The Soda family have been living on the Shaws Road since 2015 and were among the first group of refugees from Syria to come to the North. 

The family arrived via Lebanon where they had been living after fleeing their home in Aleppo after the civil war broke out in their home country. 

From there Ali Soda and his wife Hasnaa Ramadan moved with their children to West Belfast. 

Ali said: “We left everything behind us, because we were looking for a good future for our kids and a good education.

“It was a big jump in my life. All my memories, my childhood, I left everything behind me to come here. We came to this country, and we didn’t know the people, we don’t know the culture or the rules and couldn’t speak the language. I had never heard of Belfast before coming here."

Hasnaa said the family were welcomed into Rosgoill. “We are very lucky, especially with this area,” she said.

The Soda family have expressed their gratitude to the local community who they say have made them feel so welcome since their arrival.

“We don’t feel like strangers, we feel like we are from here” says Ali. “We didn’t have anything when we came here. I will not forget how this community has helped us and our kids.”

Ali Soda and Hasnaa Ramadan
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Ali Soda and Hasnaa Ramadan

The day the family moved into their home in Belfast was the couple’s wedding anniversary, making it all the more special. In seven years, the family have settled into the community and their children attend local schools and play for the local GAA club Sarsfield. 

The family have said Belfast Met and local organisations such as the Whiterock Centre and Falls Women’s Centre have been an incredible support in helping them to learn English. They even know some words in Irish as well. 

Local Sinn Féin MLA, Órlaithí Flynn has been making representations to Homecare and the Housing Executive to ensure that the Soda family have access to good living standards. 

Speaking with the Andersonstown News, Órlaithí spoke about some of the issues the Soda family have been facing regarding their current living standards in their home.

“Some of the issues are real practical things, some of the cupboards in the kitchen are literally coming away, the wood is rotting, there has been an issue with the fridge. People deserve a certain standard of living and we’re trying to give the family that additional help and to hopefully get Homecare to respond and to make some of the home improvements that the family have been reporting for a long time. Their experience is that when they’re reporting problems with the home that they’re not being fixed.

“When we wrote to the Housing Executive last week, they responded very swiftly and hopefully we can get some of the issues sorted for them.”

The Soda family, Órlaithí Flynn MLA and local resident Síle
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The Soda family, Órlaithí Flynn MLA and local resident Síle

This week, the MLA met with the Housing Executive and Homecare regarding these issues.

"We had a positive meeting with representatives from the NIHE and Homecare," she said. "From this meeting, there were a number of actions agreed to be carried out to help with the home improvements.”

“The family don’t want to move out of this house, they have made it their home. This local community has become a wider family for them.”