Grasp of English key to independence for Syrian refugees as assistance deadline looms

"Do you like broccoli ice cream?" asks the singer in the video blaring from Hala Al-Jbawi's TV.

The five-year-old screws up her face and chants the answer back to the screen:"No I don't!Yucky!"

Do You Like Broccoli? is a comedy sing-along aimed at the preschool set, and is a bona fide hit atHala's house, whereEnglish is a priority.

Just three years ago, a bomb brought Hala's other house the one back in Syria down around her and her family.

"I was just hearing the screaming of my wife and my little daughter Hala ... [my wife] was pregnant with Mohammed," remembers Hala'sfather,Samer Al-Jbawi, 28. "I still remember the screaming of my daughter."

The young father managed to find his daughter in the ruins of their home. "Shehugged me. Luckily all of us were OK, none of us were injured. So, since that time, I decided, no, I'm not going to stay in this country anymore. I had to flee ... from this inferno of death."

Family arrived last December

Al-Jbawi, his wife Asmaa, daughter Halaand sonMohammed, now 3, arrived in Ottawa Dec. 28as government-assisted refugees, or GARs, one family among the nearly 2,000 Syrian refugees who now call this city home, the majority 1,346 government-assisted.

Now I'm paying my taxes like everybody is doing here in this country....I'm proud of that.-SamerAl-Jbawi

The family moved into an apartment near Mooney's Bay where their monthly rent is $1,100, eating up most of the $1,450 in federal assistance they received each month as GARs.

But with the child tax benefit bringing in an additional $1,200 per month, the family was able live in relative comfort and even buy a car.

The family had another advantage: of all the refugees who have settled in Ottawa, Al-Jbawi may just be the most fluent English speaker.As a teenager, he fell in love with the plays of William Shakespeare, reading and re-reading Hamlet and Othello.

"I'll never ever forget what my father advised me... 'English language is the global language, and nobody knows where you will end up on this Earth,'" he recalls.

Taking that advice to heart, Al-Jbawi studied English literature at Damascus Universityfor four years.Later, while living in a refugee camp in Jordan, headded to his credentials by earninga master's degree.

Making money, paying taxes

Six months after arriving in Ottawa, Al-Jbawi was hired full time by the Somali Centre for Family Services as a settlement counsellor, working mainly with other Syrians. His new employment status brought an end to the federal assistance cheques.

"Sonow I am making good money, let's say," he grins."And now I'm paying my taxes like everybody is doing here in this country."

"I'm proud of that," he says, smiling.

Most Syrian refugees would prefer to make their own way instead of relying on government assistance, Al-Jbawiinsists.

"They are professional, they are skilled, they had jobs ... but the problem is they don't have the language."

Al-Jbawicloses the door behind him and the soundofDo You Like Broccoli?fadesas he leads the way to the elevator, and the apartment of his friend MohammedAl-Mahasna.

Finding English difficult

Al-Mahasnasmiles broadly as he opens the door to his friend. The 31-year-old is wearinga red sweater vest over a blue dressshirt.An Arabic news channel blares from a television in the living room.

Al-Mahasna, a trained chef, arrived in Ottawa in January with his wife, Fatema Alazzam,and two boys, Aseel, 3, and Rayan, 2. A third child is on the way.

While their sons attend daycare, Al-Mahasna and Alazzam spend their mornings learning English at Queen of the Angels Adult School on Heron Road.They're currently studying at the second levelof an eight-level program, and Al-Mahasnaconfesses he's finding it difficult.

Even simple questions require translation help from Al-Jbawi: "What do you do in Ottawa? Do you have a job?"

Federal assistance running out

Through Al-Jbawi, Al-Mahasna explains that he works part time in a downtown bakery. Mostly, the family gets by on federal assistance.

But for GARs, that financial help runs out after 12 months in Canada. For Al-Mahasna and his family, that will mean applying for provincial assistance through Ontario Works after January.

"The13thmonth is the only thing that they are worried about," explainsAl-Jbawi.

Through Al-Jbawi, Al-Mahasna says he hasn't started that application process, but has attended several information sessions provided by the city.

He knows the monthly income from Ontario Works will only amount to $1,200, but he's optimistic that will be enough for the growing family to get by on until he can improve his English and find full-time work.

"We are trying to learn English at homeand at schools, and trying to connect with native speakers to improve English as much as we can," Al-Mahasnaexplains with the help of his friend.

City preparing for transition to Ontario Works

The City of Ottawa's general manager of community andsocial services,JaniceBurelle,is also keenly aware of the deadline looming for refugee families and for her department.

Burelleand her staff are responsible for delivering Ontario Works programs in Ottawa, and believea large majority of SyrianGARsliving here will become dependent on the provincial benefits once their first year of federal support ends.

Besides the monthly allowance, the cluster of servicesbundledunder Ontario Works includes dental care, drug plans, transportation subsidies, employment assistance, and mental health and addiction support services.

Burellesays since the arrival of Syrians was staggered, the pending transition of hundreds of families to Ontario Works will also be staggered, and therefore more manageable.

Another manager within the department, ClaraFreire,saysthe office is expecting Ontario Works applications from 28 families in December, 114 in Januaryand another 151 in February.

"We're gearing up and planning for all that," Freire said.

The office is also prepared for the reality that in terms of their language skills, many of the families are more like Al-Mahasna's, and less like Al-Jbawi's: brochures and a video explaining the Ontario Works application process have beentranslated into Arabic.