Happy to host you today in the "Eye on the Community" corner as a successful Arab female model who was able to integrate into Canadian society and leave a clear mark on Canadian life in general. I kindly ask you to introduce yourself to the Arab community in the Canadian capital, Ottawa. 
I am Dalia Ismail Saqr. I arrived in Canada in May 1993, and now I work as the Executive Director of Kanata North Early Learning Centre, which is an early learning center for children in the Kanata area.
I came to Canada when my husband and I were at the beginning of our married life, and since I used to travel a lot with my father as well as with my husband, life in Canada was not alien to us in the literal sense, as we were able to overcome the challenges faced by newcomers quickly. Our primary focus was to get to know the Canadian society and understand the nature of life here. I found that volunteering is the best way to get to know life in any society, understand its system and laws. Therefore, I was present wherever volunteers were needed. I volunteered with an international humanitarian organization, and I also volunteered to help Bosnian immigrants when they were received in Canada during the war in their country. 
I hold a bachelor's degree in Arabic literature and Oriental languages. I studied languages and was particularly fascinated by phonetics, which enabled me to teach Arabic to non-native speakers at the University of Ottawa in the Arabic language teaching program for non-native speakers. At the same time, I worked with Dr. Ikram Basheer, the founder of Al-Rahma School, well known in the Canadian capital Ottawa, where I taught fourth, fifth, and sixth grades. During that time, I developed teaching methods to become exciting and easy, especially for children. I also created teaching aids aimed at helping students from first to seventh grade.
 Certainly, you and your husband had certain ambitions as a family when you came to Canada. What challenges did you face, and was immigration in the past the same as it is now?
 In fact, our immigration decision was accidental, as my husband was working in Saudi Arabia at Xerox company and I was not working at that time. By chance, my husband found an advertisement from a Canadian company looking for someone with experience in the Arab world. He submitted his documents and was accepted in this company, which gave us the opportunity to come to Canada with a work contract, making immigration easy for us.
Now, there are many challenges facing new immigrants, including credential recognition and passing language exams before arrival, which we did not face before.
 For instance, my husband's credentials were easily recognized, but for me, there was no recognition since my specialization was in Arabic language. Since I was proficient in English as well as Arabic, I worked in translation at the media office in the Egyptian embassy and gained a lot of experience in this field.
 What motivated you to transfer your professional experience from education to owning this center and turning it into a non-profit daycare, opening the door for people including those unable to afford it to bring their children to this center?
 When I started designing educational tools at the primary level, I began thinking about how to develop and establish a child's upbringing and how his mental and social growth evolves on sound foundations. I studied everything related to childhood from the first day of birth up to six years old, which I found immensely enjoyable. This made me completely shift from my educational specialization in Arabic language to focusing on this field that provides children with many needs during their ages, especially when parents work long hours.
 Does this mean that your interest in childhood in general is the primary motivation behind opening this important center specialized in childhood?
 Yes, I found that if you want to build a well-rounded child who can become a leader in society, you must pay attention to beginnings and establish the child at a young age on sound foundations. Therefore, you must create an appropriate environment and focus on their intellectual and mental growth early. The whole society must contribute to this matter.
 I noticed that this center is well-organized and you have a specialized team. I also noticed that several team members are newly arrived Syrian refugee brothers. Did you find that they have a genuine desire to integrate into the society where they live?
 Before I started establishing this center, I was involved in community service. I volunteered with the Child Resource Development Center and was a member of the Parents Advisory Committee. They always asked about available services in the community. The Ottawa municipality launched a project to assist refugees, known as "Ottawa 613," specifically concerned with the affairs and assistance of Syrians. I was nominated as a representative of the Arab community in Ottawa at that time. A key note was that all humanitarian organizations participating in this program and responsible for bringing refugees and sponsoring them had no idea about Arab cultural backgrounds. Therefore, I conducted multiple workshops to prepare the Canadian society to receive these new refugees in cooperation with Sheikh Skandar and Ms. Amira Al-Ghawabi, and we indeed succeeded in that.
My feeling today is that the newcomer needs someone to embrace and help him initially, especially since he has no Canadian experience, which made me keen to provide opportunities for our refugee brothers, especially since they are qualified, motivated, determined, and ready to work.
 Many members of the Arab community fear integration into Canadian society, but it is clear that you are among the successful examples who integrated and recorded a success mark. What would you like to say to the Arab community regarding integration?
 Canadian society is open to all cultures and likes to get to know different nationalities, but we must respond to it. Fear is often due to not mastering English or French, but we must always feel that we have something special in that we speak the rich and abundant Arabic language.
 We are an important part of this society, and for us to have influence in political life, for example, we must be active and get to know all components of society and introduce ourselves and our capabilities to be able to convey our voice. Therefore, I call on them to overcome fear and anxiety and to work on integrating into the society they live in while preserving our identity and culture. I also encourage volunteering in various fields as it helps us better understand the culture of the society we live in. 
 There are many problems where members of the Arab community are accused of being part of them, such as extremism or drugs. What advice do you give to the members of the Arab community to distance ourselves from this negative image?
 Our Arab community includes wonderful examples that deserve to be highlighted, while the abnormal cases are few, and we should not dwell on them as they only represent themselves. We must introduce young people to these successful figures to serve as role models and examples to emulate. Also, we must document the successful cases in Arab community news to familiarize society with them.
 Through Arab Canada newspaper, what would you like to say to the Arab community, especially Arab women, as you are an example of a successful Arab woman?
 Arab women have tremendous capabilities, but they must integrate into society while preserving their Arab identity and religion and taking pride in it. They must be active in society.
 Unfortunately, there are many fields beneficial to Arab women, but women often fear taking risks and entering public life. The role of men is also very important; they must open up to Canadian society and work to encourage and push Arab women to prove their existence and succeed in various fields suitable for them.
 Personally, I received great support from my husband, and without his support and trust, I would not have been able to accomplish what I have.
 As I know you are followers of Arab Canada newspaper, what is your opinion about it, and what are your observations on it?
 I actually follow the articles and advertisements. I consider Arab Canada newspaper a good source of useful information for the community members. Through it, we contacted some advertisers. For example, we reached out to a dentist who had an advertisement in your paper and volunteered to treat our refugee brothers for free. The newspaper also created a kind of connection among community members. I wish you all the best and hope it becomes a weekly paper for more benefit.