The tireless activist refugee who helps other newcomers

Samer Al Jbawi takes on challenges with a steely determination.
From nearly the moment the Syrian-born Al Jbawi and his family arrived in Ottawa on Dec. 30, 2015, the English-language teacher was recruited to help fellow government-assisted refugees, who only understood Arabic, navigate through the bureaucracy of their new city and country.
Within four months, Al Jbawi went from volunteering to getting paid to provide the service, when he was hired to work as a settlement counsellor at