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
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 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 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 Media Outlet | Jun 14, 2016 | Media
(Ottawa Citizen, June 6 2016) At her modest apartment in Vanier, Nirmeen Alsebai greets a visitor with a table full of snacks, including several types of hummus and a specialty from her homeland called fatteh that layers toasted, crumbled pita bread with yogurt,...
by CCI Ottawa | Jun 15, 2016 | News
Around forty volunteers gathered for an orientation session with CCI Ottawa. The orientation session included icebreakers and activities to help volunteers to get to know each other and learn about the upcoming multicultural Community Cup event that will take place...
by Media Outlet | Jun 17, 2016 | Featured
(The Ottawa Citizen) Safely housed and clothed, with their children now attending school, many of the 1,600 Syrian refugees who have arrived in Ottawa in the past six months are turning their attention to a new goal: finding work. To help them along the way, Refugee...
by CCI Ottawa | Jun 17, 2016 | News
Welcoming Ottawa Week (WOW) is an annual, week-long series of dialogues, cultural and celebratory events, sports activities, documentary screenings, and other fun events designed to convey the genuine welcome and hospitality of Ottawans to newcomers, while providing...
by Media Outlet | Jun 20, 2016 | Media
June 20, 2016, By Stephanie Levitz, The Canadian Press OTTAWA — Federal politicians meet a lot of people, but Syrian children don’t meet a lot of federal politicians — let alone the same one twice, in two different countries, each a world apart from the other....
by Media Outlet | Jun 20, 2016 | Media
Photo: Amira Elghawaby, National Council of Canadian Muslims By: Emma Jackson Metro, Tuesday, July 26 2016 Politicians, community groups and advocates have been weighing in on the death of Abdrirahman Abdi, who was arrested by Ottawa Police on July 24. While the SIU...