Abir Barkil fled the war in Syria with her family. She recently gained her diploma in social work while working as a Settlement Counsellor at CIWA and caring for her children.
When Abir arrived in Calgary, she immediately accessed CIWA’s employment services. She completed the Bridge to Success Program in May of 2020 and joined the CIWA family soon after her graduation.
As a Settlement Counsellor, Abir supports immigrant women with overcoming challenges in transitioning in a country. She provides resources to help women achieves their goals and thrive in Canada. Abir takes pride in working with CIWA because CIWA provides a secure space for women to express their issues and challenges without fear. She is passionate about providing guidance to newcomer women, while making them feel loved, welcomed, and supported.
“I’m passionate about making a remarkable impact on women’s lives by providing guidance on their settlement plans.”
Because she is an immigrant herself, Abir understands the challenges and hardships her clients are facing. She finds that the major hurdles that immigrant women experience are related to language and having small children who cannot be left alone at home.
Abir shares that CIWA’s gender-specific and culturally-sensitive services truly focus on easing newcomer women’s transition through supports like free childcare and interpretation as well as by making sure that services are offered in many languages.
Outside of work, Abir is enjoys traveling, planning and organizing parties and taking pictures in each and every occasion. She speaks Arabic, English, Aramaic, and French.
To learn more about our settlement and integration supports at CIWA, click here.