Proud new citizens

Picton family becomes Canadian citizens

Life was good for Khaled Dandal and his wife, Kwathar, and their infant son Fouad in the Syrian town of Hama in 2010. Khaled was a skilled drywaller, working locally as well travelling to Lebanon for work there. Kwathar was busy taking care of their home and young child. The money that Khaled made on his trips to Lebanon was used to make renovations to their house, and in 2010 it was very nearly complete. A year later, the situation changed dramatically. The civil war was intensifying, and Khaled made a final trip to Lebanon under the pretext of work. A month later, Kwathar and Fouad joined him. They brought virtually nothing with them, expecting to return home within a few months. Those months turned into years, and they were stuck in Lebanon as the war raged on. Conditions were difficult. Work was hard or often impossible to find, and the family struggled to send Fouad and his younger brother Ahmed to school.

The Dandal family at their home in Picton. (L-R): Fouad, Khaled, Aya, Kwathar and Ahmed.

Kwathar’s sister and her family were among the first Syrian refugees to be settled in the County through the efforts of PECSyria. She convinced the Dandal family to apply to come to Canada, saying it would be a good place for them to raise their family, which would soon grow with the addition of a daughter, Aya. Khaled and Kwathar spoke no English and knew nothing about Canada, and Khaled sought advice from his friends about whether it would be a good country to settle in. The family eventually made the application, and nearly two years later, arrived in Canada on September 25, 2017. Aya, at 10 months old, took her first steps in their new apartment in Picton.

Since then, the family has flourished. All three children are fluent in English and are doing very well at school. Khaled works as a drywaller for Professional Drywall and Finishing, and also does work on his own on local builds in the County via the Facebook page Khaled Fouad. Kwathar has built her own catering service, Taste of Hama, and can be found at the farmers’ markets or through Facebook by that name. She said that with three older sisters, she didn’t start learning how to cook until she was 14 years old, and finally gave in to her mother’s demands to learn after her older sisters got married and moved away. That time in the kitchen was well spent, and she now has a loyal County customer base.

About a year ago, Khaled and Kwathar started studying for their Canadian citizenship test. There is a bank of 635 questions, of which applicants have to answer 20 randomly chosen ones to pass the test. They both went through every question to prepare. “Every day I would learn some new questions,” said Khaled. “When I finished work and came home, after supper, I would sit for maybe two hours. I would read it in English, then translate to Arabic, because I need to understand what I am reading, and after maybe six months I began to understand.” His first attempt at the citizenship test was unsuccessful, but he passed on his second try.

Kwathar is still studying and will take her test later when she is more confident. With Khaled’s pass, his citizenship ceremony was scheduled, via Zoom, on November 1. In the presence of friends and family, Khaled, Aya, Ahmed and Fouad, were granted Canadian citizenship, along with dozens of other new Canadians who came from 42 different countries. “I am very, very happy,” said Khaled. “I came from a war, and lived in Lebanon, and it was hard there. When I came to Canada, everything changed. I can work, my kids can go to school. I am very happy to get my Canadian citizenship.” He is looking forward to being able to travel internationally. He has brothers and sisters in Lebanon, and a sister in Turkey that he hasn’t seen in over 10 years. He is grateful for his family’s new life in Canada. “I want to make a good life here for my family. I hope to start a small company for my work, and I want my kids to study hard and make something too.”