I had one year before the move, so I Googled everything I could about Canada;
I used Facebook to learn even more. It gave me hope. I still talked to my dad and he was excited for me. Even though we had lost everything and were no longer Iraqi, even though we were still stuck in Egypt, we were soon becoming Canadian—a new identity and a new life in a free country.
In May 2009, we left for Toronto. It was a long flight and most people slept, but I never even blinked. Every five minutes, I’d ask the airline attendant, “How much longer?” When we arrived, there were more questions, more forms, but I didn’t care because I was free.
It hasn’t been all happy times—my father died without ever getting a chance to see me again. But the future looks amazing. I want to help others the way Canada and the United Nations did for me. I’m working at the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture, a group that assists those who have survived war and violence and made it to this country. I want to give them what I got—a new life.
This new life is thanks to the Canadian government, who was willing to accept me and my mother not as good people or bad, but just those who needed a chance. They brought us here and treated us with love and respect. As refugees, we were protected and shown the very definition of humanity.
I used Facebook to learn even more. It gave me hope. I still talked to my dad and he was excited for me. Even though we had lost everything and were no longer Iraqi, even though we were still stuck in Egypt, we were soon becoming Canadian—a new identity and a new life in a free country.
In May 2009, we left for Toronto. It was a long flight and most people slept, but I never even blinked. Every five minutes, I’d ask the airline attendant, “How much longer?” When we arrived, there were more questions, more forms, but I didn’t care because I was free.
It hasn’t been all happy times—my father died without ever getting a chance to see me again. But the future looks amazing. I want to help others the way Canada and the United Nations did for me. I’m working at the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture, a group that assists those who have survived war and violence and made it to this country. I want to give them what I got—a new life.
This new life is thanks to the Canadian government, who was willing to accept me and my mother not as good people or bad, but just those who needed a chance. They brought us here and treated us with love and respect. As refugees, we were protected and shown the very definition of humanity.
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