My first year in Guelph: A refugee's story

(Naia Alkhaledi, along with her parents Basam and Arwa, and siblings Malak, Jana, Amir and Ismail, were one of the first Syrian refugee families to arrive in Guelph a year ago this month. This is the story of her first year in her new country, as told to GuelphToday's Tony Saxon)

My name is Naia Alkhaledi. My family is from Syria and one year ago we came to Guelph as refugees.

My family is from Aleppo. It is a large city and it was a beautiful place and before the war it was lots of fun. We would spend lots of time with family and friends. Most lived nearby.

But it became a dangerous place because of the war, which is why we had to leave.

I loved my school there, it was a big school and I had lots of friends, but when the war came we had to move to a smaller school because the bigger schools are the ones they target with the bombs.

You were scared to even go to school because you could hear the bombs. It was so dangerous. We always had the fear inside of us. You could die tomorrow or the next day.

My grandfather was killed in the war, so was my mother's cousin and two of my friends from kindergarten at my old school.

In 2014 my mother told me we would be moving to Turkey. After my school exams were completed. I was young and didn't really understand. I didn't want to leave my friends and I made my mom promise us that we were going to come back to Syria.

My mom's mom and other family lived in Turkey and it was a nice life. There were lots of people from Syria. There were schools just for Syrians.

My uncle who lived in Canada came to visit. He told us that Canada was a nice place, that there was peace and that we would be able to live safely and get a good education. He helped us come to Canada.

I didn't want to leave Turkey and I didn't want to start a new life. I was so scared not to have friends. I didn't know what people would be like here.

The day we arrived in Canada at the airport I was happy and sad at the same time. It was like a dream.

We met our sponsors at the airport. Our sponsors were nice, wonderful people: Jennifer, Matt, Kim, Collin, Cynthia and Tyler. Now they are members of our family. They are our friends.

They helped us set up our home and get all the things we would need.

I was scared to be judged, because I am from Syria and because I am a Muslim. I was afraid it would be like what you hear about in the United States. It was a good surprise to know that it is not like that here.

Guelph was very welcoming, very happy to have us and that made it easier for us to adjust.

I was so nervous when I started Grade 9 at John F. Ross a few months later. It is such a big school and I was so shy to ask where the classes were. I got lost a lot.

I think a there was a lot of judgement at first from other students, about the scarf I wear and stuff. It was out of ignorance and now I explain a lot more. I was very shy at first.

It was very hard the first month. I had no friends and I wasn't happy. I was very sensitive and so sad.

The teachers were very nice and wanted me to be happy and they looked after me.

Now I have friends and I like my school. I'm also involved with things, like the student senate.

Things are different in Guelph. It is a quiet town. Everything closes at 9 p.m. and there are no people on the street.

I had a lot more family in Syria and we would see them all the time. Now my family lives in many places, like Germany, Turkey, America and Denmark.

I like the winter, but my parents don't like it. In Syria if it is minus 5C then everything would shut down and everybody would stay home.

I miss Syria and I miss Turkey, but I like Guelph. It still feels different, but I have only been here a year. I am still learning about places to go and things to do.

The people make me feel welcome.

The best thing is that people don't care about what others are doing and how people are welcoming and respect one another.

I was so happy when we got to march in the Santa Claus Parade last year. They say there was some people booing us, but we didn't even hear it. We just heard lots of people yelling 'yay!'.

When people wrote about what happened it was good to see so many people saying nice things about us.

When I am older I want to be a pharmacist or a doctor.

I also want to go back to Syria after the war to help rebuild it. I still love Syria. But only to visit, after the war I think Canada will be my home.

I am happy here and it is nice to feel safe.