by CCI Ottawa | Jun 13, 2016 | News
In a big bright room on a Saturday morning, a group of adults and children are standing in a circle, breathing to a count of five… “Inhale….hold… exhale….” Some are recent immigrants and refugees, some are volunteers, and all of them are warming up, getting ready to...
by CCI Ottawa | Jun 13, 2016 | News
Imagine answering a knock on the door of your new apartment, and finding two people in uniform waiting to speak to you. You might think you’re in trouble… unless you recognize that the uniformed officers are Ottawa firefighters, going door to door with their “Wake Up...
by CCI Ottawa | Jun 8, 2016 | News
Like so many Syrians, the Al Dakhil family fled their home town because of extreme violence and insecurity. Various bomb threats at their children’s school, the looming danger of gunfire around their home and, finally, a gunshot injury to Mr. Dakhil’s foot, drove them...
by CCI Ottawa | Jun 8, 2016 | News
The sound of kids having fun: that’s the first sign for visitors that the playgroup program for refugee children is a hit. The second sign is the intensity of the play: whether they are squeezing playdough through tubes, hammering at the kids’ size workbench, or...
by CCI Ottawa | Jun 8, 2016 | News
Photo (left to right): CCI staff Halima Laaroubi with recently arrived refugee Ali Al Ahmed and his children at Welcome event at Lansdowne Park On Saturday, May 28 newly arrived Syrian refugees got a warm Ottawa welcome from Mayor Jim Watson and Councillor Michael...
by CCI Ottawa | Jun 8, 2016 | News
CCI’s Community Connections team has begun training sessions for volunteers who will help pilot the new “Circle of Friends” program, which is designed to create support networks for refugees as they settle into their new homes in Ottawa. The trainee volunteers for the...
