This fall, Ahmad celebrated his first birthday in Canada. Photo: Emma Waverman
I held his bucking legs in one hand and his mother?s hand in my other. The 17-month-old, yellow with jaundice, was screaming and kicking with all his might as the nurses tried to put in the IV. He needed treatment immediately. But what do you say to a toddler to get him to lie still as a needle hovers over his head" Especially when he doesn?t speak any English"
Would he be all right" What was causing the jaundice" Would this be his first memory of coming to Canada" The fact he wasn?t my child?I only met him a few months ago?did not decrease my anxiety. You see, Aboudi, and his family are now part of my extended family. Their struggles are now mine. Aboudi, his three-year-old brother, Ahmad, and his parents, Ziad and Safa, are Syrian refugees. Over the last six months, their lives have intertwined with my own. Playing in the park. Photo: Emma Waverman
As part of a group of 20 families, I?ve quickly realized that sponsoring a refugee family is a little like taking a crash course in parenting?we?re essentially cramming years of mentoring into 12 months. For now, we are responsible for the family?s financial, emotional and physical well-being, but by next February, Ziad and Safa will need to support themselves in all aspects of their lives.
When they first arrived, we did absolutely everything for them?getting their clothes, taking them on the subway, even buying their grocer...