The Sridah family are poised to come to the mid-Island as soon as long term accommodations for them can be found. The Oceanview Community Church has raised $58,000 to sponsor the family for a year. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

LIFE CHANGERS

Local church clearing final hurdles to bring Syrian refugee family to the mid-Island

Nov 5, 2021 | 5:34 AM

LADYSMITH — A local church’s tireless work for the last three years is close to finally paying off.

The Oceanview Community Church have raised $58,000 and gone through the entire government process to bring a Syrian refugee family to the region via a private sponsorship.

Darin Phillips, lead pastor at the church, told NanaimoNewsNOW the biggest hurdle remaining in bringing in the Sridah family is finding them a place to live.

“We desperately would love for them to be close in [Ladysmith], it just makes everything so much easier. Kids can walk to school and not be super far away.”

Searches continue for a three-bedroom home or suite in the area the church can rent for the family for a year.

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The husband and wife are currently living in Turkey with their three daughters, aged 10, 8 and 6, along with an infant son. The family escaped Syria when violence and war overwhelmed the country.

Oceanview’s private sponsorship comes with the responsibility of securing the essentials for the Sridah’s, in their efforts to build a new life on the other side of the world.

“You bring a family here and the whole goal is to get them rooted, grounded and set up for success so that at the end of that year when our responsibility ends, we’ve launched them for success,” Phillips said.

Members of the congregation will support them in a variety of ways through the first 12 months, from enrolling them into English classes to setting up connections with doctors.

They’ll also help with simple things like a trip to the grocery store.

“When you don’t speak the language and everything’s weird, new and different, you kind of need people to go with you at least the first four or five times until you get the hang of it,” Phillips added. “It’s just a billion simple things that you take for granted.”

Once here, the family and church are hopeful they’ll be able to find work and begin to support themselves.

The husband is working as a baker in Turkey, which Phillips said bodes well for employment in Ladysmith with several town bakeries needing help.

Upon arrival, the fully-vaccinated family will quarantine for two weeks before moving into their new home.

When the Sridah’s come to the region, it will also be a family reunion.

They will reunite with the Daboul’s after the families escaped Syria together but were split up and went into separate countries as refugees.

The wives of the two families are sisters and Yusra Daboul can’t wait to reconnect.

“I am so excited, my husband (Yassin), my family, we are so excited for my sister to come. We are just waiting but we’re so happy and excited.”

The Daboul’s, including their five children, landed in Nanaimo from Jordan in November 2016. They lived and worked in the community for two years before moving to Vancouver.

Yassin Daboul, who found steady work as a painter upon arrival in Canada, spearheaded the effort to connect Oceanview Church with the Sridah’s.

“I’m feeling like I did my best and this is good. I have big thanks for the church, for the people. We find all the people are nice, they’re good people and we have big thanks for Canada, the people in Canada, for the church and for everyone helping this family.”

Yassin said he’s forever indebted to the donors and supporters of the campaigns to bring the Sridah’s and his family to Canada.

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alex@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @alexrawnsley