Facing hordes of holiday shoppers at Burnaby’s biggest mall isn’t everybody’s idea of fun, but for one group of refugee women it made for a rare bit of “me time” recently.
Earlier this month, 13 Arabic-speaking women who have come to Canada from Syria, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Lebanon and Iraq, took a trip to the Metropolis at Metrotown mall.
They were given a bit of money and told to spend it on themselves.
The idea was a big hit.
“I was running around the store and I felt like a child again,” said Linda Awad, who is from Lebanon. “What made it more special was being around other women. Feeling of excitement never went away.”
Awad bought herself three packages of socks and a “nice backpack” from Winners.
Hanan Alradif, from Iraq, bought a blouse, pajamas and a “beautiful modern winter shirt.”
“I felt like I’m with my family and sisters,” she said. “Going for lunch afterward, making conversation in Arabic with the ladies, laughing, taking pictures and sharing stories took me back to my childhood in Iraq.”
The women were joined by Souad Hage-Hassan and Mariam Menhem, two Arabic-speaking settlement workers with the Burnaby school district’s Settlement Workers in Schools (SWIS) program, an Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada-funded program that helps newcomer students and their families settle in the community.
For program coordinator Natalya Khan, the shopping trip is an example of how the program, with help from schools and support from the community, empowers families and helps them find their feet in their new country.
“Going shopping may seem like a little thing for someone, but it can be huge for a person who is still figuring out how things work in a new country, doesn’t speak the language and has no employment, yet,” she said.
She said that’s especially important for refugee and newcomer women.
“Supporting the mothers supports the entire family,” Khan said. “Each woman lifts up her whole family and is the main caregiver. If they have money to spend, they use it for their children, and they so rarely do anything for themselves. Before that day at the mall, some had never even been in a clothing store where you could use change rooms to see if you liked something.”
The moms who took part in the shopping trip have been in Canada for between six month and four years and have kids at Edmonds Community School, Morley Elementary and Windsor Elementary.
They are members of an Arabic women’s group that meets at Edmonds.
Some of the spending money they got, which worked out to about $100 each, was donated by the Burnaby Children’s Fund.
Khan said she is touched by the support her program continues to get from the community.
“Even in these times, when society is feeling so battered by what’s been happening, people still keep opening their hearts to rally around newcomer families in our schools,” she said. “Organizations, businesses, individuals, and school communities have donated everything from technology and clothing to gift cards and food – including Christmas gifts for the children. The resilience of people’s good spirits is really something else.”
Follow Cornelia Naylor on Twitter @CorNaylor
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