SURE SHORE KOSOVO STORIES IN CANADA

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3 SURE SHORE KOSOVO STORIES IN CANADA This publication was supported by members of the Kosovo community in Canada. It is a warm and kind note of gratefulness and friendship. Photographs and stories published here are family assets, kindly shared with the Kosovo Embassy in Canada and the author. A heartfelt thank you goes to the following people and their families for sharing with us their photos, thoughts, and stories: Afrim Gashi, Ahmet Gallapeni, Alban Rrahmani, Anita Vandenbeld, Anne and Dave Black, Anne Moore, Arbnor Krasniqi, Ardion Kozhani, Arta Rexhepi, Arton Sallahi, Artor and Visar Gashi, Avni Lushaku, Bedri Toqani, Bedrije Rexhepi, Bujar Zejnullahu, Burim and Arbër Ademi, Chad Rogers, Dan Asllani, Dani Brajshori, Daniel Maksymiuk, Dashnor Hasku, Edon Arapi, Erveina Gosalci, Fadil Selimi, Faik Shabani, Fisnik Kuki, Fitim Thaçi, Kumrije Ashimi, Lirim Hajrullahu, Lulzim Hiseni, Lumturi Bejkosalaj, Mehdi Toqani, Mimoza Hajdini, Naser Berisha, Remzi Cej, Shaban Gosalci, Shani Pnishi, Shqipe, Lavdim and Aurela Kozmaqi, Tringa Rexhepi, Valbona Ugzmaili, Vjollca Bytyqi, Zeqirja Rexhepi This book is not intended for sale. SURE SHORE - Kosovo stories in Canada is produced and published under the guidance and for purposes of the Embassy of the Republic of Kosovo in Canada. All rights belong to the Embassy of the Republic of Kosovo in Canada. Author and editor: Fiona Kelmendi Editorial Designer: Rina META Photo Editor: TADI Design and Layout: Ngadhnjim Nuhiu Gazmend Nimani Cover Art: TADI June 2017 Ottawa, Canada EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF KOSOVO IN CANADA website: facebook: Embassy of the Republic of Kosovo in Ottawa facebook: Sure Shores of Canada #KosovothanksCanada

4 Humanity over indifference U M A N Having the first official celebration of the anniversary of this act of solidarity in the same year that Canada celebrates its 150th anniversary is very symbolic, especially in today s global context. This year, Canada proudly celebrates its traditions and values that opened the doors to Kosovo refugees in 1999, and continue to open doors for refugees even today values of diversity, tolerance and inclusiveness. P Members of Vjollca Bytyqi s family, smiling on the shores of Canada. Fredericton, New Brunswick, May 1999 W E R S Lulzim Hiseni Ambassador of the Republic of Kosovo to Canada I am deeply honored to be the first resident Kosovo Ambassador to Canada, especially considering the very special relationship that our two countries have. Eighteen years ago, when over 1.4 million Albanian Kosovars were forced out of their homes, Canada and its people opened their doors to over 7,000 refugees from Kosovo in an exceptional show of solidarity. Today, this extraordinary welcome of Kosovars by Canada constitutes the main pillar of our bilateral relations. The recent opening of our Embassy in Ottawa is a show of Kosovo s gratitude and determination to further reinforce those excellent bilateral relations. It is such an honor to represent Kosovo in a country, which, in defense of basic human rights and values, joined the NATO alliance that put an end to the ethnic cleansing campaign against Albanians in Kosovo in Canada s humanitarian intervention ensured freedom for the people of Kosovo, and it is a pleasure to promote this publication on the occasion of the 18th anniversary of Kosovo s liberation and of the admission of Kosovo refugees to Canada. Having the first official celebration of the anniversary of this act of solidarity in the same year that Canada celebrates its 150th anniversary is very symbolic, especially in today s global context.

5 This year, Canada proudly celebrates its traditions and values that opened the doors to Kosovo refugees in 1999, and continue to open doors for refugees even today values of diversity, tolerance and inclusiveness. Reading about the details of Canada s aptly-titled Operation PARASOL, which in 1999 airlifted thousands of refugees from camps just outside Kosovo, flooded me with memories of a time when all I needed was a shelter, a safe haven from the horrors back home. As a former political refugee of Kosovo in France in the 1990s, and a former legal officer of the French National Court of Asylum, I am very familiar with the plight of refugees worldwide. And this is why in both my personal and professional capacity, I admire profoundly what Canada did it opened a parasol of hope to 7,000 people that had lost everything. But even more importantly, it valued them as human beings and encouraged them to continue their stories here. It brings me great pride that after 18 years, our community is so well integrated that Kosovo is now being mentioned as a successful example for accepting other refugees. Canadians opened their hearts for Kosovars in 1999, and today we see those Kosovars opening their hearts too. I am very happy that the opening of Kosovo s diplomatic mission in Ottawa was met with great enthusiasm from our community, who continue to build bridges between Canada and Kosovo every day. Even this publication would not have been possible without the generous contribution of our community, as well as my wife, Fiona, who volunteered to collect and share these stories with you. Many more stories remain yet to be told, which is why I look forward to this book s future volumes. Thanks to the efforts of Canada and its people, the book you are holding is more than a collection of refugee stories it is a mosaic of integration. The stories you will read are a testament to the importance of upholding liberal values and of treating fellow humans without prejudice or discrimination. They are a reminder that people can achieve remarkable things when they feel worthy, loved and accepted. This book is a demonstration of the healing powers of human kindness. Our community shared countless photos from their very first days in Canada for this project. While not all of them are shown here, there is one element that stands out whether you look at 5 or 500 photos. What might surprise you, as it did me, is that not a single one of those refugees is hurting or afraid. These men, women and children who had lost their family members, their homes, and their identities, are finally safe, peaceful and smiling. Dear Canadians, it was you who put those smiles back on our children s faces. This book is by refugees, for refugees, and in gratitude to all those who choose humanity over indifference in 1999 as well as today.

6 Reaff irming values The refugees from Kosovo also deserve Canada s thanks, for enriching our nation s social, economic, and cultural life. Canada is stronger not in spite of our diversity, but precisely because of it. The stories of the Kosovars help us appreciate the fundamental truth of this principle, reaffirming the values that define Canada and that we seek to project around the world. Daniel Maksymiuk Ambassador of Canada to the Republic of Kosovo Today, in the busy cafes along the glamorous Mother Teresa promenade in Pristina, or arriving in the impressive modern terminal of Adem Jashari international airport, or talking with the dynamic, optimistic young Kosovars who are full citizens of a global, digital community, it is hard to imagine the desperate conflict almost twenty years ago that drove hundreds of thousands of Kosovars from their homes, and over 7,000 of them to safety in Canada. I have encountered them as successful professionals, entrepreneurs and community leaders across Canada. I have also encountered them in Kosovo where a growing number now live, with their activities enriching the relations between our two countries. And as a representative of Canada, I have been honoured to share the story of the Kosovar-Canadians as an example of Canada s unique multicultural society. There is steady progress in overcoming mistrust between different groups and restoring a truly pluralist, multi-ethnic society. As a result, there is a growing interest in Kosovo among Canadian investors, and there are many opportunities to work together to advance common values. Canada will continue to support the full integration of Kosovo within the international community. displaced people around the world than ever before. But the refugees from Kosovo also deserve Canada s thanks, for enriching our nation s social, economic, and cultural life. Canada is stronger not in spite of our diversity, but precisely because of it. The stories of the Kosovars help us appreciate the fundamental truth of this principle, reaffirming the values that define Canada and that we seek to project around the world. It has been my privilege, as a representative of the Canadian government, to meet many of those Kosovars who came to Canada, and became Canadian. Today, Canada and Kosovo are partners, and the flag of Kosovo flies from Kosovo s Embassy in Ottawa. Kosovo has built institutions, a rapidly growing economy, a vibrant civil society, and is on a clear trajectory towards the European Union. The movement of refugees from Kosovo to Canada is one of many cases of Canada opening its doors to provide a safe refuge, and a new home, to the most vulnerable. We must remember these examples at a time when there are more in photo: The All Together dance group, created by Remzi Cej with members from China, Kazahstan, Russia, Bulgaria, Egypt, and other countries, dancing traditional Kosovar dances.

7 The Kosovo-Canadian comunity has exemplified the Canadian immigrant success story They have had children who are as proud to be Canadian as they are proud of their origins. They are living proof that the Canadian ideals of multiculturalism, pluralism and openness make us stronger as a country. Rexhepi family celebrating their first Canada Day, 1 July 1999 Anita Vandenbeld Member of Federal Parliament of Canada and Chair of Canada - Kosovo Parliamentary Friendship Group Canada has and always will be a home to those fleeing persecution and seeking a better life; it is an indelible component of our national character, a cherished value, and a principle that transcends political division or partisanship. When it comes to refugees, the Canadian narrative is recursive and generational. For the last half century each generation has had its own refugee story, a moment of national unity wherein Canadians have come together as a country and as a people to welcome families from abroad fleeing turmoil to create a new home, and a new community, in Canada. For today's young Canadians, that story will be that of the Syrian refugees, for the older among us, it was the Vietnamese, but my generation will always remember the Kosovars. For myself, the Kosovar community - here in Canada and across the ocean - hold a place of profound personal significance. I was in Kosovo in 2007 and 2008, working with OSCE as an advisor to the Assembly of Kosovo at the time when Kosovo declared independence. The experience of watching a new country born will stay with me for my lifetime. I am proud that Canada was one of the first countries to recognize the new country of Kosovo, just as I am proud of the way in which our communities welcomed Kosovo refugees 18 years ago. Since their arrival in Canada, the Kosovo-Canadian community has exemplified the Canadian immigrant success story: they have gone on to create businesses, enrich our country's economy and culture, and build families and livelihoods. They have had children who are as proud to be Canadian as they are proud of their origins. They are living proof that the Canadian ideals of multiculturalism, pluralism and openness make us stronger as a country. I am proud of the contributions of the Kosovo-Canadian community to the fabric of our nation.

8 Canada in 1999: The need is great. But our compassion is greater. If anyone ever wanted a description of what this country is all about, if they ever wondered why we have accomplished so much as a nation, they need only look at that tremendous, spontaneous reaction of people Excerpt from Former Prime Minister of Canada, Right Hon. Jean Chretien s address to the House of Commons, Canada, during the debate on Kosovo, April 12, 1999, Ottawa. I cannot close without talking about the one aspect of this crisis that has lifted our hearts and raised our spirits. The conflict in Kosovo is a depressing reminder of the past. But the generosity and concern that Canadians are showing for the Kosovar refugees is an uplifting reminder of what makes our country so great. Toll-free telephone lines and faxes are being flooded with offers of help Communities are opening their hearts and are eager to open their homes, in that typical Canadian way. The need is great. But our compassion is greater. And on behalf of this House, I want to thank everyone who is pitching in. A week ago, the UNHCR asked Canada to help ease the growing refugee crisis by agreeing to take in Kosovar refugees. The minute the government agreed to bring in 5,000 refugees, the outpouring from Canadians was nothing short of a phenomenon. And it is still going on. If anyone ever wanted a description of what this country is all about, if they ever wondered why we have accomplished so much as a nation, they need only look at that tremendous, spontaneous reaction of people in every corner of this great land. Lavdim Kozmaqi with his sister, happily adapting to their new home. Argonaut camp, Fredericton, New Brunswick, 1999

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10 Following the decision to revoke Kosovo s autonomy in 1989, Serbian President and war criminal Milosevic started a systematic gross violation of human rights of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. We must stop an authoritarian regime from repressing its people in Europe at the end of the 20th century. Dr. Javier Solana, Secretary General of NATO, Press Statement, March 23, Kosovo was faced with state organized oppression: from the early 1990s, Albanian language radio and television were restricted and newspapers shut down. Kosovar Albanians were fired in large numbers from public enterprises and institutions, including banks, hospitals, the post office and schools. In June 1991 the University of Prishtina assembly and several faculty councils were dissolved and replaced by Serbs. Kosovar Albanian teachers How do you allow people to be trampled over? were prevented from entering school premises for the new school year beginning in September 1991, forcing all Albanian students to study at home. Our objective is to prevent more human suffering and more repression and violence against the civilian population of Kosovo. Dr. Javier Solana, Secretary General of NATO, Press Statement, March 23, In 1991, Slovenia and Croatia seceded from Yugoslavia. In a span of less than five years, Serbia had declared war on them and later Bosnia and Herzegovina, where Serbian state forces committed the first genocide in Europe since World War II. Serbia continued the state oppression towards ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, culminating in a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing in YOU JUST DON T! As a result of President Milosevic's sustained policy of ethnic cleansing, hundreds of thousands of Kosovar people are seeking refuge in neighbouring countries, particularly in Albania and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Others remain in Kosovo, destitute and beyond the reach of international relief. These people in Kosovo are struggling to survive under conditions of exhaustion, hunger and desperation. NATO Press Release, April 12, Almost 80% of the population was forced out of their homes. 12,000 people including elderly, women and children were killed in Kosovo, mostly in massacres committed by state-directed Serbian forces. 20,000 women were raped by Serbian forces, according to an estimate by the World Health Organization. in previous photo: Kosovar refugees fleeing their homeland. Blace area, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. 1 March Blace. UN Photo/R LeMoyne Statement excerpt from Dennis Nash, Canadian sponsor family of Kosovo refugees, Edmonton, Canada

11 Once NATO bombing began on March 24 [1999], Serbian security forces violently uprooted hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians. By the end of May, about 1.4 million Kosovars had been uprooted, including 442,000 in Albania, 250,000 in Macedonia, more than 600,000 displaced within Kosovo, and more than 67,000 displaced into Montenegro. Roger Winter, Executive Director of the US Committee for Refugees, The Year in Review. in World Refugee Survey The aftermath was a humanitarian disaster that garnered reactions worldwide. The unrestrained assault by Yugoslav military, police and paramilitary forces, under the direction of President Milosevic, on Kosovar civilians has created a massive humanitarian catastrophe which also threatens to destabilise the surrounding region. Hundreds of thousands of people have been expelled ruthlessly from Kosovo by the FRY authorities. NATO Press Release, April 12, At the height of the war in Kosovo in April 1999, Macedonia closed its Kosovo border to the hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing rape, terror, and death perpetrated by Slobodan Milosevic s 100,000 military members waging a campaign of ethnic cleansing on the majority of Kosovo s population. For days, Kosovar refugees remained on no-man s land, in rain, fog, and cold, begging to be allowed into Macedonia, as that country s authorities called on states around the world to shoulder their share of the refugee burden. Scenes of people covered in mud, crying for mercy reached the living rooms of households around the world. -Remzi Cej, former Kosovo refugee, excerpt from When the Refugees Came for OpenCanada.org, Agim Shala, 2, is passed through a barbed wire fence as members of his family are reunited at a refugee camp in Kukes, Albania. Pulitzer Prize winning photography by Carol Guzy for The Washington Post The images of the Kosovo conflict reaching the world through television are also hauntingly familiar - tractors pulling flatbed trailers with entire families and the few possessions they could salvage - burned out homes and shops - and, worst, shocked and grieving parents at the funeral of a small child. Sadako Ogata, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, lecture at University of Ottawa, 4 November 1998.

12 Hello Parasol! Avni Lushaku s family waving from the room where they slept in CFB Kingston, Ontario

13 22 flights in 22 days The need was so great, that these incredible people were often working 48-hour shifts or longer in the bases they wouldn t sleep so that the refugees could. Responding to this humanitarian Canada, despite being thousands of miles away from the war zone, responded to UNHCR s international appeal for help and pledged to accept thousands of refugees from Kosovo. The Canadian thousands of refugees evacuation, the federal government also agreed to fully fund the refugees living expenses for two years, a practice that had not been established before. Forces were asked to airlift the refugees from the camps near Kosovo, and in response, Operation PARASOL was launched. But one of the most unique aspects of this operation was the overwhelmingly generous response of the Canadian public. Before the refugees arrived, a This immense operation had a 72-hour window to prepare for the reception and assistance of 5,000 refugees. Canadian Force bases Borden, Trenton, Kingston, Petawawa, Meaford, Valcartier, Greenwood, Aldershot, Gagetown, and Halifax were all ready in record time. In 22 days in May 1999, 22 chartered flights carrying 5,051 Kosovar refugees landed in Canada. 2,266 refugees were later fast-tracked for admission to Canada, including refugees who had relatives in Canada and came as part of the family reunification process, or those considered to have special needs. Support came from all levels. Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the Department of National Defense and the Canadian Red Cross were taking lead in accommodating the refugees in CF bases upon arrival. They were given hot meals, hot showers, clean clothes and clean beds to sleep in. There were countless other volunteers from the local Lions and Rotary Clubs, The Salvation Army, members of the local community, and CF personnel. public appeal was made to all Canadians for sponsorship. Canada and its provinces set up a Kosovo Hotline, which was inundated by calls from people looking to help the refugees. The Canadian sponsor families were the practical and emotional support of these refugees long after Operation PARASOL was concluded. Through daily contacts with the refugees, they provided them with orientation into the Canadian community they offered accommodation, furnished apartments, found doctors, enrolled children into schools, found language classes, went shopping for groceries, took the Kosovars out to see the town and introduced them to new friends. Sometimes, they even served as a shoulder to cry on.

14 Without these amazingly selfless people, the integration of Kosovo refugees would have never been possible. generosity Operation PARASOL brought together thousands of volunteers, sponsors and interpreters to help heal the wounds of 7,000 refugees. While working such long hours even under normal conditions would be a taxing job, volunteering to share the emotional burden of the extreme trauma experienced by these refugees was a rarely seen gesture of humanity. In this book, we share a few of the stories of these people as well. To the thousands of other heroes whose stories we could not feature we remain forever indebted to you for opening your hearts and souls to our people. Lirim Hajrullahu, the last of the refugees to be airlifted to Canada. Trenton, Ontario, May 27, 1999 Information from mission operation notes, National Defence and the Canadian Forces, and Lessons Learned: An Evaluation of Northern Alberta s Experience with Kosovar Refugees (3 volumes) Abu-Laban, B., Derwing, T. M., Mulder, M. & Northcott, H. (2001). Two refugee children watch as relief supplies are unloaded from U.S MH-53E. Sea Dragon helicopters at Camp Hope near Fier, Albania on May 13, 1999 during Operation Sustain Hope. Fier, May 1999, by Senior Airman Michelle Leonard, U.S Air Force

15 Some of the heroes of Operation PARASOL. Left - Hank, a Red Cross volunteer in CFB Kingston, Ontario, still dearly remembered by the refugees. Right - translators at the Halifax base with Zeqirja Rexhepi.

16 Thanks for having us Canada! Mimoza H is a Kosovo Canadian musician, living and working in Montreal. Her first LP released in 2016 and her music is enjoyed by both communities in both Kosovo and Canada.

17 WHEN THE REFUGEES CAME You are us and we are you, and we welcome you, and honor you, and salute you. Shafiq Qaadri, member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, referring to Kosovo and Albania community during speech in Ontario Parliament in November 2016, on occasion of proclamation of November as Albanian Heritage Month. Images of Kosovo refugees making Canada their home

18 When the plane landed in Canada, the reception was so warm that we felt like we were coming to a wedding... and we were the guests of honor Azem Ademi, former refugee, for the Pasqyra Shqiptare documentary 1999, 2009 Images of Kosovo refugees making Canada their home Images of Kosovo refugees making Canada their home

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20 Opening doors in the name of humanity From these volunteers who helped strangers, I learned much about humanity. I knew that I belonged in a place where strangers became family overnight, perhaps because their generosity reminded me of the traditional Kosovar values of helping people in need at any cost. out of their homes onto the highway, we lost my uncle. Ten years later, my cousin found his remains in a mass grave of Kosovar civilians. Remzi Cej Is a Rhodes scholar, and former Chair of the Newfoundland and Labrador Human Rights Commission. He is currently a public servant with the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador OPENING DOORS IN THE NAME OF HUMANITY Remzi Cej At the tail end of Canada s Kosovar refugee resettlement effort, my parents and I came to St. John s in late 2000, after living in seven different refugee camps in Albania. We brought little more than three bags with us, our only belongings. We lost much in the war - our home was first ransacked after we were expelled by Serbian masked paramilitary members, then burnt to the ground. In the chaos of the endless queue of thousands of people forced to walk My brother Adnan, deaf since the age of three, was missing from the war for nearly six years. Endless enquiries to the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross yielded no news. We came to Newfoundland and Labrador with many memories of suffering, loss, and deprivation, the wounds of war on our minds. We were anxious about our new home, worried about all the challenges that lay ahead: my parents could not speak English, we were unfamiliar with Canadian culture, and we did not know anyone here.

21 OPENING DOORS IN THE NAME OF HUMANITY OPENING DOORS IN THE NAME OF HUMANITY Remzi Cej We landed in the St. John s airport on a foggy October afternoon, to the sounds of Moby s Porcelain. The day could not have been more grey, and it made us even more anxious than we had been. All that changed as soon as we stepped off the tarmac. At the arrivals gate, we were greeted by strangers waiting with warm coats, warm coffee, and donuts in hand. They drove us to our new apartment, where two cakes were waiting for us: one for my mother, whose birthday was the next day; and another for me, as my birthday was two days later. So heartwarming was this welcome that we instantly felt loved. These generous strangers only knew us by our names, but over the past seventeen years, have become family and are very much the reason we call St. John s home today. Years after arriving in St. John s, I asked our family friends what inspired them to join the dozens of groups of volunteers helping Kosovar refugees. We wanted to help we may not have been able to change your lives, but we could extend a helping hand at a time when you needed it, said Bill Titford, or uncle Bill, as I called him. This expression of modesty was exceptional to war survivors who had just witnessed the worst of humanity. Fr. Andrew Hall, a retired Anglican priest who was also part of our family volunteer group, drove my parents to the St. John s mosque for the Friday prayers until my parents learned how to get there. From these volunteers who helped strangers, I learned much about humanity. I knew that I belonged in a place where strangers became family overnight, perhaps because their generosity reminded me of the traditional Kosovar values of helping people in need at any cost.

22 OPENING DOORS IN THE NAME OF HUMANITY Remzi Cej So many other Kosovar Canadians had similar experiences. For those who returned to Kosova, staying in touch with their sponsors, as they called them, became part of life. When my brother Adnan appeared on a Turkish news channel, looking for us six years after going missing, our Newfoundland and Labrador friends helped us reunite, raising funds to make it possible for us to visit him, and later, to petition the federal government to bring him to Canada. Six months after arriving in Newfoundland and Labrador, Dr. Lloydetta Quaicoe, a Newfoundlander and Labradorian of Sierra Leonean origins, taught me about pride of one s own culture. With her encouragement, I created a dance group that celebrated Kosovar Albanian and Turkish heritage. The All Together dance group counted members from China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Bulgaria, Egypt, and other countries, all dancing traditional Kosovar dances. We sewed and wore traditional Kosovar costumes, and performed in outdoor events during cold Canadian winters and during warm Canada Day celebrations. It was surreal to me, as a traumatized survivor of ethnic cleansing, to witness strangers from around the world embracing my culture. In retrospect, celebrating my culture while learning about the cultures of my peers was probably the best kind of therapy I could have undergone. OPENING DOORS IN THE NAME OF HUMANITY Remzi Cej My mother, in her mid-fifties when we arrived in Canada, learned English and eventually became an interpreter and translator for Roma, Albanian, Bosnian, and Serbian newcomers she could not retrain to become a teacher in Canada as she had been in Kosova, but she took up an equally noble task of literally becoming the voice of others. My family s losses were many we lost relatives, a home, and for a long time, our sense of stability. Memories of the war will live with us for the rest of our lives. But in coming to Canada and being treated with dignity and respect, we regained hope in humanity.

23 OPENING DOORS IN THE NAME OF HUMANITY Remzi Cej In my time in Canada, my efforts have focused on promoting and protecting human rights, protecting vulnerable groups from discrimination, and giving back to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador and Canada for the generosity shown to my family. The privileges were many: an accessible education; opportunities everywhere to work as much and as hard as I could; communities of people ready to help if I needed anything; a society where I could take pride in the enmeshing of the Canadian-Newfoundlander-and-Labradorian -Kosovar culture, but also pride and freedom to practice my religion, to not hide my sexual orientation, and to celebrate many other aspects of my identity. A year ago, I became a founding member of Bridge to the Rock, a private refugee sponsorship group that helps LGBTQ refugees flee persecution. As we prepare for our second sponsorship, I hope that I can make a fraction of the difference in the lives of the people we sponsor, that so many generous Canadians made in mine many years ago. I will always be proud to call myself Canadian, and I feel fortunate to belong to a country where I can be equally proud to call myself Kosovar, and to celebrate those complementary identities. Thank you, Canada.

24 IT IS NOT JUST A CLICHÉ THAT CANADA IS A LAND OF OPPORTUNITY AND HOPE Once we arrived, we came to appreciate the diversity, tolerance and the politeness of its people and the double-double coffee and donut from the Tim Hortons. Kumrije Ashimi A former teacher and a current refugee activist and donor IT IS NOT JUST A CLICHE THAT CANADA IS A LAND OF OPORTUNITY AND HOPE A little over 18 years ago, I was teaching English to my grade school students at Boro-Ramiz, the multi-purpose community and sports centre in downtown Pristina that served as a safe space for students who wished to learn English. Teaching was a passion that I had wanted to do since I was young. My family and I lived a modest lifestyle. At the time, my husband, Huso, was a mechanical engineer at a nearby power plant and my children, Edi and Ellma, were in elementary school. Over a matter of weeks, our lives changed forever. Inter-ethnic tensions in Kosovo had been on the rise since the late 1980s that ushered in the collapse of Tito s Yugoslavia, which Kosovo was still a member of Yugoslavia. The region finally erupted into armed conflict in Atrocities committed by the police, paramilitary groups and the army caused a wave of refugees to flee their own homes. Once the armed conflict reached Pristina in early 1999, everyday life suddenly came to a halt. Fearing for their lives, people ceased going to work, children stopped going to school and the streets became deserted. In early April, my family and I joined hundreds of thousands of refugees who had sought safety in neighbouring countries. We left my elderly and frail in-laws and our own home behind, not knowing whether we would ever see them or ever set foot inside again.

25 IT IS NOT JUST A CLICHE THAT THAT CANADA IS A LAND OF OPORTUNITY AND HOPE Kumrije Ashimi All the good memories, the good and the bad and many of our family treasures and photographs were left behind. We first stayed at my parents in Montenegro, hoping for the conflict to come to an end and to return back home to a normal life. However, with the war continuing on for months on end and with my son s asthma condition worsening due to lack of proper medications, we decided to take on our friend s generous offer to sponsor us to come to Canada. The Government of Canada had established a residency program to accept up to 7,000 refugees fleeing the conflict in Kosovo. We were not sure how long we would end up staying - all we knew was that we would be in a much safer place. However, in order to process the immigration paperwork we had to leave Montenegro, which was then still a member of the Yugoslavia, and travel to neighbouring Albania. We stayed with a very generous and friendly Albanian family in the city of Durres for almost a month, until we were ready to depart for Canada on May 26th. We did not have much prior knowledge of Canada. The few facts that we knew were that English and French were the two official languages; it was a relatively new country and it had many lakes and a very good climate and clean air, ideal for my son s asthma condition. Once we arrived, we came to appreciate the diversity, tolerance and the politeness of its people... and the double-double coffee and donut from the Tim Hortons. We were amazed at the large land mass as we drove an hour away from the Toronto Pearson Airport to the city of Kitchener, where we ended up settling. Our friend who had generously sponsored us to come to Canada had lived in Kitchener and it was natural that we too would settle in this great community that we came to call our second home. Considering that I was fluent in English, in September 1999, I was hired by the local YMCA Settlement Services to primarily assist refugees and immigrants from Kosovo and the former Yugoslavia that had settled in Waterloo Region. After a short period of time, I came to service all newcomers. It has been a wonderful experience meeting people from different parts of the world and being able to assist them navigate and learn about their new community.

26 IT IS NOT JUST A CLICHE THAT CANADA IS A LAND OF OPORTUNITY AND HOPE Kumrije Ashimi Thanks to the support from our network of family and friends, we were able to adapt to our new community. It is not just a cliché that Canada is a land of opportunity and hope. My husband spent the first few years learning English through the English as a Second Language classes for adults, and worked a number of odd jobs to help support our family. Today, he works as a Certified Energy Evaluator for a company whose mission is to improve the performance, quality, and energy efficiency of homes across Canada. While in university, my son started working at the constituency office of our local Member of Provincial Parliament. After obtaining his Masters of Arts in International Relations from the University of Toronto, he went on to work for the provincial government and currently serves as Director of Community Relations for Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne. After graduating with a university degree in business administration, my daughter found work as an Assistant Manager of Operations and Business Development at a wealth management firm. We are thankful at the opportunity presented to us to succeed, each in our own unique way, and never forget where we came from. I would have never imagined 18 years ago that my family and I would make Canada our second home and that through my work I would be assisting newly-arrived refugees and immigrants settle in their new community. I am grateful that Canada has continued to live up to its international reputation of being an open, tolerant and accepting country, as we welcomed some 40,000 Syrian refugees since November 2015, and continue to welcome other newcomers from all parts of the world.

27 SLEEP WITH NO WORRIES We knew that we would be giving our time and friendship, but we had no way of foreseeing how much joy, knowledge and cultural understanding we would receive in return. Dave and Anne Black Canadian sponsor family of Kosovo refugees, Ottawa SLEEP WITH NO WORRIES Dave & Anne Black We became sponsors in hopes of alleviating in some small way the pain and suffering of Kosovar refugees driven from their homes and country in We knew that we would be giving our time and friendship, but we had no way of foreseeing how much joy, knowledge and cultural understanding we would receive in return. We imagined that our sponsorship duties would be easily accomplished by working alone, but quickly realized the opposite. Immigration Canada required a group of at least five to make the process of cultural integration more manageable. We were joined by Theresa and Don Myrick, Rose-Aline Belcourt, Claire Knudson, and Anne Moore, to make a group of seven. Responsibilities were divided into various areas of specialization to make a real team effort, and we are to this day ever grateful for the willing help of all the other sponsors. We were amazed and touched at how Canadians in all walks of life made the job of sponsorship easier by reaching out to the refugees, welcoming them as new Canadians, and offering their support. Also, the whole Kosovar community in Canada made a point of socializing with the newcomers and organizing gatherings to make them feel more at home. Our refugees, Nezir (Hajji) and Nazife Brajshori, senior retirees, arrived alone without support of family and with no knowledge of English or French.

28 SLEEP WITH NO WORRIES Dave & Anne Black family and with no knowledge of English or French. We were immediately struck by how effortless it was to communicate through pantomime with this tall, physically strong, outgoing gentleman, and at how grateful both he and his shy, diminutive wife were to the sponsors and to Canadians in general, for taking them in. Nazife s first act, on entering her new Canadian apartment, was to pull a bottle of Coca-Cola from a plastic bag she had been hanging onto since we met her stepping off the bus, and to give her sponsors a first glimpse of Kosovar hospitality by offering us a drink. SLEEP WITH NO WORRIES Dave & Anne Black We were struck by the energy and positive attitude with which Hajji and Nazife attacked the job of adapting and integrating into ongoing Canadian life, and also by their courage and resiliency in the face of their difficult and harrowing refugee experience. They welcomed us into their family and into their hearts. Unfortunately, their advanced age made learning a new language or going to work absolutely out of the question, so it was with much joy after seven months that they welcomed, under the family reunification plan, their young son, Dani. Dani already spoke English, and quickly adapted to his new environment, within days of his arrival starting a new job at a restaurant. Over the coming months and years he would provide invaluable support to his aging parents. One of the highlights of those early days was our visit to see Prime Minister Chrétien. Hajji had met him at Camp Borden where the Prime Minister had gone to welcome all the Kosovars awaiting assignment to their sponsors. The PM had fallen during a game of basketball, Hajji had helped him up, and the PM had in turn invited Hajji to come see me if you ever go to Ottawa. Hajji and Nazife were thrilled to go and see the PM in his Parliament Hill office, and to thank him personally for all that Canada had done to help the refugees. Over the months that followed, the Brajshori family worked hard at becoming Canadian. It was a joyous moment, five years after their first arrival, when the whole family became Canadian citizens. For Hajji, it was the fulfillment of his lifelong dream to live in a democracy and have the right to vote. Dani went on to graduate from college and to get a job in the federal public service. He is happily married to Vjollca, and they have two lovely children.

29 SLEEP WITH NO WORRIES Dave & Anne Black For us, being sponsors to the Brajshoris was an honour that enhanced our lives in knowledge, cultural understanding, and personal relationships. We emerged from the experience having received at least as much as we had given. As the years went by, we began to wonder if others might like to know what we experienced from the moment of thinking about becoming sponsors, through to the rewarding moment of seeing our refugees become Canadian citizens. The result was a book that we co-authored, Sleep With No Worries, published in 2007 by Trafford Publishing. The book is available directly from the publisher, or from Amazon.ca.

30 Fleeing Kosovo: a refugee's reflection Originally published by Arta Rexhepi for CBC, May 15, 2014 Arta Rexhepi Arta Rexhepi is a Broadcast Journalism graduate working as a journalist for CTV Atlantic. FLEEING KOSOVO: A REFUGEE'S REFLECTION Arta Rexhepi Fifteen years ago, I never pictured my 15th anniversary in Canada to look like this. I had dreams, just as all children do, but experiencing war in Kosovo perhaps shrunk them. I would need to write a book to tell my full story but here's an insight. Late one night, more than a decade ago. Myself and my family were staying in a refugee camp in Stankovec, Macedonia. I remember staying in a tent. My brother and sister were really sick. Sleep was very short since the crowds were huge and children's cries were endless. During the month my family spent in the refugee camp while my country was being torn apart by war, I celebrated my 13th birthday. It was a gift. I was there, I was alive and I was whole with all my family. We were lucky to survive. A few weeks later, it must have been 10 or 11 o'clock at night, two unknown women in their late 30s came by our tent to find out if we were ready, packing for our flight to Canada in the morning. That news came as a surprise to us. There was a tent shortage and they needed one for their family. We could relate to that. The men in my family often slept outside in the pouring rain. We had no idea what the ladies were talking about. We didn't know we were scheduled to fly to Canada. My dad had signed up to leave for possible destinations in a couple of Western countries. He wasn't that eager to leave, until my sister and brother started getting sick. Packing didn't take long, we had very little with us.

31 FLEEING KOSOVO: A REFUGEE'S REFLECTION Arta Rexhepi Everything we had was left behind in Kosovo. By then everything was probably ash. The next morning, I felt confused. I had a million thoughts going through my mind. I didn't know what to expect. More than 15 hours of travelling later, we landed in Nova Scotia late in the evening. We were greeted by Red Cross Volunteers, teddy bears, reporters and officials. I was exhausted. I didn't want to go through all the blood tests, fingerprints and long lineups. I remember my first breakfast though, it was amazing. It was just like home. Finally some food that wasn't canned. Shortly after arriving, we were then transferred to the Military base in Windsor Park in west end Halifax. I had a great time at the military base, it was sort of like going to rehab. I made new friends, some of whom remain close. We really were very welcomed. We felt a sense of belonging, and we could relate to other people from Kosovo with whom we would exchange our stories. I was very eager to learn English. At the military base we had English as a Second Language tutors and I immediately started attending classes. I tried to not think about the war back home in Kosovo, something that was easier while at the base. I was surrounded by many great people there and it kept my mind off things. My dad played a huge role in healing us from the trauma, using art and music to do that. We met many amazing Canadians during that time, including the Red Cross volunteers who always had a smile on, military personnel, doctors, the Jubilee group who assisted us for a couple of years into settling in Nova Scotia. We also met some great reporters like Rob Gordon who, after he did a story on my family, decided to invite us to his house for a BBQ. It may have been just a simple BBQ, but what Rob Gordon did for us was life changing. He gave us a feeling of home again, after being homeless. My dad, who worked as an artist and musician in Kosovo, lost much of his artwork when we fled our home in Kosovo. Every one of his paintings had an amazing story to go along with it. I was intrigued by the stories of his art work. People were amazed visually, but I always wanted to know the story behind it. I think that's when my curiosity of storytelling got planted in my mind. My curiosity, along with Rob Gordon's inspiration, made me want to be a journalist.

32 FLEEING KOSOVO: A REFUGEE'S REFLECTION Arta Rexhepi War is never good, but good things can come out of it. I think my experiences with war have made me a better reporter because of it. I believe I'm here for a reason and maybe I'm supposed to tell the stories of those who didn't made it. I've had many great opportunities in Canada, like getting the opportunity to intern at CBC. They've been extremely supportive of my learning. I'm also very grateful to NSCC and my instructors, who have been great mentors, really pushing me towards my journalism dream. Since my family came to Canada all those years ago, they have also had many opportunities. My dad Zeqirja has his work displayed on murals all over the Halifax Regional Municipality making HRM prettier, I think. My sister Tringa has shared her talent in musical theatre and she recently joined Shakespeare by the Sea for this summer's productions. My brothers are involved in art design. However, my oldest sisters, Ema and Yllka, and my mom have taken a different route. Both of my sister's are laboratory technicians. My mom Bea, a former actress in Kosovo, has a hair shop on Windsor Street. I imagine people have mixed feelings about the 15th anniversary of Kosovar refugees coming to Canada. For me, it's a happy anniversary. I'm happy I've been able to come to this amazing country, even though I wasn't happy at the time. It's happy because the war ended, happy because we got a second chance at life. It's sort of like being reborn. For some, those who've lost family members and who've gone through extreme torture and agony, it's devastating. Experiencing war and conflict is never easy but it prepared myself and my family for any tough challenges on the road ahead. Fifteen years later, I have two beautiful children who are Canadian. And next month I graduate from NSCC in Broadcast Journalism. Who knows what's ahead but so far it's been a great challenge Happy anniversary to all refugees who came, the ones who went back and everyone that worked with us during the time.

33 REVIVAL I put an obligation upon myself in Canada to work, to create. I wanted to give my art a different dimension, to present myself as a creator. Zeqirja Rexhepi is a member of Visual Arts Nova Scotia, the Cape Breton Artists Association, the Canadian Forces Artists Program and IATSE, and he provides training and guidance for private students. REVIVAL I would have never thought I would find myself on this side of the Atlantic Ocean 18 years ago. It is a tragedy when one has to leave their country. And just to be clear, we did not leave our homes we were forced out. My head and my heart are always turned toward Kosovo, but I realize how lucky I am to have been able to come to this country. I grew up in the village of Përlepnica, near Gjilan. I studied at College of Arts in Skopje, Macedonia and at the Academy of Fine Arts at the University of Prishtina, and soon after that I specialized in embroidery design in Arbon, Switzerland in When I graduated, I had an amazing job offer there, but I could not imagine myself not living in Kosovo. I continued my art back home, working both on paintings and murals, and as a professional violinist. I still clearly remember April 6th, 1999, when the Serbian paramilitary forces invaded our village, abusing the elderly, women and children. They gathered some of us to send a message that if the people of Përlepnica wanted to stay alive, we would have to stage an anti-nato protest. I almost thought they were joking. After a week, all of us left and the village was burnt to the ground. After learning that my home had been burned down, I was heartbroken when I realized that years of my work had been lost forever. However, I learned later that a single piece had survived.

34 REVIVAL Zeqirja Rexhepi In fact, it was one of my favorites and my most valuable work a wedding gift for my wife, Bedrije. The piece had survived only because it had been stolen from an exhibit in then-yugoslavia. My family and I ended up in the Stankovec refugee camp in Macedonia. Soon after arriving, I heard people were going to Canada, but it seemed too far away for me. After living through a week of inhumane conditions, I had changed my mind. On May 15th, 1999, my wife, five of my six children and I, boarded the plane to CFB Greenwood. The people that greeted us once we arrived made all the difference with big smiles, and hugs, and open REVIVAL Zeqirja Rexhepi hearts, showing us kindness and humanity we had almost forgotten about. Each day we felt more at home here. In Kosovo I had been making art and music together with Bedrije, as she was a theater professional and a singer herself, and this spurred a love of the arts in my children as well. My family had been missing our music and dancing, so all of us got involved in the Multicultural Association, and I was even chair for a while. We held festivals of different communities in Canada to sing and dance and share each other s culture. Bedrije had sewn traditional Kosovo costumes for the women, and I remember a Canadian had brought traditional hats for the men all the way from Kosovo. It was remarkable to see how all of the communities can get together in Canada, without forgetting where they were from. I put an obligation upon myself in Canada to work, to create.i wanted to give my art a different dimension, to present myself as a creator. Canadians knew very little about our culture, I saw this immediately in the refugee camps. So, I thought I should start my work with metaphors. I wanted to make every painting a novel, to give an artistic as well as a historical dimension, and I enjoy how everyone can read from my canvas. Every artist has their one breakthrough piece and mine was the Destroyed Violin. It was the first work I did when I moved here. Beyond the symbolism in the painting, the violin has a very dear place in my heart. I am a violinist, and my first job in Canada, I found thanks to the violin. The painting itself, a very strong message of hope, is something that has defined us over these years. I had started doing murals, as I had experience with them in Kosovo. I was very proud to win my commission for the immense

35 REVIVAL Zeqirja Rexhepi Joseph Howe mural, which is considered a historic monument. I have completed many other mural commissions in Nova Scotia including the Tallships mural in downtown Halifax (2000), a series of eight murals at Alderney Landing based on historic Dartmouth ( ), Map of Canada for the Immigration of Canada (2009), and murals in the Cole Harbour United Church and Trinity Church. I have also had many solo and group exhibitions, such as Saint Marys University Art Gallery (1999), the Nova Scotia Art Gallery (2002), the UCCB Art Gallery II (Sydney, 2005), the National Defense Head Quarters (Ottawa, 2007), and the Dalhousie University Art Gallery (2007 through 2011). and my art, as well as provide a better life for my children. For this, we remain eternally grateful to this country and its wonderful people. A very special exhibit for me was the retrospective Revival, on the 15 year anniversary of my arrival in Canada. Here, I have found the peace that I was longing for so much. Canada gave me an opportunity to re-establish myself

36 FINDING MY VOICE IN CANADA To refugees of today that are fortunate enough to come to Canada you will find that it is possible to have two homes. You will nourish your traditions and adapt to new ones. You will be welcomed and loved. You will find there is nothing you can t do here. thing I will never forget is the constant fear. And then, once we landed in Halifax, I started to feel relief. For the first time in months, I finally felt safe. Tringa Rexhepi is an artist, singer and songwriter based in Toronto. She has recently released a self-titled EP, available on itunes and Google Play. FINDING MY VOICE IN CANADA Tringa Rexhepi I was the youngest of the six children in a family of artists painters, musicians, actors and life-loving people. It was only normal that life would always be a stage to me. Unfortunately, year 1999 in Kosovo turned the stage lights off for a while. For my family, it was Canada that lifted the darkness. I was an eight year old refugee in a camp in Macedonia. We were forced to leave everything in Kosovo, and our family home was burned. Many details are still vague to me, maybe for the better, but one It was overwhelming to be in a country so far away, so different from ours, and whose language we didn t speak. But the warm welcome that was extended to us transcended all language barriers, reminding us of the kind of hospitality we thought one could only find in Kosovo. We were finally able to sing and dance and create art again. I began singing, acting, and piano training at Neptune Theatre and the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts as a way of learning English, but it quickly became my greatest passion. Before I turned 17, I had appeared in over 13 theatrical productions. I became an active member of the

37 FINDING MY VOICE IN CANADA Tringa Rexhepi east-coast music, arts and culture scene as an award-winning vocalist and theatre artist. My experience as a child refugee changed me, and I needed to share with others the compassion that was shown to me. Aside from performing, I have devoted over 900 volunteer hours to my community and have raised thousands of dollars for various organizations such as Kids Help Phone, Right To Play, Adsum House, and more. I helped lead a book drive that sent over 12,000 books to Keyo Secondary School in Northern Uganda. FINDING MY VOICE IN CANADA For my leadership, community involvement and academic achievement, I received top National Scholarships including the prestigious June Callwood Harmony Scholarship, the 2016 Nova Scotia Human Rights Award, Naval Centennial Challenge Award and more. I received a full scholarship and graduated with Honors from very competitive programs in Sheridan College and CAP21 Professional Program in New York City. Since graduating, I have performed in theatre, galas, benefits and award functions across Canada, the United States and in Europe. Through my live performances, I have managed to generate a Canadian fan base, as well as an Albanian one, in North America and all over Europe. I had the incredible privilege of teaching students of all ages in top performing arts programs around Canada. After 15 years of singing and acting on stage across Canada, I started releasing original music in Most recently, I released an EP of original music to a sold-out audience at the Supermarket in Toronto. The EP garnered attention from numerous blogs (A Music Blog, Yea, FYI Music News and more), CBC Radio Toronto and Maritimes, CTV, and for my single "Go", I was chosen as Singers Universe's top 5 singer of the month! My debut Albanian single Pa Ty will be released for the summer on all platforms! My art career is more than just work to me it s passion, love, happiness, and emotion. I am very proud of what I have achieved so far, but I still see myself as if I were at the beginning of a very long journey.

38 FINDING MY VOICE IN CANADA Tringa Rexhepi My Cinderella story of overcoming adversity and becoming an accomplished artist in Canada has been featured nationally and internationally. I am eternally grateful to the countless volunteers and sponsors that helped me and my family get started with their new life back in They helped me find my voice again. Today, nothing pains me more than seeing so many refugees in the world again, lost and without hope. But, Canada opening its doors for them once again makes me so proud to call myself Canadian! To refugees of today that are fortunate enough to come to Canada you will find that it is possible to have two homes. You will nourish you traditions and adapt to new ones. You will be welcomed and loved. You will find there is nothing you can t do here.

39 HEALING THROUGH ART I was a spiritual refugee, someone who has been moving around searching for a place to call home. After fifteen years of racing around, I have finally found the place where to unpack my suitcase and become the artist I had always wanted to be. Mimoza Hajdini Mimoza Hajdini, artist name Mimoza H, is a singer/music-maker/producer currently based in Montreal. She recently released her first music album titled Uproot MY OTHER LIFE Mimoza Hajdini March 1999 in Kosovo was not just like any other March of any other year. This year was going to be the big turn of events that would bring about incredible life shifts that would change my destiny, but at that time, it was about day-to-day survival through the war. No one would know how long the bombing would go on for, but most of us remembered all too well the long and devastating experience of the neighboring Bosnian war. I was living with my parents and my younger sister. During these agonizing months, many families fled their homes and became refugees where they crossed borders into the neighboring countries and further into international countries as the crises continued and the refugee numbers grew by day and the camps got overcrowded. My family and I were spending those terrifying days between our home and that of my uncle s. Some nights we would all stay together, but a few weeks into heavy bombardments and the overwhelming fear urged my uncle s family to leave. My dad had made up his mind to stay home no matter what happened. He offered for us to tag along with the uncle, but we couldn t possibly leave him behind. We all knew the responsibilities and the consequences that came with the decision to stay. Danger was all around us. We were surrounded by fear day and night and tried living a normal life under such surreal circumstances. We made it through the war. However, this experience left a deep wound in me that would remain engraved for life.

40 MY OTHER LIFE MY OTHER LIFE Mimoza Hajdini By legal definition, I was never a refugee. I stayed home during the war, but after the war ended and the euphoria and the feeling of freedom from the oppressor slowly settled down, I realized just how much damage the war had left behind, both psychological and physical. It was going to take decades before things would get back to anything normal. I had a very difficult time readapting in my own hometown. Heard so many terrifying stories from returning refugees of what they had gone through. Other families who fled never returned and found new homes in other countries. I was secretly envying the refugees who were lucky enough to have been given a chance for a better life in developed countries. Only a year after the war, I lost my dad. He was forty nine. This shattered my world to pieces and I felt hopeless for my life. I needed to shake off my hometown life and make a big change. I decided to leave the country. This meant to also leave my mother and little sister behind and start over in another world. Two years later I immigrated into the United States to finish my studies. Six years later, I graduated with a Masters Degree in Business Management from Texas A&M University. After my graduation, I worked in New York City for a while. As much as I loved the city, it never made me feel valuable. Mimoza Hajdini But one thing this hectic city life gave me was an urge and desire to go back to my artistic side and my love and passion for music. I was writing music and these creations helped me cope with the pain and the hardship, as well as keep my memories and roots alive. Then, I found love and so I left, again. My love story brought me to Montreal, Canada.

41 MY OTHER LIFE Mimoza Hajdini As we merge and interact, we soon find that we are one people; we are different yet the same. In my journey of searching for home, no other place made me feel like Montreal. After fifteen years of racing around, I have finally found the place where to unpack my suitcase and become the artist I had always wanted to be. Here I found the space, time and tranquility for my self-growth and music creativity. Montreal has a strong sense of community of artists from different backgrounds and it is accepting of new artists as they integrate into this colorful city bursting with multiculturalism. Six years in Canada and I have a new life ahead of me. I was a spiritual refugee, someone who has been moving around searching for a place to call home. As an artist, my soul felt crippled and I needed to see and experience the outside world. This long journey has been bumpy but the most rewarding for me. We carry with us our past and the heartache everywhere we go, living and feeling as an outsider, but with time and new experiences lived in these different places, I learned how to heal the wounds from the trauma and slowly find peace, acceptance and ultimately fulfillment. I have met incredibly motivating people from all over the world and many of them are now part of my life by enriching and giving it more meaning. MY LIFE AS AN ARTIST It is in these edges and cracks that life really begins to make sense and as precious moments start to take place, new and positive memories overcome the sad ones and the past is no longer the present. We live fuller by blurring the cultural lines with people from different backgrounds. I am a happily married Canadian citizen, embracing one day at a time by creating and healing through art, feeling loved and supported by inspiring people around me. This is my life as an artist and I have finally touched on my dream by recently releasing my music debut. This is the life path that I now have fully embraced. I am grateful.

42 GRANDMA SHANO Shano made sure she was in the delivery rooms for all the Kosovo-Canadian firstborns. The first 19 women from Kosovo that gave birth in Canada had the luck to have Grandma Shano close to them for support during their most emotional time. GRANDMA SHANO The people that gave their time and effort in support of Kosovar refugees out of sheer good will, are nothing short of heroes to us. Thousands were mobilized to help people they had never met, and of whom they knew nothing about, just because it was the right thing to do. One of those heroes that Kosovo would like to pay tribute to is Ms. Shano Bejkosalaj, who served as an interpreter for the Kosovo refugees. This is a short profile of Grandma Shano, an inspiration for humanitarianism, who is sadly no longer with us today. When the refugees arrived in 1999, there was a need as pressing as clean beds and warm food the need to communicate. Kosovo refugees had been flown away thousands of miles from their homeland, to a place most knew nothing about. They had sadly already been used to miserable conditions, now they needed someone to talk to, they needed to feel understood. Very few of them spoke English, and very few Canadians spoke Albanian. The role of interpreters in this mayhem was essential to ensuring that the refugees could regain some sense of normalcy in their new lives. Shano Bejkosalaj was a World War II refugee from Albania. She came to Canada in 1952 when she was 10 years old, having spent eight of those years in refugee camps in Greece and Italy. It was this deep understanding of the plight of refugees that drove Shano to commit fully to helping Kosovo refugees in 1999 and the years to follow. She had started helping the Albanian community in Canada long before 1999.

43 GRANDMA SHANO SHANO Regardless of her numerous other engagements, Shano always made sure she was in the delivery rooms for all the Kosovo-Canadian firstborns. The first 19 women from Kosovo that gave birth in Canada had the luck to have Grandma Shano close to them for support during their most emotional time. Today, all members of the Albanian community in Canada know of Shano, and they respect people who had gone through the same her deeply. Her help for Kosovo in 1999 was horrors. She had already been licensed as an only a drop in the ocean of her tireless life interpreter in 1990, so she was able to be work, but regardless, we thank her there for Kosovo right from the start. Shano profoundly for her contribution. Her home stood by hundreds of refugee families, as a and her heart were always open for us. mentor and a rock to lean on. Shano passed away in 2016, but her She was there for the Kosovars for both the daughter, Lumturi, together with her When she and her husband settled in Ottawa (OMWO) and its President, as well as the high level visits and for the simplest of husband Fisnik, a former Kosovo refugee in the late 1950s, they opened their home to President of the Albanian-Canadian questions. There is, however, one particularly himself, keep Shano s invaluable legacy the community, which quickly became Association of Ottawa. Naturally, when touching aspect to Shano s story that makes alive to this day and continue to strongly known as Hotel Vlora. Throughout her Canada announced they were accepting her stand out from the rest, as a testament to support the Kosovo community in all their activism, Shano touched thousands of refugees from Kosovo, Shano was first in her philanthropy. She was so invested in her endeavors. We take this opportunity to people in Canada. Among others, she was line to help. The wounds she had suffered cause, that for a long time, she made sure thank this exceptional family and offer our one of the initial members of the Ottawa as a child refugee could never be fully she was present for all of the births of Kosovo endless gratitude for their contribution in Muslim Women s Organization healed, but they could be eased by helping refugee babies in Canada. improving the lives of Kosovars in Canada! GRANDMA

44 PRESSING RESTART My father Nijazi, had always wanted to come to Canada and he had many stories to share from his uncles who were already Canadian citizens. We knew this was the opportunity to press the restart button in our lives. Six weeks later, on May 27th, 1999, the nine of us were the last nine people on the last plane to be accepted to Canada. Lirim Hajrullahu Is a Canadian football placekicker for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. PRESSING RESTART Lirim Hajrullahu I remember the day when the Serbian army invaded a small town called Drenicë, Kosovo. It was after school and I was playing soccer as my older cousin came by to interrupt the game to tell us to go home as Serbia had started a war. I did not know what that meant but with the dark clouds looming overhead, I knew this was a bad sign as the leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army and their families were brutally massacred. A year later on the night of April 6th, 1999, the Serbian army had surrounded our little town, and I could clearly remember the snipers in position to shoot on top of all the small hills that we used to ski on during the winter months as kids. The morning came and I remember we had to leave our home and walk in single file lines to the main street of our village until everyone was lined up against the wall. The soldiers were pacing back and forth in front of us with their black and brown AK 47 s as if they are about to turn and shoot at us and I remember our parents telling the kids Keep your head down, and do not look at any different direction but down, and do not look at them [Serbian soldiers]. We were all in a line, and I m sure my parents thoughts were that this was the end of us, however, they told us to leave the town immediately. We rushed home to gather up any perishable food, water, and flour for bread. Prior to leaving my father had gathered all of my cousins and I behind one of the small barns in

45 PRESSING RESTART Lirim Hajrullahu our front yard as he buried all the pictures of our family incase some of us did not make it, we would know where to find any lasting images of our family. As we left that day for the Northeast border of Macedonia, we were denied entry and we had to return to our village. Exactly one week later, we were informed that if anyone were to be left in town, by 7 a.m. sharp they would be killed. As we were leaving, I can remember the tanks rolling into our town on the opposite side of the road, houses burning on my right, and me squished into a sedan with eight other members of my family. This time we were instructed to go to the Northwest of Kosovo, where the conflict had first started in PRESSING RESTART Lirim Hajrullahu Drenicë, a very dangerous area, however, our town ended up taking a risky detour to make a break for the South border of Macedonia. This time we were quickly accepted to Stankovec, Macedonia, with thousands of other refugees who were already living in small tents and sleeping bags that were donated by Red Cross. My eight family members and I were living and sleeping in tents like the others, waking up at 5 a.m. to wait in line for bread and food like the others. Although we were crowded and cold from sleeping on the ground, we were blessed to survive the scariest life-threatening moment of our lives. Inside the refugee camps there were headquarter tents where families could sign up to emigrate to different countries around the world. My father Nijazi, had always wanted to come to Canada and he had many stories to share from his uncles who were citizens. We knew this was the opportunity to press the. restart button in our lives. Six weeks later, on May 27th, 1999, the nine of us were the last nine people on the last plane to be accepted to Canada. It was a new beginning for our family. After a long plane ride we finally arrived in Trenton, Ontario, where we stayed for two weeks prior to moving to the army base in Kingston, Ontario for the rest of the summer. We had started classes to learn how to speak, read, and write the difficult English language. I had started to learn the basics of the English language, I received a bike through donations, and I started playing the sport that I love again. This was too good to be true, but this was the great white north and I was so happy to begin my new life in Canada. We shortly moved to St. Catharines, Ontario, where my dad started our new lives. My father Nijazi was a professor in Kosovo, but his diploma from the University of Sarajevo was not accepted and he was unable to continue his teaching career in Canada.

46 PRESSING RESTART Lirim Hajrullahu My mother Tevide takes care of the family at home. My older sister Lume has finished a Bachelor of Science degree from Brock University and a degree in Human Resources from Niagara College. My younger sister Linda is in the process of following my father s footsteps of becoming a teacher at Brock University. My fiancée Deniza Januzi came from Kosovo under similar circumstances during the 1999 war. For the past four years she has prospered in her career at one of the big four firms in Toronto, after completing one of the top-rated business school in all of Canada; an HBA degree at the Ivey School of Business, Western University. I took a different path, as my passion for kicking in high school led to me becoming captain of my high school football team (American football, not the European kind). My passion for sports changed and scholarship opportunities from across Canada came flowing in. I had narrowed down my options to playing football at the university level for Queens or Western University. Both options were very promising, but I chose to go to Western University where I completed my honors undergraduate and Masters degree in Kinesiology and specialization in Sport Management. During my time at Western I had the opportunity to represent Canada on the World stage. I was chosen to represent the U-19 Jr. Team Canada in Canton, OH in 2009 and first Sr. Canadian National Football team to compete in Austria. PRESSING RESTART Lirim Hajrullahu With the help of my coaches, teammates, and family members, my success led me to joining the Canadian Football League (CFL) for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 2014 and 2015 before coming home to play for Toronto Argonauts. Recently I completed my Masters in Business Administration (MBA) at Niagara University, New York. Canada has provided a plethora of great memories and opportunities. We are very thankful for you CANADA and we can t wait what the next 18 years have in store for us, THANK YOU!

47 SMALL COUNTRY, BIG VICTORIES Our new country is young, but our love of sports is very old. An impressive example of this is the Soccer Club Kosova, established in Toronto in 1989 by Faik Shabani, and still playing to this day. SMALL COUNTRY, BIG VICTORIES While Kosovo is a small country, it has made a big name internationally in sports. Our active youth has made sure our flag flies with pride in the biggest events worldwide, including in the Olympics in 2016, where judoka Majlinda Kelmendi won Kosovo s first gold medal in her very first appearance in these games. Our new country is young, but our love of sports is very old. An impressive example of this is the Soccer Club Kosova, established in Toronto in 1989 by Faik Shabani and Lulzim Kallaba, and still playing to this day. Over the years this club has been open not just to people from Kosovo, but many other nationalities as well. Their assistant coach, Zoran Marjanovic is originally from Croatia, and has been with the club for 27 years and counting. Faik Shabani has kept the club alive almost all by himself throughout these years. He recounts the successes of SC Kosova with great pride. After only five years of the club being established, they managed to enter the Canadian National Soccer League, and after only two years of being in the league, they had won the championship. Five of SC Kosova s former players have signed professional contracts to play for national teams or premier league soccer clubs around the world. Despite financial limitations to participating in certain leagues and competitions, the club has scored many victories in 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2014, 2015, and 2017, the club had won different indoor and outdoor league championship titles and playoffs. Faik recalls his most emotional win in the fall of 1999, only months after the war was over, SC Kosova was set to play opposite a Serbian club in London, Ontario. The 4-0 victory of SC Kosova made local press headlines.

48 SMALL COUNTRY, BIG VICTORIES SMALL COUNTRY, BIG VICTORIES For the last five years, Bedri Toqani, who came to Canada in 2001 as part of the family reunification program, has been helping Faik in sharing costs and supporting the team s needs. Apart from their engagement with the club, both of them help our community regularly, serving as wonderful examples of kindness and generosity. Bedri has supported and continues to support our Embassy s activities, including the sponsorship of this book, together with Faik. And if you ask any Kosovar in Toronto if they know Faik Shabani, they will tell you the anecdote when on February 17th, 2008, the day that Kosovo declared independence, he hired a private jet and flew over Toronto for two hours with a huge banner that read KOSOVO INDEPENDENCE. We wish these two all the best in continuing to make Kosovo proud!

49 AN OCEAN OF OPPORTUNITIES After years of being oppressed in Kosovo and being denied basic human rights just because I was Albanian, I wanted to seize all the opportunities that I was hungering for back home. Arton Sallahi Is the Business Unit Director at LIXAR IT, in Ottawa, Ontario. He also owns and manages a number of rental properties in Ottawa and Florida. AN OCEAN OF OPPORTUNITIES Arton Sallahi I come from the town of Vushtrri. Before the war, I was temporarily living in Prishtina, attending the first year computer science program at University of Prishtina. Every weekend I would travel back to Vushtrri and spend time with my parents and my brother Afrim. One day in February 1999 the situation became very tense in Vushtrri, and I could no longer get in touch with my parents. They were only 20 miles away from where I was. On March 27th, 1999, the ethnic cleansing efforts of the Serbian regime intensified, with the paramilitary forces going door to door in my neighborhood in Prishtina and forcing everyone out of their homes. After being expelled from the home I was living in, I had to make the journey to the border of Macedonia, and then temporarily settle with an Albanian family in Dibra, Macedonia. After two weeks, I was finally able to join my parents in the Stankovec camp in Macedonia. We stayed there for two more weeks. My family was fortunate enough to be selected to relocate to Canada as part of Operation PARASOL. On May 6th, 1999, I arrived in the Trenton military base with my parents, my brother, and my cousins. We were not feeling like ourselves following all that we had been through, but what blew our minds immediately was the sheer number of Red Cross volunteers participating in this welcoming initiative. You could see volunteers of all ages.

50 AN OCEAN OF OPPORTUNITIES Arton Sallahi From Trenton, my family was transferred to CFB Borden where there were thousands of other refugees. Once there, we got heavily engaged in the language training programs. After the immigration process was complete, in early August 1999, my family was transferred to Ottawa, where our home was waiting. We were welcomed by wonderful sponsors that have lead our path of integration for the many years to follow. It was Dr. Georgina Fitzgerald, with the help of Dennis and Helaine Henderson, who were always by our side. They helped our two Sallahi families with everything: driving to grocery stores, school registration, preparing resumes, AN OCEAN OF OPPORTUNITIES Arton Sallahi applying for jobs and even driving lessons. With help from Dr. Fitzgerald, I was soon able to find my first job and get admitted to University. Seeing all the opportunities that Canada had to offer, there was a period during my education years where I was working full time doing night shifts at JDS as well as attending full time school during the day. After years of being oppressed in Kosovo and being denied my basic human rights just because I was Albanian, I wanted to seize all the opportunities that I was hungering for back home. During my university program, I was working different part time jobs and was able to provide computer and networking support for many internet providers across Canada and the US. I also worked with Printing Companies in Ottawa, building technologies for them to automate their day to day operations. After graduating with an Honors degree in Computer Science in 2006, I started with Lixar IT as a Software Developer, building products for large clients like Bell Canada. Lixar builds enterprise-level connected product platforms and mobile-to-everything software solutions. It s driven by Mobile Transportation technology in air, auto, telco and emerging new technology markets. At Lixar, I played a big role in helping the organization grow from 17 employees to over 200. For the past four years, I have been working there as Business Unit Director, running and managing a team of 65 employees and building innovative products for airline industries across the globe. During my work, I realized what great young talent Kosovo has to offer, and so, with my help, Lixar now outsources over 20 IT jobs in Kosovo that perfectly

51 AN OCEAN OF OPPORTUNITIES Arton Sallahi complement the talent Lixar maintains in house. Although my job is intense and with high responsibility, I still seek out more things to do. Canada truly is a land of opportunities and I intend to continue exploring them. Since I have a great passion for real estate, I own and manage a number of rental properties in Ottawa and Florida. It is a miracle how our lives were transformed the minute we stepped off that plane in Trenton. There were four of us when we arrived in Canada myself, my parents, and my brother. Today that family has grown to 10 members my brother Afrim is married and has a young daughter, and I am also married and have two girls and a baby boy. We couldn t be happier with our lives here. Thank you so much Canada, for opening your doors to us! Afrim Sallahi, Arton s brother, with Red Cross Canada, Today, Afrim lives in Canada with his wife and daughter.

52 FIRMLY ROOTED When I first came to Canada, for about a year I was constantly thinking of going back to Kosovo. But as I learned the language and experienced the culture, without even realizing it, this place became my home. There were so many volunteers. I remember how many of the Canadians involved had already been retired, but regardless they were coming to teach us the English language. Dan Asllani Is the owner and manager of Alba Home Services Inc, in Ottawa, Ontario. FIRMLY ROOTED I came to Canada as a 14 year old refugee with my brother, two sisters and parents. While we were in the Stankovec camp in Macedonia, my family had received visas for both the US and Canada, but we chose to come to Canada, as even back then, we had heard nice things about this country. We were happy to finally arrive in Trenton, everything went smoothly from the moment we touched land. We spent two or three weeks there. My father was a teacher, so he quickly organized teaching classes at the base. There was also sponsorship from schools who would take us off base to visit the town of Trenton and would organize activities for us, including lunches and dinners with their families. Everyone was incredibly kind and generous. I think none of the Kosovo refugees in Canada can forget what the sponsor families did for us, they truly did become second families to us. I still keep in touch with them, and they even visit my family in Ottawa from time to time. The war in Kosovo had forcefully interrupted my education during eighth grade. Luckily, I was able to continue here from grade 9 after taking some tests. The education system here was great, and I was relieved to be back in school, living a normal life.

53 FIRMLY ROOTED Dan Asllani I was very motivated now that we were finally free of discrimination, free of life danger, and free to make choices. I wanted to do more, for myself and for my family, so I was constantly looking for part time jobs during high school. I had started doing small maintenance work and lawn mowing for my landlord. Once my English improved, I started working for a pizza delivery restaurant. Although I considered the English language as a bit of a challenge in the beginning, I believed that if you work hard enough, your work will speak for itself. This quickly showed to be true. My brother and I started working for Java Log in 2002, a factory of fireplace logs. FIRMLY ROOTED Dan Asllani I quickly moved to a supervisor position, and soon after became production manager at the company. As my brother and I were made managers at the factory, we were very happy that we had the power to help our community and hire more of them to work with us. The factory job was part time during high school, but once I had gotten my degree, I decided to commit to it full time. I stayed with that business until 2005, when we decided to start a construction business with my brother and brother-in-law, Alba Home Services Inc. Today I own the business alone, and I am very proud of the progress achieved so far. We have an excellent full-service contractor crew, for both home interiors and exteriors, and we deliver on our promises, and do so in time. As someone who came to Canada as a child refugee not too long ago, it gives me great joy that today I am successful enough to employ the people that welcomed me so warmly back then and give back to the community. Today I am successful enough to employ the people that welcomed me so warmly back then and give back to the community. When I first came to Canada, for about a year I was constantly thinking of going back to Kosovo. But as I learned the language and experienced the culture, without even realizing it, this place became my home. I am now happily married here and have three children. Of course nothing can replace Kosovo in my heart, and I still keep very close ties with it, but the welcome that I received here and all the kind people of Canada make me very happy that I live here.

54 CHAI WITH SUGAR, LEMON AND A SENSE OF CEREMONY PHOTO I sometimes wonder how I would have fared if the roles had been revered and I had been thrust into a new life in Kosovo. I hope that I could have risen to the occasion as well as they have done. without leaving her behind! By the time Nesife and I reached the diamond, Hadji had walked onto the playing field, in the middle of the game shaking hands with the players and picking up a bat to take a turn at batting! Everyone was surprised, but delighted with him. Anne Moore Canadian sponsor family of Kosovo refugees, Ottawa CHAI WITH SUGAR, LEMON AND A SENSE OF CEREMONY Anne Moore Meeting the Brajshori s was an interesting and heartwarming experience for me. Hadji was a very strong, warm self-confident man. Nesife was shy and less outgoing. They were both in there sixties. Shortly after they arrived, I took them to a softball tournament in Osgoode, a small town outside Ottawa. We got out of the car. Hadji took off walking quickly towards the ball diamond. Nesife walked slowly in her traditional dress and hijab avoiding eye contact. I was in the middle trying to catch up to him In those early days, I visited them often, Nesife was much more comfortable when she was at home. She had a lovely sense of humour, which we could only really appreciate when her son Danny was there to translate. She never learned English She always fed us well when we visited. I made sure to never arrive with a full stomach. They made Chai with lots of sugar, lemon and a sense of ceremony. Nesife made flee, a dish from Kosovo, which we loved. My grandson was a toddler then and he often visited with me. Hadji would wrap a sugar cube and put it in my grandson s pocket as a little treat pretending that I hadn t

55 seen. They knew how to have fun with winks and little tricks. They reminded me of my father who died when I was 12. We had had the same type of fun together. to be affected by it. She used to cry and tell us about deaths of people in Kosovo. We couldn t really understand, but she seemed compelled to talk to someone about it. CHAI WITH SUGAR, LEMON AND A SENSE OF CEREMONY Anne Moore Hadji was a religious man who often talked to us about Allah and told us stories from the Koran. One time he picked up Travis, my grandson, held him facing towards him, prayed for him, pointed to Allah and indicated that Travis had been blessed. It was a very special moment that he was including us in his beliefs. They were very kind. One time Travis fell asleep on the couch while we were visiting. Hadji went and got his suit jacket and gently spread it over him. One of our group of sponsors, Theresa Myrick became terminally ill and passed away. Their true sorrow, empathy but a strong belief that she was in Heaven touched me. They had been through a war and especially Nasife seemed Their son Danny joined them in Canada. He already spoke English and took on a lot of responsibility for his parents and their care, especially as they aged. He has a good job in the federal government and married a lovely girl, Vjollca, who he met in Kosovo. They have two cute children: Leona who will be 8 on Canada day and Harris, who is 5. They are doing well in school, learning French and English and becoming little Canadians. I m sure they will always retain some of their Albanian heritage from their parents and grandparents. Most summers they visit Kosovo, where Vjollca and the kids spend time with her parents and sisters. As for me, I ve enjoyed getting to know the Brajshori s and stepping into the lives of people I would have never known under different circumstances. I have seen their strength, adaptability and kindness. I sometimes wonder how I would have fared if the roles had been revered and I had been thrust into a new life in Kosovo. I hope that I could have risen to the occasion as well as they have done. A painting done by Kosovo refugee kid in Camp Recovery, Trenton, 1999

56 A COUNTRY THAT LOVES EVERYONE EQUALLY In the middle of the Toronto airport, a man I had never met before, had volunteered to come find me, so that he could take care of everything for me. I will never forget this gesture of Arian, or of all those people that rushed to help afterwards. Bedri Toqani Is owner and manager of Besi Auto Collision, a car repair and paint shop in Toronto. Bedri is also a sponsor of SC KOSOVA, and a regular contributor to different charities and our community. A COUNTRY THAT LOVES EVERYONE EQUALLY Bedri Toqani On March 28th, 2001 I arrived in Toronto as part of the family reunification program following the admission of Kosovo refugees in I was 24 years old. My wife, Vjollca, had been among those airlifted to Canada from Macedonia, just a year after we were married. I did not know much about Canada, so I tried to keep my mind open to everything, but nothing had prepared me for the show of generosity that was to come. As soon as the plane doors opened, before I even stepped off, a stranger came up to me asking, in Albanian, if I was Bedri. He was Arian Pjetri, son of Martin Pjetri who had greatly helped the Albanian community. Arian had all my paperwork with him, ready and waiting to be signed by me. He told me he was there to translate and take care of all the administrative procedures for me. Once he handled that, he took me to Vjollca and her family, who were waiting for me at the airport. I was baffled. A man I had never met before came to find me before I even left the plane, in order to take care of everything for me. I will never forget this gesture of Arian, or of all those people that rushed to help afterwards. I had spent my first couple of days going out and meeting a lot of members of our Albanian community here, all very eager to welcome me. On what was my second or third day here, we went out with Vjollca for coffee, as we usually did. But this time, when we returned, I had a fully furnished apartment a kitchen, beds, sofas, tables, a TV all with the help of Vjollca s family and the community

57 A COUNTRY THAT LOVES EVERYONE EQUALLY Bedri Toqani In the couple of hours that it took them to pull all that together, I had been wondering how to get a loan to buy a few basic things for my house, and not even in my wildest dreams did I expect to come back to a finished home. And this was just my first week in Canada. I had heard stories how in some countries, people are not too keen on immigrants or non-native speakers. Coming from a war where people were murdered just because they were of Albanian ethnicity, I was afraid that I might face some discrimination here. During my 16 years in Canada, not a single person ever made me feel A COUNTRY THAT LOVES EVERYONE EQUALLY Bedri Toqani like I didn t belong here. If anything, everyone would always do their best to help if they saw me struggling. I felt so comfortable and so at home here. It was the first time that I was treated as a human with equal rights. For a month and a half I worked in a factory with other Albanians, so the lack of English skills did not pose a problem. I started an English language course in the meantime. Shortly after this, I started working as a delivery driver for Pizza Pizza, and became store manager soon after. I stayed there until 2006, when I decided to return to my previous calling, which I had been missing. When I was 10 years old, my family started a car repair shop in Prishtina it was where I learned my trade as a car mechanic. Later I also finished school for car mechanics in Kosovo, but to get a job as one in Canada, I needed to have a special license. In 2007, a friend and I finally opened our own car repair shop in Toronto. It was the two of us and one other employee, who were figuring things out as they came. It was a learning process for us. It s not easy to start a new business in a foreign country, but neither we nor our business were ever treated as foreign. The first two months had their ups and downs, but then business took off. In 2010 the business partner left, and I hired seven employees together with my brother. Besi Auto Collision quickly secured a strong base of customers and we are very happy with the business today. When we were working in Kosovo, we barely made enough to feed ourselves, whereas here we have made a great life for ourselves and we are able to support our families in Kosovo today. I was incredibly lucky to always have Vjollca s unwavering support through all of this, she was always

58 A COUNTRY THAT LOVES EVERYONE EQUALLY Bedri Toqani encouraging me and she was the one I could always lean on. We have created a beautiful family together here in Canada, our two sons and daughter were all born here. They love visiting Kosovo every once in a while, but they are happy living in Canada. I continuously try to repay the generosity extended to me by doing charity work of my own with our community, with the children s hospital, with the Albanian business network, etc. For the past five years, I have been very happy to sponsor the Kosova soccer club in Toronto, together with the always motivated Faik Shabani. I owe so much to this community who helped me start from zero and become a part of Canada, a country that loves everyone equally!

59 CONNECTING CULTURES Bujar Zejnullahu When you live in a place like Canada, where everyone s heritage is widely embraced and proudly shared, it encourages you to promote and cherish your own traditions. Bujar Zejnullahu is one of the two partners and travel agents in CanKos Travel. He is an experienced event organizer, and the Vice President of the Albanian-Canadian Community Association of Toronto Dashnor Hasku is one of the two partners and travel agents in CanKos Travel. He is a former Kosovo chess champion and board member of the Albanian Business Network in Canada. CONNECTING CULTURES Due to the extremely tense and difficult living conditions in Kosovo, in October of 1998 I had to leave my home town and move to London, when I was just 18 years old. In the spring of 1999, my parents, brother, sisters and grandmother spent almost two months in Stankovec camp in Macedonia before they were airlifted to safety in Canada. I was working as a bartender in London until year 2000, when I was finally able to join the rest of my family here. In September 2000 I started working at the Mississauga golf and country club. I applied for a job based on my experience in London. When they heard the British accent, they told me I was just who they were looking for. For eight years I worked as supervisor and manager at different golf and country clubs in the Toronto area, expanding on my knowledge of food, beverage and wines, in all of which I am also certified. During this time, I had also started an events company, named Flare Entertainment. As a very outgoing person that loves entertaining, I was very much in my element when organizing events such as fashion weeks, film festivals, promotions and other special evenings.

60 Dashnor Hasku After a while, I started organizing concerts for the Albanian community and I was able to bring almost every major Albanian artist to perform in Canada. For the past four years, I have also been organizing Albanian traditional dance event during NBA games in the Air Canada Center in Toronto, where thousands of people get a chance to see a mesmerizing live dance performance during breaks. Apart from our business with Dashnor, I continue being engaged with the community in 2016 I was elected as Vice-President of the Albanian-Canadian Community Association of Toronto. There are many other projects that I have in store for the community, but I can only reveal so much on one page. CONNECTING CULTURES Bujar Zejnullahu I was so enthusiastic about organizing these cultural events. When you live in a place like Canada, where everyone s heritage is widely embraced and proudly shared, it encourages you to promote and cherish your own traditions. Our culture is one of music and dance, of joy and celebration, of tolerance and love and I was glad to help our community enjoy and preserve these traditions every time they got together. This endeavor of mine took on a very personal importance soon after it was at one of the Albanian community concerts, in October 2010, that I had met my wife, Mirdita, who came to Canada as an 11 year old refugee from Kosovo.

61 CONNECTING CULTURES Dashnor Hasku I came to Canada with my wife Arjeta on July 21st, 1999, at the age of 23 and with literally no money in our pocket. Since we both come from parts of Kosova where there were a lot of destroyed lives and houses (I m from Rahoveci and Arjeta from Decani) we decided to go somewhere else and spend a year or two, to try and forget about the war, possibly continue with our university studies, learn English and play some chess! Arjeta had a cousin in Canada and after an interview with the Canadian Embassy in Skopje (where we stayed over 2 months as refugees) we were given permission to come to Canada. We stayed one week in Arjeta s cousin house and after that found a basement apartment and moved on our own. With nobody here, very little money or help and with broken English, our life had started in new country! It was hard, but temporary, so we thought let s give it our best! Arjeta studied pedagogy in Kosovo, and I had studied electro-technical engineering. I was also Kosovo s champion in Yugoslavia s junior league from 1987 until I had played chess since I was 5 years old. I remember organizing a match in Ottawa where four Kosovo chess players faced the Olympic chess team of Canada we had three draws and one loss. I wish I could have continued with this passion of mine, but other duties were calling. In our very beginning here, I started with some smaller jobs, first in a gas station and then as pizza delivery. After less than six months, I started working as a supervisor in a large factory for cosmetic products. I was promoted to production manager and stayed with the company until it was sold in Following the closing of the factory, I began working as a consultant for a large US company. In the meantime, Arjeta went to a college for medical office assistant and found a job as well. In the beginning we had days when we wanted to pack up and leave immediately. We had a hard time contacting our families in Kosovo, and we were missing our homes. As we made new friends and opened up to the life around us, we realized how much freedom Canada was actually offering us. We knew we had to stay. Today we are a family of five. My three children (Laureta, Lisa and Leon) were born here in Canada, they consider themselves Canadian as much as Kosovar. CONNECTING CULTURES Arjeta now owns and manages the Sunrise Grill restaurant, which has eight employees. My oldest daughter, Laureta, is also involved and manages the restaurant on weekends. We didn t get to play a lot of chess or continue university, but we sure created new opportunities not just for ourselves, but for our community here as well.

62 CANKOS TRAVEL CONNECTING CULTURES CONNECTING CULTURES We had known each other earlier, as our families were very close, but our joint business path started in We had an idea, we had an office, and we had time. Under the TravelOnly travel agency umbrella, one of the leaders in tourism today, we started our own travel company, CanKos Travel. For two years we worked part-time on CanKos travel, but as our community learned more and more about us, the high demand made us devote our time fully to this business. To this day, we have about 10,000 clients in total. We believe that with hard work, anyone can succeed in this country. In 2016 and 2017, we were awarded as best TravelOnly agents among 680 others, based on sales. The five consecutive years before that, we had been awarded as second-best. This recognition of success has been incredibly motivating for us, even more so that we have achieved this with the support of our community. They make up the largest share of our clients, so we try to always give something back to them. We organize and sponsor many events for the community, and try to include them in every activity we organize. As difficult as it can be to start over on a different continent, our integration was made easy by the great show of generosity from everyone around us here. We have a great community in a great country. We are very happy to finally have a Kosovo Embassy in Canada, and we look forward to helping in further connecting Kosovo with Canada!

63 ANOTHER STEP FORWARD I was only 18 years old, but I had decided to start up my own business in finish carpentry, called Sharri Woodworking, together with my wife Lumturije and my cousin, Egzon. All of us felt the need to prove that young people of Kosovo can do amazing things when free. It took us several trips through camps in Albania and across the Adriatic Sea until we finally reached the plane that would take us to our new home. We had set up in Winnipeg, Manitoba, as my mother had her brother, Mitat Popaj, living there from I did not understand much of what had happened, all I know is that I was finally feeling safe and secure. Children heal quicker, and I guess this was the case for me as well. I had this new positive outlook on life, and everything seemed interesting again. I was curious to meet new people, to learn English, and to start working. ANOTHER STEP FORWARD I finished grade 9 in Winnipeg and continued high school in Hamilton. The entire family would get up before sunrise to deliver newspapers from 4am to 6am, and in the afternoon we delivered pizzas. Integrating into the Canadian life came very easily to us, I still have high school friends who I keep in touch with. Edon Arapi is the President and CEO of Pro-Don Inc. and Leedwood Ltd. He is also a regular sponsor of our community s events. I was 13 years old when my family was escaping from the war. I do not remember much, but I do recall we were a large group of mainly children and women. My uncles and male cousins had been killed by Serbian forces. In 2000, at a party in Winnipeg, I met Lumturije Azizi, and I knew right away she was the woman I wanted to spend my life with. My family had moved to Hamilton, Ontario soon after, and we had stayed in touch, writing long letters to one another.

64 During the past 12 years of being in business, we had been buying the woodwork elsewhere. Seeing as things were really going well, in 2016 we decided it was time to take another step forward. We established Leedwood Ltd, a millwork manufacturing facility of 25,000 square feet. We are still slowly setting it up, this was a huge investment for us. Pro-Don employs a team of 12, whereas Leedwood has a team of 8, expected to be doubled by the end of this year. Of course, we expect to only keep on growing. ANOTHER STEP FORWARD Edon Arapi After two years of being apart, she finally moved to Hamilton and we got married. In 2006, we bought our first home, in Ancaster, Ontario. Today we have three beautiful children growing up in this country that welcomed us with open arms. All of my family members started working different jobs when we moved to Hamilton, but I felt I needed to do more. I was only 18 years old, but I had decided to start up my own business in finish carpentry, called Sharri Woodworking, together with my wife Lumturije and my cousin, Egzon Popaj. All of us are very close in age. And all of us felt the need to prove that young people of Kosovo can do amazing things when free. Business was growing every year, it just kept going better and better. In 2007 we decided to rebrand Sharri Woodworking and expand the business by incorporating the company and renaming it to Pro-Don Inc, an architectural millwork installation company. ANOTHER STEP FORWARD We did residential and commercial work renovations, constructions and general contracting, and business was blooming. We have done work everywhere, with great results including of the Slovenian Embassy offices in Ottawa, of the Wilfrid Laurier University (GIE), Dunfield Theatre Cambridge, Lister Block Hamilton, Cambridge Mill, Casino Rama, Maple Leaf hockey team change room in Toronto, etc. I hope that one day we will have the chance to renovate or even construct the Kosovo Embassy offices in Ottawa! I think that Canada somehow manages to bring out the best in everyone. It is incredible to consider how many people from our community here have lost so much back home, yet were able to rise even stronger. I am so happy to share this country with my community and all the other Canadians, and it makes me happy to see how well integrated everyone is. I look forward to bringing people of all communities under the umbrella of our companies and working even harder towards success!

65 Honoring our community s legacy The Embassy of the Republic of Kosovo in Canada was officially opened in February The opening of this mission further solidified the very special bond between Kosovo and Canada, as illustrated by the stories in this publication. Today, the Embassy of Kosovo is a three-people mission, who work tirelessly to bring more of Kosovo to Canada, and vice versa. Recently, Kosovo has also appointed its long-time friend, Chad Rogers, as Honorary Consul of Kosovo for the Toronto and Hamilton region, an invaluable addition to Kosovo s representation in Canada. The relationship between Kosovo and Canada has a great potential for growth. Our country was proud to have been one of the first to recognize Kosovo s independence, and we continue to support you on the world stage, particularly as you make progress towards Euro-Atlantic integration. On that note, it was wonderful to engage recently with the President of Kosovo in Toronto. We are also pleased to see Canadian companies take an interest in commercial opportunities presented by your energy, mining and infrastructure sectors. I look forward to speaking with you about future cooperation David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, during the presentation of credential letters by H.E. Lulzim Hiseni, October 3, 2016, Quebec City. This team is proud to represent a wonderful community that actively contributes in the Canadian society, and whose members are prime examples of successful integration. They were creating Kosovo stories in Canada long before Kosovo was an independent country, and now the Embassy is happy to be the platform that will honor this legacy. For the first time, Kosovo s flag is officially raised in Ottawa and Toronto. February 17, 2017, Ottawa City Hall and February 18, 2017, Provincial Assembly of Ontario, Toronto.

66 For the first time, Kosovo s flag is officially raised in Ottawa and Toronto. February 17, 2017, Ottawa City Hall and February 18, 2017, Provincial Assembly of Ontario, Toronto. Ambassador Hiseni distributes Abetare (a book used by children learning to read Albanian) in Ottawa to children from the Albanian community, congratulating the parents and teachers for promoting the Albanian language and traditions. December 3, 2016 The dance group Fluturat (Butterflies) perform during Ottawa Diplomatic Association Fundraising Cultural Food Event, on the occasion of Canada s 150th anniversary. Ottawa, April 11, Photo by Fitim Thaçi. The dance group Fluturat (Butterflies) perform during Ottawa Diplomatic Association Fundraising Cultural Food Event, on the occasion of Canada s 150th anniversary. Ottawa, April 11, Photo by Fitim Thaçi.