LEONORA ABDULLAHU: OVERCOMING CHALLENGES AS A CHILD OF KOSOVAR REFUGEES
In 1999, over 500,000 thousands Albanians in Kosovo were driven out of their homes and thousands killed during Serbia’s war which brought international backlash and plea for help from western countries including Canada that would offer to airlift initially over 5000. At just five years old, Abdullahu arrived in Canada under 'Operation Parasol' after her family's harrowing escape and a six-week stay in a Macedonian refugee camp. "We fled Kosovo on the first night of the NATO bombings," she recalls. Although her family was fortunate to avoid direct war casualties, the separation from relatives was a significant hardship, taking months to resolve.
The transition to life in Canada was smooth but with its own set of challenges for Abdullahu's family, thanks to a supportive group of 12 sponsor families organized through a local church. "We were so fortunate to be welcomed... We still maintain great relationships with most of them to this day," she says. Initially settling in Thunder Bay, Ontario, the family faced typical newcomer challenges like language and cultural barriers, which led them to relocate to Hamilton for better job prospects.
Abdullahu’s family first settled in Thunder Bay, On., where she speaks of their challenges as newcomers “ I started school that Fall in Grade 1, having never attended anything back home, and I cried at drop off for a month straight. After a year in Thunder Bay, my parents found it very difficult to find jobs. Thunder Bay had not seen a lot of immigration, so the language and cultural barriers were amplified there. They made the decision to move us to Southern Ontario, in search of more opportunities. We’ve been in Hamilton ever since.”
Being a young refugee has made Abdullahu resilient and change the narrative surrounding refugee women in the community. Abdullahu's journey from a refugee child to a celebrated scientist is both inspiring and educational. She earned a Bachelor of Science from McMaster University and a PhD in Chemistry from McGill University, specializing in RNA Therapeutics. Currently, she works at Eli Lilly, having transitioned from a chemist to a role in External Innovation, partnerships to advance RNA drug development. Her work has taken her globally, presenting at various international conferences.
Besides her incredible resume, Abdullahu is the President of the ‘Albanian Society of Hamilton’ where she’s dedicated her time to community leadership before stepping into the board “I am so proud of all that the Hamilton Albanian Community has accomplished in such a short amount of time. It is one of the largest Albanian communities in Canada, and the majority of our members are, in fact, Kosovar refugees. Our shared experience has made us a very tight-knit community, and I am happy to say that we have so many successful members that have fully integrated into life in Canada and are contributing to the success of Canadian society” emphasizing the success and integration of Kosovar refugees in Canada.
However, she acknowledges the struggles of identity among the older generation of Kosovar refugees, who face ongoing challenges with language and cultural identity “I think my parents’ generation continues to struggle with language and cultural barriers. They continue to struggle with their identity, and the pull from back home oftentimes holds them back from seeing and realizing a real future in Canada. This is less of a challenge for younger refugees, who have spent the majority of their lives in Canada.” she says.
Reflecting on her upbringing, Abdullahu describes the dual life of a first-generation refugee child in Canada, balancing Albanian culture at home with Canadian life at school “Growing up in Canada as a Kosovar-refugee came with the challenge of feeling like I lived a double-life. There was my life at school, with all my friends, trying to seem as Canadian as possible, and then life at home, where everything was Albanian. My parents strongly enforced speaking only Albanian at home, and we maintained strong ties to family back home. I don’t think I was ever able to visualize a future for myself because I didn’t know what a future in Canada as a Kosovar could look like” she says.
And as far as her wedding goes, to call it a fairytale would not be an understatement “Our houses back home are only a few minutes apart, so his family paraded through the city to come and pick me up from my home. It was the best decision we could have made” she says.