Brothers sing national anthem to thank Canada for welcoming them

OwaisAlmaidanican't remember much from the day he arrived in his new Canadianhome.

But the cold weather on that February day has stuckwith the now seven-year-old boy.

"I only remember it was snowing and a lot of snow. When we came in the house some woman took a picture of a lot of people, and we were in the middle," saidOwais.

He and his younger brother,Laith, four, wanted to record a video of them singing O Canada as a thank-you to the country that welcomed his family in 3 years ago.

"I love Canada and I'm proud to call Canada our home and native land," he said in a phone interview.

It took Owais two weeks to learn the anthem, he said, before hegot his mother,MarwaAlmaidani,to record the finished product.

"Canada is a new home for us and [a] safe andpeaceful home," Almaidanisaid.

"I have a lot of people who support me and they still come to my home every day. I see it as a new home and we love Canada."

'Home and native land'

In the video Owais and his brother wearmatching red T-shirts with a big white maple leaf in the middle.Laithtries to keep up with his brother's enthusiastic singing and joins in during the long notes.

"My family came in 2016. We're happy to call Canada our home," Owais proclaims before launching into O Canada.

• Everybody comes to Mo's

TheAlmaidanifamily lived inDamascus before feeing war-tornSyria in 2012. They spent the next several years in a refugee camp in Jordan, whereLaith was born.

An Anglican church group sponsored their relocation to Corner Brook.

MarwarAlmaidanisaid life is good in Corner Brook. Her husband,Mohamad, is a well-known barber and she is completing her English as a second language studies in September.

"We find something different here, something safe."

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