Amplifying the stories of refugees & newcomers

Youth Ottawa and the UNHCR have teamed up to share the powerful stories of refugees in Ottawa.

We interviewed refugees from all walks of life, as a young as 18 and as old as 45 to share their own personal stories of resilience and overcoming adversity. This project addresses the theme of refugee youth experiences within Canada with the hope that these videos will be used to help encourage meaningful youth engagement/involvement in refugee issues and create more understanding of the challenges refugee youth face once they are resettled in Canada. 

The stories below are just a few of the voices of refugees in our community.

Nour Abdullah

Nour  is a student at Carleton University. She is a swimmer, a basketball player, and loves to play the piano. She volunteers for a sports organization that supports children living in low-income housing and teaches Arabic to children in a language program. She was born and raised in the city of Aleppo and came to Canada as a refugee in 2017.

Nour shares her story with us below.

Ibrahim Musa

Ibrahim is the Founder of the Cuts For Kids Foundation, which promotes dignity through access to equal opportunities by connecting youth to essential services – starting with a haircut or style. Ibrahim’s personal mission is to alleviate socio-economic barriers affecting youth, born out of his own experiences arriving in Canada in 2002 as a refugee from Iraq.

Ibrahim shares his story with us below.

Mouhamed Al-Arab

Mouhamed is a student at Carleton University studying Aerospace Engineering. Mouhamad won the Academic Perseverance award by Youth Ottawa in 2018. He arrived in Canada in 2016 as a refugee from Syria.

Mohamed Shares his story with us below.