Two refugee families have been living in Portage for several weeks now, with one having come during a great break in the weather back in November, and the second having arrived in the midst of a blizzard. The families are from Turkey and Labanon. Spokesperson for the Portage and District Refugee Coalition John Dolloff presented at the Portage Rotary Club Tuesday with an update on the families. He says the effort came with its challenges.

John Dolloff"I think the biggest challenge for us has been language, language, language, " explains Dolloff. "We're very fortunate that we have a number of translators who've really given of their time and talent to help us with this. You can use Google Translate, but it only takes you so far."

With the English and Arabic languages being so drastically different, Dolloff says he can imagine how difficult it is for the families to learn to communicate here. He says he and his wife tried to learn the Arabic alphabet, and thought how they'd be in big trouble if the tables were turned. When asked if the families were somewhat aware of Canadian culture or not, Dolloff says it's closer to not being aware of barely anything over here.

Dolloff makes it a point to share the fact that one family that was scheduled to come never made it due to too many red flags during the vetting process. He adds he mentions this story in order to let people know the operation's not based upon a wide open-door policy like many assume it is.

He says the Rotary Club members were interested in where the Coalition is today and where they're going. Dolloff says the commitment they made was to sponsor the families through the first year in Canada including the financial aspect and helping them get in touch with the community and services.

He adds the families are doing well and are very happy to be in Portage la Prairie.