UCC's Syrian sponsored family settles in

9/7/2018

The Farastakis, the Syrian refugee family being sponsored by UCC, has had a great time over the summer thanks to the College community. Some of the children went to Canada’s Wonderland thanks to the generosity of an Old Boy. They also attended a Syrian music concert at the University of Toronto that was sponsored by another UCC family.

An Old Boy invited the Farastakis to an event in Etobicoke for Canada Day. The family volunteered to serve cake and help at the event, where it met Ontario Premier Doug Ford. Mr. Farastaki said: "It is wonderful that here in Canada everyone has a chance to speak their mind, even if you don't agree with their politics.”

The family had relatives, who live in London, Ont., stay with it for a several days in July. The younger children stayed home but the older ones went to Greenwood Secondary School’s summer school for a few weeks. There were also many trips to dentists and doctors, which kept things busy. And if you’ve ever moved to a new country or city, you know that the first few months are all about getting health cards and driver's licenses (Mr. Farastaki has just received his G1), finding schools and completing mountains of paperwork.

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