The latest refugee family to arrive in Weyburn is settling in nicely.

Salim Kababbe is orginally from Aleppo, Syria. He left before civil war tore the city apart, and has been living and working in Dubai. That's where he met his wife, Regina, who is from Ukraine. They began raising a family, but, because of his Syrian background, Kababbe says he was treated poorly.

When the violence broke out in his home city, Kababbe was no longer able travel back and forth to conduct his marketing business.

Moving from Dubai back to Aleppo, or Regina's home in eastern Ukraine, where fighting with pro-Russian forces had broken out, was out of the question. "Our plan was to spend a few years in the Gulf, try to establish a family." added Kababbe. "In the beginning, children is fine, they won't get affected until the age when they cross 7, 8. Then, it becomes different."

Kababbe said the plan was to return either to Syria or Ukraine when the boys were older. "But in 2011 when our children were 8 years old, then all this struggle started. It started in Syria and it started in Ukraine at the same time, and my wife is from the region where all the trouble is. We became, both of us, refugees."

A friend hooked Kababbe up with a contact in Calgary, who in turn contacted the Weyburn Refugee committee.

The process of moving the family to Canada took several months. During that time, he was assured that immigrating here would in fact happen. "So first we were scared, because we were hearing a lot of news what's happening in Canada. And not everybody that come to Canada, they had a pleasant experience." said Kababbe. "But we were reading the news about a party that has been made to donate for us, to collect money, in order to bring us".

And then, with just two weeks remaining in 2016, the Kababbes received their passports, and were told they had 15 days to pack up and leave. "And we start selling everything for anything. Like we used to put advertising for, let's say, furniture in the morning, for a thousand dollars. Nobody would reply, break it to $500. In the end, we sell it for $50. Just get rid of it and move out. " he said with a chuckle.

The Kababbe family arrived in Canada on Christmas Day, and were in Weyburn two days later. He had two reactions, upon stepping off the plane from the deserts of Dubai. "Bad, is very cold. I mean is extremely cold. We experienced minus 22, minus 27, minus 32, we had two days back.".

But, said Kababbe, it was a warm reception from Canadians. "The good things, people are extremely friendly. We had people helping us, First off, with the entire journey, people that don't have a clue who we are, helped us. Everybody from the minute that this started with the Calgary church, with the people here, people are very helpful. When we reach here, people go out of their way just to help us."

Even during the Christmas holidays, Kababbe said school officials reached out to them. Mike and Alex, who speak English, were prepared to begin classes when the Christmas break came to a close and are enrolled at St. Michael School.

Kababbe compares the whole experience to winning a lottery. "It's like the entire community are prepared to help us, and they did everything possible thing that someone dreamed about it, it was offered to us. I doubt there is anything better."


Edit: A previous version said Mike and Alex were to attend the Weyburn Comprehensive School. The boys are currently attending St. Michael School in Weyburn.