Refugee children in Sherbrooke receive custom-made doll who, like them, survived war

"I had this dream and today it came true. I'm so happy," said Micheline Youssefas she dropped off boxes to daycares and elementary schools in Sherbrooke, Que., the week before Christmas.

Inside eachboxwas a doll namedShaam, the Arabicword for Damascus, the capital of Syria.

With brown eyes andbrown hair pinned backwith a jasmine,the unofficial flower of her home country, Shaamrepresents a Syriangirl who escaped war.

Like so many children who now live in Canada,Shaamlived in a refugee camp and had to cope with the death of herfriend.

Youssef said the goal of giving this doll such a charged story was to give refugeechildren a reason to open up abouttheir ownpast, without having to find the right words in a foreign language.

Tool in the classroom

After a succesful crowdfunding campaign which raised more than $10,000 to produce the dolls, Youssef is donating the them to schools and daycareswhere kidswill share them.

"Everybody who livedthe war, even parents, are so happy and tellme'You give us some comfort, that someone thinks of us and lived the same thing as us,'"said Youssef.

• Meet the creator of Shaam the Syrian doll

Inside the classroom of Sherbrooke's cole Larocqueelementary school is where Youssefpresented Shaam for the first time.

SehamKadimati, a young girl from Syria, approvedof the doll's brightred dress, adorned with a heart.She didn't want to explain how similar her life story was toShaam's.

"If I do ma'am, I will cry," she said.

Kadimati's classmatesare from Brazil, Kuwait, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran and Syria.

Their teacher, Isabeau Hotte Lacroix, said it sometimes takes her students a long time to adapt to life in Quebec when they first arrive.

She said she hopes to experiment with Shaamas a communication tool to help them feel better.

"Just to speak tosomeonewithout having toanswer questions. Just to express themselves," HotteLacroix said, who hopes to send Shaamhome for short periods with the children who grow more attached to the doll.

A salvation for Youssef

Youssefsaid focusing on this project helped her deal with her own trauma.

While living inDamascus during the war, she said she never knew what would happen when she left for work in the morning.

It took her family twoyears to get out of the countrywhen they finally were sponsored by a Syrian orthodox church.

"I have many stories and they are sad stories. I try to forget themby doing something good for people, by looking at thepositiveside," said Youssef.

"Shaamhelped me find a reason to live and to continue in this life, to give hope to kids and to myself."

The 40-year-old creator is now contacting other organizations who work with refugee children and she hopes to distribute the rest of the dolls in the coming weeks.

Youssefsaid all she can hope for the year ahead is to see an end of the war that has destroyed her country, so that Shaam's story can evolve to atrip back toher home.