Wednesday January 6 2016
The
Leader
▲ Film focuses on transgender issues 17
▲ Education advocate mourned 3
‘ME AND MY WIFE, THIS IS OUR HEART’
Adel and Layla Masoud with some of the donated items at the Middle Eastern Friendship Centre in North Surrey. The couple – who came to Surrey from Kuwait after the Gulf War in 1997 – have been collecting food and clothing for new immigrants for the last three years. EVAN SEAL
▶ SURREY’S MIDDLE EASTERN FRIENDSHIP CENTRE OPENS ITS DOORS AND HEARTS TO NEW IMMIGRANTS EVAN SEAL
As president of the Middle Eastern Friendship Centre (MEFC), located at 13483 108 Ave., Masoud has been helping refugees settle in the Surrey area for the last three years. With the influx of Syrian refugees expected to come to Surrey in the coming weeks, Masoud, his wife Layla, their children, and a handful of volunteers have been busily sorting through donated
Walking amongst hundreds of boxes filled with clothes, Adel Masoud holds up a recently donated shirt, gives it a close look and then puts it to the side, acknowledging a lack of quality. “We just keep the super-clean clothes,” he says as he continues to sort through all the donated items.
goods in preparation. The federal government has committed to bring 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada, with most arriving by the end of February. So far B.C., has welcomed mainly privately sponsored refugees – about 200 dispersed across 13 cities by the end of December. The province also anticipates receiving up to 3,500 government-assisted Syrian refugees over the longer term, with about one-third expected to settle in Surrey. As with all new immigrants who come to the friendship centre, each family will be
registered so the Masouds know the specific needs and numbers that need help. Newcomers will be given clothes, some food, toiletries and even toys and small appliances. Some things they can choose themselves and some come as a basket of goods. The MEFC even has volunteers with cars to help deliver the donations. Masoud knows all too well the difficulties new immigrants face when they first arrive in Canada. continued on page 20
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