Refugee Family Arrives From Syria
By Rossland Telegraph
Exhausted from three days of travelling from Turkey, a young refugee couple from Syria has arrived in Rossland with their baby son. When their plane landed in Castlegar on November 29, Teysir and Heba Misto and their baby were welcomed by members of the West Kootenay Friends of Refugees, with the help of a young Arabic-speaking pre-med student, Zakia Hanafy, who is also a member of the Castlegar Refugee Coalition.
The day after their arrival was the young couple’s second wedding anniversary. We have not published a picture of these new members of our community, at their request; but we hope that their faces will soon become familiar locally.
Jan Micklethwaite of the WKFoR group said, “Despite the language barrier, a warm welcome is always understood, and we hope that the community will take this little family into their hearts.” She added, “We are fortunate to have a couple of Arabic speakers in our group – one of whom, Rahaf Zwayne, has been featured before in local publications. I hope that when the family is ready, they will be willing to speak about their experiences with Rahaf’s help, so they can share a bit more about their lives with all the members of the community. They are a delightful young couple and probably have quite a story to tell.”
If they wish to tell their story, we are interested in hearing it. If they prefer not to recount what they have gone through in being forced from their homeland, we understand that too, and hope they can find peace here in a new home.
