Adel and Hiyam Ghanam along with their three daughters, aged eighteen, sixteen and thirteen, and nine year old son were one of the thousands of Syrian refugee families who came to Canada in 2016. For Adel, living in Aleppo, Syria with all the bombing and danger; he was always worrying about what might happen to his family, and safety was a priority. After a seven month stay in Lebanon to flee the war, the family arrived in Calgary in early 2016.
Without a doubt, it was very challenging to leave family, friends, and memories of their home behind. As the family put it, they didn’t leave Syria because they wanted to, but because there was war, and for them, no other option.
The first few months in Canada were ones of immense hardship. The family literally came to this country with nothing: no friends, no family, no jobs. The integration process was tough. The language barrier made communicating with others difficult and a lack of connections with people made looking for work challenging. Not to mention, the cold weather and snow made all the unfamiliar surroundings look the same when travelling around the city by bus. Adel says, that throughout the first year, it was difficult to keep sight of his dream. He always wanted to start a restaurant, but he knew that it would be too expensive to manage. In the beginning, Adel ended up working at Walmart and Hiyam at Tim Hortons in order to support their big family.
The Ghanam family was originally privately sponsored by a Calgary family, and then moved into a one bedroom basement suite. Within ten days, the Syrian Refugee Support Group was able to move the family out of their one bedroom basement suite and into a fully furnished home that better fits a family of six. This Syrian Refugee Support Group is a multi-faith trio of congregations, made up of members of the Living Sprit United Church, The Temple B’Nai Tikvah, and the Friends Church.
Last spring, with the help of the Syrian Refugee Support Group, Adel and Hiyam were able to acquire, license, inspect, and launch their own food truck, starting a new chapter in their lives. After helping everyone back home in his job, Adel believes that he is now reaping those charitable acts. They were very fortunate to find a good truck ready to go with all the necessary supplies and equipment. They even named their truck after their home city in Syria, as in order to say “Aleppo,” you must say, “Shahba Aleppo.”
The first official day of operation for Shahba Shawarma was Victoria Day in 2018. They regularly get shipments of freshly baked Middle Eastern bread, have sourced the ingredients to best create a northern Syrian shawarma, and now make a variety of food from different Middle Eastern countries and cultures.
In addition, they now often do catering for events. One of the most special events was catering for a wedding of Canadians that were originally from Jordon as Adel and Hiyam were honoured to be able to partake in a celebration of this culture. The couple also comments that they are always learning, and training. For example, in an attempt to reach more people across the city, you can now find Shahba Shawarma on the Calgary Street Food App. (Be sure to check them out around YYC this summer!)
With the Ghanam family being followers of the Muslim faith, this is an extremely appropriate time to tell their story during the ninth month in the Muslim calendar: Ramadan. Ramadan is not only a month of fasting, but also one of sacrifice, kindness, generosity, and sharing. For Adel and Hiyam, opening Shaba Shawarma was an act of giving back to Calgary. Aleppo City is famous for its vibrant culture and food, and they wanted to bring that culture with them through their food truck in order to give others the opportunity to experience the food of their home.
The family would like to express their sincere gratitude to the Syrian Refugee Group, and its founder, Sam Nammoura. The group provided support for anyone who needed it, and now, the Ghanams want to do the same to help others in the community, in return. They also say that Calgary is special because all the people are so kind, willing to aid a helping hand which gave them a sense of strength during a difficult period in their lives. When asked what his message to all Calgarians would be, Adel responded, “thank you for welcoming us!”
Adel ended off by telling us that him and his family are very happy now in the home they call Canada. For myself, the story of the Ghanam Family could not make me happier to call Canada and Calgary my home. I am so proud that during the toughest times for some, our country, and our city have come together to be a place of hope and freedom. I am even more grateful that we have incredible people like Adel, Hiyam and their children choosing to settle in our city, and working to strengthen our community every single day.
Image Sources: Featured