Syrian refugee children enjoy an art-filled day in Richmond

A group of Syrian children who recently arrived in Canada were treated, Wednesday, to a day of creating works of art at a Richmond art and early learning facility.

The session at the Arts Connection, a business in Steveston, was a welcome break from daily life in a nearby hotel, where Syrian families are staying as they work toward getting properly settled in Canada.

"I imagined what it would be like for the parents and staff to handle children stayingin a hotel all day long for a several weeks," said Arts Connection CEO Linda Shirley, adding that it must get pretty boring.

Shirley and organizers for the event were left scrambling Wednesday morning, when the 14 children they expected turned into 22.

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Anas Shaibcame to the session with his eightand nine-year-oldchildren. He said, through an interpreterthat it had been four years since his familyfled their home in Syria.

For two years they lived in a rented house in Turkeybefore making their way to British Columbia. Shaib said he knew nothing of the current state of his Syrian homebut assumed it was pretty rough.

"I think from this experience, I feel the impression that I get is the future that I came for, the future of my children seems to be a prosperous one," Shaibsaid.

"My daughter drew a picture of a heart which represents peace, love and this is what she feels she wants. My son drew a picture of a house and, of course, this is what he expresses he wants, as well, because he'd like to have a home and live in a house."

The children's pastel artworks were put into solid frames when they were finished, giving them a sense of permanency and stabilityin a world that has recentlyseemed anything but.

"That picture is going to capture the moment, or the afternoon they spent here. They're going to take it with them and it's going to represent, you know, a new beginning. It's going to represent their dreams for the future years," saidAmal Ballu, aresettlement assistance program counsellor with theImmigrant Services Society who facilitated the session.

"It's not just a picture, it's a whole experience that they will take with them, and that will last for years to come."

When Shaib was asked where his children will hang the pictures once they've moved into their new home, his answer came quickly.

"In their bedroom, obviously, above their beds because it's going to be a souvenir for them. It's going to be a nice memory for them," he said.