Tick Tock Tick Tock-Let's Learn Arabic!

The beginning..Hello!

On January 22 we were informed that a family had been identified that would come to Lewisporte. We were told they would arrive in six to eight weeks.  It is exactly three weeks later today(Feb 12) so that means three to five weeks!

Naz, our Arabic Instructor!

It's like going for a six hour drive and you realize about three hours into it that you are now on a three hour drive. Time gets away as the pavement disappears beneath the wheels.

So the eight week mark is around March 18th. That's not very long! And it could be as soon as March 4th Three weeks from today.

Yes indeed,we're chomping through time like a bunch of hungry langoliers!

The beautiful Arabic Alphabet.  Always written cursive & from right to left

As the clock ticks, we are coming closer and closer to the moment when we welcome Muhammed, Fatima, Moussa and Rayane to Lewisporte. Time is paradoxically slow and fast all at once.

Because we cannot wait to meet them.

I think of them more than anything. In all the committees and meetings and forms and letters, it is that family that is in my thoughts the most.

I wonder, what are they thinking now? Have they been able to learn where Lewisporte is in Canada? Do they think Toronto and Montreal when they think of our country and do they have any inkling that the home they'll be coming to is about as different from those cities as the moon ?  (I also worry that they will become Leaf's fans as Reverend Art Elliott suggests or will we be able to protect them from such folly!  )

I imagine their nervousness.  I cannot really.  I try to understand that they will also have sadness because surely they have made friends in the camps that they will leave behind.  The children will have made friends and will miss them. It has to be one more difficult leg of a painful but necessary journey. But there will be hope also, and much excitedment because it is Canada.

I feel the privilege of my citizenship keenly these days and feel the responsibility of it even more so. I've been given too much, more needs to be shared.

We have spent a lot of time being concerned about  cultural sensitivities and what we can do to ensure we do not inadvertently offend our new friends.  I asked a few of my friends who have immigrated from other places and they all said a variation of the same thing. They chose Canada as their future country because they wished to be Canadian. Their understanding of Canada is that more than anything we are accepting of differences and so to be Canadian they must accept our differences. So they came here with minds open to trying to understand why we do the things we do.

I think we simply need to be kind and compassionate and considerate. Those are things that are shared among cultures and practicing these things cannot steer us in the wrong direction.

My friend Sabhira once told me that she celebrates Christmas, though she is Muslim, because most  Canadians do and she wants to be a part of everything Canadian.  She loved the idea of Santa and described how surprised her children were their first Christmas morning.  It was during the fast of Ramadan when she told me that story and I think our conversation made her hungry because as she spoke she decided then and there that they would have a Christmas type turkey dinner immediately after the fast. They liked Christmas so much they decided to do it twice!

As time passes we are not idle.  Things are getting done!  Last night was a fantastic meeting in which we unanimously voted to partner with the Penticostal Church here in town to bring a second family in. This is a wonderful partnership with us being one committee, connected towards a common goal.  To bring TWO families to Lewisporte from Syria.

It changes things in that our goal to raise $12000 becomes a goal to raise $42,000 but with the need for added financial resources comes a huge cache of human resources from a church that has a reputation both locally and world wide for humanitarian efforts.

So the challenge is greater but the reward is multiplied! Piece of cake, we got this!

As the committee has grown and refined into the working groups, branching off into different subcommittees, it has been a remarkable feeling to bask in the positive energy that is all around. This group of people are truly good . Deep in their hearts is a calling to do something, to be the solution.  It's a calling everyone shares and I feel us all bonding in this common good.

Meanwhile, we are learning some basic Arabic so that we can at least greet the newest members of our community in their language. I am focusing on "Welcome" which is phonetically spoken Ahlaan wa Sahalan in English. The room was full and the teacher, Naz who speaks three languages and is originally from Iraq, was fun to learn from. It is a $2 donation to come to learn. Naz will help with translation when the family arrives and is working on some fundraising efforts that I'll assist her with. I think our partnership will become a fast friendship as we work together.

If you're in Lewisporte the Arabic Lessons are Thursdays at 6:30 in St. Matthews United Church in the Sunday school room.

We are getting ready and I, personally, cannot wait to say