The Cochrane Alliance Church is looking for community support to help a new Cochrane resident make a life in Canada.
Two years ago, when the first three families of Syrian refugees arrived in Cochrane, the church began working with one of the couples to sponsor a family member to be able to follow them to Canada.
Mike Poettcker, an associate pastor at the church, said work began right away to file the necessary paperwork, which was done through the First Alliance Church, a refugee sponsorship agreement holder with the Government of Canada. The Cochrane Alliance Church is a constituent holder of the First Alliance Church, which allows for quicker applications than going directly through the government.
The sponsorship request was approved three months ago and the church is looking for help with its funding commitment for the first 12 months of residency.
“Sponsorship agreement holders receive no funding from the government. These agreement holders are all funded via private sponsorship,” said Poettcker, who added the lion’s share of refugees arrive via an agreement holder.
The process for Kinan Farah’s arrival to Canada is only the first step in what has already been a long journey for him.
Initially, the immigration process for him was promised to be much shorter than what it was.
“[Pastor Mike] said ‘two months [and] you will be in Canada.’ I waited for two years,” said Farah.
After conquering the initial hurdle of paperwork and medical exams with the assistance of Poettcker, Farah then had to overcome the struggles of actually travelling to Canada.
Several of his flights were delayed.
A two-day layover in Turkey proved to be particularly difficult.
“As Syrians we’re not allowed to get into Turkey and get a hotel. I stayed for 14 or 15 hours in the airport,” said Farah.
“I didn’t sleep well.”
When he finally arrived in Calgary on Feb. 14, he was greeted by -30-degree weather which was a new experience for him.
“Even if I pull the refrigerator or freezer [in Syria}, it isn’t that temperature,” said Farah.
The cold weather stood in stark contrast to the warm reunion with his sister and her family that awaited him in Cochrane.
“I missed them so much. I hadn’t seen them for four years,” said Farah.
Now that Farah is situated, he is focused on his application for permanent residency as well as his application to have his Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering from Damascus University recognized in Canada.
“It’s a feeling that [I] should start from zero,” said Farah.
“I left everything in Syria.”
Farah is required to pass several English exams in order to acquire permanent residency and he is currently taking lessons through the Cochrane Alliance Church and looking to take a fulltime English course in Calgary.
Farah already has some experience in English from his job as a co-ordinator for a signage company in Iraq where email correspondence was partially conducted in English.
Although he is happy to be in the country, he worries that his age is a setback.
“I wish I was younger. I’m not a young guy. I’m 31,” said Farah.
Farah does not want to be seen by Canadians as simply a refugee.
“I’m not just coming here for survival. I want to get progress in my field,” said Farah.
The Cochrane Alliance Church is accepting financial donations as well as the donation of household goods to help Farah through his first year living in Cochrane. Donation information can be found on Cochranealliance.com.
- With files from Chris Puglia
