“Alia's Voice” is a warm, hopeful account of a real family, wrenched from their homeland and resettled in Southern Ontario. A young couple waited in Lebanon for nearly three years, choosing Canada on the strength of one friend who had moved to Edmonton. When their travel day finally arrived, the parents and four children were met at the airport in Toronto by an enthusiastic group from the two churches that had sponsored them. Their only Syrian friend was three provinces away. They knew no one. The mother, Alia, had only one word of English to greet her new Canadian friends: hello.
Within the short space of three years, Alia was able to address a women's group in Oakville, Ontario, telling the story of what she had left behind. The group was spellbound as she described missing her homeland, but becoming aware, during her time in Canada, that she had become a changed person.
The family became citizens in 2021, the soonest available date after their arrival in Canada. Readers will be moved, enthralled, and inspired, not to mention being proud of Canada's refugee sponsorship system that made this success story possible.
