Nov. 11, 2021

At first, Husam Wafaei and his Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) crew members didn’t see the destruction as they flew over Kigali, Rwanda’s capital city. They were dispatched from Bosnia to rescue 500 orphans and 50 nuns. It was April 1994. The Rwandan genocide was already brutally underway.

“We didn’t even know where Rwanda was at the time,” recalled the Seneca School of Aviation professor and program co-ordinator. “We were the first crew in. It was an eerie feeling when we realized there were dead bodies by the piles. They were in the river, and the river was blocked by the bodies. They were on the side of the road. They were everywhere.”

Mr. Wafaei is a veteran of RCAF missions in Somalia, Bosnia, Iraq, the Sinai Peninsula, the Congo and Rwanda.

Rwanda, he says, affected his psyche the most, leaving deep scars.

“The scars represent the shame of humanity for failing all those people,” he explained. “We did our job and saved as many people as we could. But it was not enough.”

Mr. Wafaei was born and raised in Aleppo, Syria. From a young age he experienced the trauma of war and civil unrest but found hope in the skies.

For as long as he can remember, Mr. Wafaei wanted to be a pilot.

After immigrating to Canada, he flew for the first time from Toronto’s Centre Island when he was 22. A year later, he joined the Canadian Armed Forces as a recruit.

“It was a passion for me, and I wanted to do something worthwhile for Canada,” he said. “The Syrian conflict had affected me personally in so many ways. What we take for granted in Canada — democracy, freedom of choice, freedom of expression and all other basic human rights — others suffer for their desire to attain them. There’s no doubt in my mind our Canada is the best country in the world.”

Mr. Wafaei served in the RCAF for 26 years, flying search and rescue and strategic airlift missions and supporting various United Nations and NATO operations. After his retirement from  the Canadian Armed Forces in 2006, he continued his work in aviation and helping those displaced by war.

Apart from his teaching duties at Seneca, Mr. Wafaei has been a manager of flight operations at Air Canada, an airline quality assurance and training consultant, and he has written a novel of historical fiction on the Syrian civil war, titled Honourable Defection. He was also founder and president of the now-resolved Syrian Canadian Foundation for Humanity, which supported war orphans in Syria and provided medical assistance to children who were injured as the result of the conflict.

“I keep myself busy,” he said. “I love teaching at Seneca and sharing my experiences and knowledge with the students.”

Mr. Wafaei reflects positively on his career with the Canadian Armed Forces. He witnessed not only human suffering in war-torn countries, but also the rich landscape, topography and cultures of many countries around the world.

“I learned so much,” he said. “It gave me a new identity and it gave me a purpose. I take a lot of pride in that.”

Mr. Wafaei has lost too many friends through conflicts. That, he says, is something he and his RCAF colleagues try not to talk about.

“We cherish their memories,” he said. “It happened, but you do what you are trained to do. You do the job you have to do.”

To mark Remembrance Day, Mr. Wafaei says he likes to attend ceremonies hosted by the Royal Canadian Legion.

“When you go there, you see other veterans,” he said. “The older ones are almost all gone, but there’s comradery. You reflect on what you’ve done and that you’ve made a difference. You went to places because human lives were involved, but you always came back to Canada not having to worry about anything like that. You remember that. And you remember the sacrifices.”