From war in Gaza to safety in Winnipeg

When the school lunch bell rings in downtown Winnipeg, four young siblings race back down the hallway of their apartment building alongside their dad, coats ready to be unzipped, backpacks bouncing.

It is their first day of school in Canada. Just a few weeks ago, they were still waiting in Egypt. Today, they are safe, getting ready for winter and waiting for the first big snowfall so they can build a snowman. 

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Before the current war in Gaza, the family was living and working in the United Arab Emirates. They went back to Gaza to visit family and became trapped there when the conflict escalated.

The family sheltered for six months. Bombing, fear and shortages became part of everyday life. During that time, their eldest son needed serious medical care, but hospitals near them could not provide the multidisciplinary care he needed.

The family quickly sold off what possessions they could — including a car left behind in the UAE, gold jewelry and a wedding ring — and managed to leave for Egypt. But there, too, the medical care for their son was not enough.

“We were looking for a good country to treat our son and take care of him,” says the father. 

“Welcoming and supporting this family’s arrival from Gaza to Manitoba is a small but important concrete act of care and kindness in the face of an unprecedented, human-made humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza,” says Darryl Loewen, executive director of MCC Manitoba. “We’re helping one family find safety and essential medical care because we can, and because it’s what MCC Manitoba tries to do — to be the hands and feet of Christ.”

Alongside MCC Manitoba and the Province of Manitoba, local organizations and Palestinian and Muslim community networks are helping the family settle. They are offering friendship, language help and cultural supports so the family can build a new community here. 

In their small apartment, the signs of a new life are everywhere: school shoes and backpacks lined up along the wall, winter coats on hangers and intricately woven coasters on the table.

Still, the parents carry deep grief from Gaza. The mother says seventeen of her relatives were killed since the war in Gaza began on Oct. 7, 2023. And yet, when they speak about Canada, their faces light up.

“We want to forget all the past life and start a new page here,” the father says.

During a recent visit, they served homemade sweets alongside strong Arabic coffee and jasmine flower juice sweetened with honey. Hospitality is important to them. Even after all they have been through, they want their guests to feel welcome.

The mother and the children, who are excited about school and snow, are taking classes to learn and improve their English. She says her hope is simple and deep.

“I hope for my family a safe life… peace and safety,” she explains in Arabic, with help from her husband. 

In Egypt and Gaza before it, the family says, there was always noise — traffic, horns, explosions and fear. Here, they notice and appreciate the quiet, the orderly systems and the care from neighbours, medical staff and their new community.

“The people here are different from all the world,” the father says. “All the people love you and want to help.”