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Art project illustrates the essense of Campbell River using the stories of its residents. P3
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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2015
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Sam’s walk away from extremism
Young Syrian man arrives in Campbell River to await decision on his refugee status Kristen Douglas Campbell RiveR miRRoR
S
armand ‘Sam’ Almouallem is more than 9,000 kilometres away from home. He doesn’t know if he’ll ever see his parents again, He’s spent three days in jail, and more than one of his friends has been killed or kidnapped. But he still considers himself one of the lucky ones. No matter how bad his situation seems, he knows there are others he’s left behind in war-torn Syria who are worse off than he is. The 28-year-old engineer is living as a refugee in the home of Merell and Fouad Awad, who is Almouallem’s godfather. The couple are also the owners of popular Campbell River restaurant BaBa Gannouj. Almouallem arrived in Campbell River on Sept. 26, after illegally walking across the border near Abbotsford. While still in Syria, Almouallem booked himself a plane ticket to Los Angeles. He took a taxi from Syria to Beirut, Lebanon with no questions asked. As an engineer, Almouallem regularly made the trip to Lebanon for supplies for work so the trip appeared to be nothing out of the ordinary. But this time it was. Once in Beirut, he got on an airplane and, after a layover in Dubai, landed in L.A.
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‘Sam’ Almouallem has seen the inside of a jail, more than one of his friends go missing and missiles flying over his head as he goes to work. He’s hoping all of that is behind him as he seeks refugee status in Canada.
In L.A, Almouallem briefly stayed with his uncle but he knew his final destination would be Canada as he didn’t want to be a burden on his
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uncle who is struggling financially and is trying to cope with a daughter who has health problems. Before leaving Syria, Almouallem
said he read online that if he tried to cross the U.S. border into Canada, he would be sent back to the States. So, he took a bus from Seat-
tle to Blaine, Wash. and attempted to get into Canada by foot. “I chose a civilian area with
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