Mohammad has found a life in Chester and works hard at many different jobs - yardwork, snow shovelling, detailing cars, working at the spa. Most 18 year olds would be using this money to support their own life style, Mohammed however is sending most of the money that he earns to support his oldest sister, Noor and her husband Wile and their two little girls, Hiba aged 4 and Hala aged 2.
Noor and her family are living as refugees in Gazientap, Turkey. She and her husband were not able to complete their schooling before they ran from Syria. It is a hard life at the best of times for Syrian refugees in Turkey. But this spring, due to Covid-19 shutdowns of businesses, Wile lost his job and had to search for weeks to find another one. Mohammad has a big heart and found this exceedingly difficult. He misses his sister and wants to get to know his young nieces in person, not only on video calls.
When I asked him what for him was the main reason to bring Noor and her family to Canada, he replied, "I want them here in Canada with us, because a family belongs together." His main concern for them is that he knows from personal experience how hard life is as a refugee in Turkey. He knows Syrians are not respected or accepted there, and he wishes his sister and her family a better chance to have a full life. He and the rest of his family are enjoying life in Canada, and he wishes for Noor, Wile, Hiba and Hala to have the same chance to be able to go to school, find work, and have a productive life here in Nova Scotia, Canada.
