In 1988, Amira first moved to Montreal from Damascus with her family. After seven years here, she and her husband moved back to Syria, while their son and two daughters remained in Canada.
Amira made trips back to Montreal to visit her children, until the conflict in Syria led her to move back here for good in 2012.
“I found it difficult,” she said. “I had everything in Syria: my car, my house, my business, my life.”
Amira was an esthetician and beauty shop owner in Syria, but has struggled financially since moving back here. She and her husband started a catering company, offering Syrian cuisine, such as makloubeh and mutabal, to Montrealers, but the company didn’t succeed because Amira’s health problems prevent her from standing for long periods of time.
Amira left her husband this year, bringing on more financial instability.
Amira is one of many Montrealers who will receive $125 from the Montreal Gazette Christmas Fund this year. The money is meant to make the holiday season cheerier for people and families in need.
She left everything behind when she made her last trip from Damascus to Montreal five years ago. The choice was easy to make, but difficult to live with. She still has siblings in Damascus.
She made a new start when she left her husband and their decades-long marriage seven months ago. She now lives on her own in a sparsely furnished 3½ apartment, which she hopes to change by buying a rug or dishes with the money from the Christmas Fund. She’s slowly putting together her new home.
Amira didn’t expect to come to Canada, chase after a job, go on welfare, and then search for an apartment in her budget. Now 54 years old, she’s happy, she lives in safety, and she is close to her children, who have children of their own.
For her, the separation is positive after months of arguments with her husband, but she is adjusting to caring for herself and living alone.
“The separation was something I wanted and I’m happy I took the step to get out of the situation I was in.”
How to help:
Donate online: www.christmasfund.com. Phone us: 514-987-2400, Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mail or drop off donations to The Gazette Christmas Fund, 1010 Ste-Catherine St. W., Suite 200, Montreal H3B 5L1.
