabic, have been
wonderful and have been calling to see them and also
to give them advice. Most recently one of our residents
gave them advice with regard to a minor medical problem.
They do not have a family physician yet but we are
working on that.”
Zane helped organize a similar charitable drive by the
Division of General Surgery at Toronto General when he
was on the staff there in the late ’70s and early ’80s. They
brought in 4 Vietnam boat people, using donations and
matching government funds. The 4 people they brought
in were provided with a house in the Danforth area.
“The father of the family got a job picking worms for
fisheries, wearing a headlight and crawling around at
night in the London area. He was well paid and we got
lots of donations. I kept in touch with the family. The
Syrian project was a similar experience, this time at the
end of my career. It is easy because doctors are altruistic.
They only need to see the need and they respond. My
wife and I later went to Vietnam for 2 weeks and saw
what life was like there for ourselves. We enjoy helping
people. I can’t answer the question Why we should do
this, when there are so many homeless and underresourced
indigenous and others in Canada?, but we have to start
somewhere. This is a very appealing and fun project that
gets us out of the medical rut. The organizing committee
can be named, but Carol and I agreed that we will not
name donors and their donations.
“This was a big project with lots of work, lots of fun,
a wonderful communal spirit, giving enthusiasm, time,
money and energy. Many of the residents come from
immigrant families who were happy to be giving back.”
Martin McKneally
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