The Tabanjat Karbouj family, who came to Osoyoos in January 2016 as refugees, is moving to Penticton next week. At back are parents Aya and Mohamad and in front are son Samer and daughter Fatima. In July, a new daughter, Lamees, was born. They were sponsored by community members. (Richard McGuire file photo)
The Tabanjat Karbouj family, who came to Osoyoos almost two years ago as Syrian refugees, is moving to a new home in Penticton next week.
Mohamad Rabee Tabanjat and his wife Aya first arrived with daughter Fatima and son Samer at Penticton airport near midnight on a chilly Jan. 15, 2016.
They have since added a new daughter, Lamees, born July 25.
As Mohamad notes, their new daughter is already a Canadian citizen because she was born here. He expects his two other children to become citizens next year, while he and Aya are still working to improve their English in order to qualify.
The family was sponsored as refugees to come to Osoyoos by the Osoyoos Refugee Project, a community group co-ordinated by Michael and Vera Ryan. Michael is a former town councillor.
Although the group was non-denominational, the sponsorship was handled through St. Anne’s Catholic Parish.
A year ago, the family planned to move to Surrey, but subsequently reconsidered.
Mohamad said he didn’t like the housing situation and traffic congestion in Surrey. Michael Ryan admits he and Vera also tried to dissuade the family from the Surrey move.
“Penticton is like Osoyoos,” said Mohamad in an interview last week. “It’s quiet. It’s a nice area. Not too much people. Not too much traffic.”
Penticton has more services, he said, noting that this includes a hospital. During Aya’s pregnancy especially, the couple had to make frequent trips to Penticton Regional Hospital, in part because she is diabetic.
Mohamad said he has three work possibilities in Penticton, including working in a friend’s restaurant, working with another friend on building modular houses or transferring from his present job with Tim Hortons in Osoyoos to a location in Penticton.
Also important is that Penticton offers services for immigrants and refugees that aren’t available in Osoyoos.
And, there is now a small mosque in Penticton, something important for this family of devout Muslims.
“I’m not worried about work,” said Mohamad. “I was worried about the house. Now I find a house. It’s easy.”
He pointed out that Penticton is also close to Osoyoos, so they will still be able to visit friends here.
As well, a Syrian family they became friends with in Cawston, has also moved to Penticton.
For the Ryans, the family’s move to Penticton makes sense.
“We are actually very happy for them,” said Michael. “We think it’s a very wise move for so many reasons.”
The Ryans had previous experience sponsoring refugees when they lived in Toronto and sponsored families from Bosnia and Uganda. But this was their first experience sponsoring a family to come to a smaller community.
While the Osoyoos community came together to support the family when they arrived, the smaller community did provide some challenges because of fewer resources for newcomers, Michael said.
“Our accomplishment was that we found teachers who were dedicated enough to give a day a week to teach them,” he said. “They alternated and they became friends with them.”
Teachers at the Sonora Centre taught English to Mohamad and Aya in the mornings and then volunteer tutors came to their house to follow up in the afternoons.
“We were just absolutely blown away by the generosity of people,” said Michael. “When we first started, we had about 40 people turn up for our first meeting. We had people saying, ‘I can do this, I can give you clothes, I can give you toys.’ We recruited so many.”
“We feel proud of our community,” added Vera. “They should be proud of what they did, whatever their contribution was, big or small.”
Michael said the family’s experience in Osoyoos has also been positive, with Mohamad finding work, the family making friends and the children doing well in school.
It helped that initially there were several Arabic-speaking residents to help the family before they could speak much English. While several Arabic speakers have since moved away, Mohamad shows in his interview that he’s now much more adept in English.
Mohamad said he sometimes used a translation smartphone app in the early days, but he appreciates the help he had from local people.
Before he got his driver’s license and a car last year, the family often had to rely on local volunteers to take them shopping or for other errands in Penticton.
“People here are very friendly,” said Mohamad. “Thank you to all people. I love Osoyoos.”
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
