She survived the Syrian war, came to Canada, then taught herself English at Tim Hortons

Reham Abazid is one 80,000 Syrians who settled in Canada after a devastating civil war began 10 years ago.

This week marks 10 years since the start of the war in Syria — a devastating conflict that has left a once bustling country in rubble and fuelled an ongoing international refugee crisis. More than six million have fled the country since the start of the war, and about 80,000 have settled in Canada, according to the Globe and Mail.

For most of her life, that meant Daraa, a small city in southwestern Syria, where she lived a happy life with her husband and son in a house with a lemon tree.

Now, it means Saint John, N.B., the Canadian city that has welcomed and nurtured her family since they arrived in Canada as government-sponsored refugees five years ago.

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