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“We appreciate the prime minister. It is maybe a small thank you,” says Afraa, explaining why she chose that name.

The Bilals have only been in Canada for a year but it’s been six since they left their home — and extended family — in Damascus, after Muhammad was twice arrested and questioned by the Syrian Arab Army. Fearful, they went to Lebanon but jobs there were scarce and, now with two young children, they wanted a more secure future. When war broke out in Syria and they knew they could not return, they applied for refugee status in Canada.

Photo by Leah Hennel / Postmedia Network

“It’s no safe. Right now the schools are very bad. If you go to school, you don’t know if they’ll come home. There is no safe,” said Afraa in remarkably good English.

That’s a far cry from their circumstances here. The Bilals plan for daughter Naya, 5, to attend kindergarten this fall once they determine where they will be living. The lease is up at the end of July on their rental house in Rosscarrock and their government and church sponsorships have ended. Muhammad, 29, who worked as a barber in Syria, only has sporadic, on-call work with a grocery wholesaler although his younger brother, who lives with them, is working.

“We are doing OK. But it is getting harder. We are so happy to be here, everything is good, but it is getting more difficult with money,” says Afraa, who is grateful for help from the Syrian Refugee Support Group. Through it, they’ve received furniture, clothing, even children’s bicycles and giant stuffies. It has also given them a place to socialize with other Syrians and make new friends. Afraa volunteered there before the baby was born.