Remembrance Day will have more meaning than usual for one local family who are experiencing the fresh wounds of a relative lost because of war.
It is a story as old as the nation, handed down from generation to generation.
A sister receives word that her brother has been killed in action. Her husband consoles her, their children grieve their fallen uncle and a picture of a handsome young man in uniform becomes a staple of the family room.
On Remembrance Day Monday, bugles will sound and soldiers will march in ceremonies across Canada.
For Shirin Habach, the Oct. 11 death of her 21-year-old brother in war-torn Syria will make her reflect a little deeper.
“I spoke to him for the last time maybe two months ago,” said Shirin Habach. “He came home for a small vacation after that but I did not speak to him because they said he would be home for good shortly after that.”
The last time Shirin heard Hamoudi’s voice was a message left on her voicemail that said since it was late where he was, he was going to sleep.
He was serving mandatory duty in the Kurdish Army and was just 10 days short of his release having already served two years when the U.S. pulled out of Syria in the battle against ISIS.
Shirin and Mohamad moved to Barrie in 2016 with their three children (Silda 15, Mahmoud 10 and Fuad 7) to escape the violence in Syria. Her brother Hamoudi stayed in Syria with Shirin’s father, mother, other brother and seven sisters. They lived in the town of Kobane, on the border of Syria and Turkey.
Mohamad said that their oldest son cried when he saw the picture of his uncle on Facebook.
“That is how we found out, because of Facebook,” said Mohamad. “It didn’t say he had died, just said that he was injured.”
Shirin told BarrieToday how her parents found out, ultimately, about their son's death.
“My parents went to the hospital and they said to them 'He is not here,'” said Shirin. “He had died, but the people in charge did not tell my parents or other families (looking for their serving relatives) for a couple of weeks. They did it in one big group. It was hard for my family.”
Despite wanting to be present for the funeral, the Habach family could only watch it on YouTube.
Sitting with the Habachs in their living room is Sarah Uffelmann, a former sponsor for the family. Uffelmann is still very close with them and has been doing her best to support them through this difficult time.
“So many immigrant families come to Canada with very fresh war wounds,” said Uffelmann. “I think our community tends to think of these tragedies as far away and not our problem. It may help them to feel more included if their story was acknowledged, too.”
Going back to Syria is not an option, not for now. Nothing has improved since they left three years ago and Mohamad recalls the fallen buildings and violence he saw when going to work or making daily errands.
A close call with a gun-toting soldier still scares the father of three, as he told BarrieToday of a time he took his father to the hospital and may have been killed on the way back, had not been for a quick-thinking bus driver.
“The terrorist stopped us and made us get off the bus,” recalled Mohamad. “He didn’t like Kurdish people; we were all Kurdish. I was just bringing my father from getting his kidney looked at. The man kept yelling at me, waving his gun around towards me and his finger was on the trigger. He could have shot me and the others, but the bus driver told him we were just civilians, not to hurt us. The soldier then yelled at us to go. It was scary.”
The Habachs have found a home in Barrie. Mohamad works at a cement company in Innisfil, though he was a tailor in Syria. Needing to know English fluently for measurements and machinery made it tough for him to continue his former line of work.
The children enjoy school and were working on their Christmas lists on Saturday afternoon.
“We are Muslim, but in Canada so many children love the presents and all the lights, it is nice to have our children enjoy it, too,” said Shirin. “We will put the tree up soon and we even went out for Halloween.”
The Habach family are considered permanent residents and still have to apply for citizenship to be considered Canadian, on paper. In order to apply for Canadian citizenship, one must wait three years from the day they came to do so.
“November 21,” said Shirin with a smile. “This November 21 is three years to the day we are allowed to apply and I can’t wait to do it.”
