The Land of the Future

 

Abdel-Hafeez Hamieh

 

Abdel-Hafeez Hamieh was born in Baalbek, Lebanon, where he lived with his wife and family in what was for him an idyllic life in an idyllic setting. He says that he loves Lebanon, especially the village he came from as it was surrounded by magnificent Roman temples dating back thousands of years ago. He led a relatively comfortable life as a bus driver and according to Lebanese standards; he made enough to provide for his family. His social life was very pleasant and active – the people of his village were very warm and friendly, he knew everyone there and had many close friends. He felt he had a good support system in case anything was to happen to him.

 

His wife was a relative of his mother’s and when he saw her it was love at first time. It is very common in the Arab world for cousins to get married as this avoids a lot of the problems associated with getting along with the in-laws, marital problems, and helps keep whatever property the man or woman inherits in the family.

 

Political issues were the driving force behind Abdel-Hafeez’s immigration to Canada. When the Syrian army was in Lebanon they arrested his father and as he was trying to free his father from the soldiers, he got shot in both legs. After that incident, the Syrian soldiers kept watching him and life all of a sudden did not feel so peaceful and secure. In the year 2000, he made up his mind to leave his village and come to Canada on his own.

 

He had a nephew here and that was helpful because when he arrived in Toronto he had someone who could, at least initially, help him to get established. It was difficult for him at the beginning, since he missed his wife and children, and his wife was left alone to look after the children, but he knew that relatives and friends in the village would help her. Still, it was not the same as having a husband around. Not being able to speak English and not understanding the Canadian way of doing things were the biggest challenges for him. He was forty years old when he came here and he had to learn a whole new language and whole new life – the younger you are as an immigrant the easier it is to adjust to a whole new way of life and the older you are the more difficult it is to change one’s ways and to start from scratch.

 

Gradually, however, he learnt to love life in Canada, the people, and above all the law and order that are part and parcel of Canadian society. Abdul-Hafeez eventually learnt the language and made friends with people from many different cultures and backgrounds. He loved the ethnic and religious diversity in Canada and the fact that people were tolerant about each other’s differences and lived in relative peace and harmony. He worked at many different jobs in order to be able to send money to his wife. He had a job at a bakery for 3 months making bread, after that he worked at a supermarket and later he ended up by working in the construction industry. His life was beginning to come together and he was starting to feel like this is home, until one day, he was involved in a tragic car accident which left him with a disability for the rest of his life and made him incapable of working. That fateful accident changed his life completely.

 

Eventually, he was able to bring his family and children to join him in Toronto. He had not seen them for eight years. The Arab Community Centre was instrumental in helping Abdul-Hafeez bring his family here, and for that, he will always be grateful. In spite of everything that has happened to him, he feels he is the happiest man alive for reuniting with his wife and children in Canada – a country which he loves dearly.

 

In 2006, during the Israeli invasion of Southern Lebanon, Abdul-Hafeez lost two of his closest friends in the war. A few years ago, his mother passed away and he was unable to see her in her last days. Now that his wife and children are here, he never wants to go back to Lebanon. Although he still carries and cherishes the fond memories of his village and he identifies himself as Lebanese, he feels that Lebanon is the past and Canada is the future.