They are the first Syrian refugees sponsored by Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Before they fled the war in Syria, Hussein Mohamad Saleh Ghazala's young children learned to distinguish the whine of sniper fire from the staccato of antiaircraft guns. They learned to seek cover during air strikes. They learned that war left bloodied people, dead or wounded, in the streets, and that ambulances with wailing sirens carried them away. They witnessed the carnage.

"It was too terrifying to stay at my house. My kids were crying. My wife was crying. We are afraid to go outside," says Ghazala, who arrived in Providence with his family in February. "After the first bombing, we thought we are going to be killed the next day."

As the war intensified, their trauma mounted. The mechanic shop where Ghazala worked "was destroyed, and all the people were killed," he said through an Arabic interpreter. Schools closed. Jobs dried up. "There was no money, no food." Government and rebel forces were both pressuring to conscript him. "I couldn't kill anybody," he said. Time to go.

In 2014, three years after the war broke out, Ghazala and his family left the rebel-held capital of Aleppo for neighboring Turkey.

Like millions of other Syrians, they were fleeing from complex regional conflicts waged between the regime of President Bashar al-Assad and rebel groups, as well as jihadist forces that include Islamic State, the terror group claiming responsibility for the deadly bombings in Brussels March 22.

They were driven to the border, then walked across. Ghazala settled his wife and children in Istanbul with relatives; months later the family moved 700 miles outside the capital.

On Feb. 11, the family found permanent safe haven: they are the first Syrian refugees ever sponsored here by Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island, the state's largest resettlement agency.

Ghazala and his wife, Bidur Diab Killi, hope that their children will now be free to be children. They hope that Mohamad, 8, Samya ("Sima"), 7, and Abdullah, 6, will be free to flourish in school, free to find opportunities in their new country.

"When we first came here, we were like, lost," Ghazala said. "We don’t know how to go here or go there. Now, we feel better."

The Ghazala family remained in Turkey for two years before receiving refugee status.

In 2015, President Barack Obama directed his administration to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees in fiscal year 2016: the Ghazala family numbers among little more than 2,200 Syrians resettled in the United States since the war broke out. At least 9 million Syrians have fled their homes: 6.5 million remain internally displaced within the country; others have fled to Syria's immediate neighbors — Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq.

Ghazala made seven trips to the U.S. Embassy in Istanbul for face-to-face interviews. The questions covered his 33 years: "'Where were you born?' Where did you study?' 'Did you join the army?' 'Were you [ever] in jail?' 'Were you [ever] arrested by the Syrian government?'' And as regards the whole family, "'Who is in Turkey?' Who is still in Syria?''

Other rigors included multiple security screenings. The last screening was conducted by Homeland Security in Chicago, the port of entry.

An interfaith welcoming party embraced the family as it stepped off the escalator at T.F. Green Airport on Feb. 11. That included clergy, Syrian community members and Dorcas staff.

Dorcas staff brought the family directly to an apartment the agency arranged.

"We show them around, how to use the appliances, heat, how to lock the door," said Daud Yusuf, the family's caseworker from Dorcus.

"How to call police or fire. Where and how to shop for food and essentials. How to take the bus. Also, we provide a cellphone, for texting and calling here in the United States," and a calling card to reach family back home, "to let them know they are safe in the U.S."

On March 22, mother, father and children greet visitors at the front door of their apartment with handshakes, smiles and "Welcome."

Lunch is on the table. Rice with lamb, gravy, spiced gently with cloves. Salad and plates of radishes and peppers. Mickey Mouse drinking cups for the children.

Mohamad, the eldest, sits at Ghazala's left. Abdullah and Sima sit to their mother's right.

They are settling into routines.

"I wake up in the morning, I clean my house," says Diab Killi, who is expecting her fourth child any day. Soon she will receive home-tutoring in English. Five days a week, Ghazala takes ESL classes at Dorcas.

"I tell him, English is the key to life," says Khalid Alwan, who is from Iraq and interpreted for the family. "I tell him, you must go out, talk with people," and learn self-sufficiency.

Ghazala says, "The first thing I hope I have my own house and I get a new job. I’ll be lucky if I have all those things. If I work and I get the money in a good way, this is a gift from God."

Sterk Zaza, who immigrated from Syria as a teenager, is among community members from many faiths who are helping the Ghazala family, and the two other recently arrived Syrian refugee families.

"We are basically mentoring them. We are there if they need something ... . We visit them. We are all there as a team," Zaza said. "They are all doing well."

kziner@providencejournal.com

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On Twitter: @karenleez