Reporting on Syrian Refugees in Canada

May 05, 2016 | Pulitzer Center

Robin Shulman

Raghda Altellawi hugs a snowman she discovers on her first day of school in Canada. Image by Robin Shulman. Canada, 2016.

Nagham Al Jabouli, 5, waits for her father to walk her through a snowstorm to her first day of school in Canada. She is wearing snow pants, snow boots, and heavy ski mitts for the first time. Image by Robin Shulman. Canada, 2016.

Amir Al Jabouli uses audio directions from Google Maps in Arabic on his phone to navigate his family home from their first day of school in Canada. Image by Robin Shulman. Canada, 2016.

Ghena Al Jabouli, 6, in the bedroom a group of Canadian sponsors furnished and decorated for her and her sister Nagham, 5. Image by Robin Shulman. Canada, 2016.

Nagham Al Jabouli, 5, and her sister Ghena, 6, hug their teddy bears, some of the only possessions that have traveled with them from their lives in Syria. Image by Robin Shulman. Canada, 2016.

Raghda Altellawi and Amir Al Jabouli and their daughters Ghena and Nagham pose with their Canadian sponsors, Ashley Hilkewich (holding daughter Aria), Ali Khan, and Mallory Hilkewich. Image by Robin Shulman. Canada, 2016.

Ashley Hilkewich and Ali Khan were inspired to sponsor a Syrian family for resettlement in Canada when they heard that their housekeeper, Kathy McIlroy, had helped raise $20,000 as part of a sponsorship group. Image by Robin Shulman. Canada, 2016.

Ghena Al Jabouli, 6, is learning English in a specialized classroom for newcomers. Image by Robin Shulman. Canada, 2016.

Ghena Al Jabouli, 6, greets her sister Nagham, 5, with a kiss at the end of a day of school. Image by Robin Shulman. Canada, 2016.

Raghda Altellawi studies English vocabulary words at home in the evenings. Image by Robin Shulman. Canada, 2016.

Amir Al Jabouli and Raghda Altellawi had just arrived in Toronto with their two daughters, Ghena, 6, and Nagham, 5. Canadian sisters Ashley and Mallory Hilkewich, and Ashley’s husband, Ali Khan, had organized a private sponsorship group to support them for one year. Since the Syrian war began, Amir and Raghda and their children had survived siege, bombardment, Amir’s kidnapping and imprisonment, and exile in Lebanon. They didn’t know they were being privately sponsored until they arrived in the Toronto airport. “It restored my faith in humanity,” Raghda said.