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Canadians Adopted Refugee Families for a Year. Then Came ‘Month 13.’

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Canadians Adopted Refugee Families for a Year. Then Came ‘Month 13.’ Empty Canadians Adopted Refugee Families for a Year. Then Came ‘Month 13.’

Post by silvermani Sun Mar 26, 2017 10:24 am

Some of Canada’s new Syrian refugees had university degrees, professional skills, fledgling businesses already up and running. But the Hajjes could not read or write, even in Arabic. After a year of grinding English study, Mr. Hajj, 36, struggled to get the new words out. He longed to scan a supermarket label or road sign with ease and had grown increasingly upset about his second-grade education, understanding how inadequate it would prove in the years to come. As he stared down Month 13, he felt overwhelmed and alarmed. “We don’t know what will happen,” he said. Worry, he replied. On top of his other concerns, his father back in Syria was entreating Mr. Hajj to send money for doctor’s visits and for farming supplies to help feed their family, even pushing him to ask the sponsors for the funds. When the son said no, unsure if he would have anything to spare and unwilling to ask the Canadians for more help, his father stopped answering his calls. “I know our sponsors love us,” she said. “They won’t leave us.” But she knew her husband was despairing. She had recently found him curled up on their couch, crying. Now, as Ms. Stark sat at the table, unable to understand the conversation in Arabic, Mr. Hajj told the counselor he was considering something extreme. “I was thinking about going back to Syria,” he said.
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