Norwich — Two families are ready to put years of harrowing experiences, two civil wars, hunger, financial struggles, fear and anxiety behind them as they prepare to move into their new homes on Golden Street  in the city's Greeneville section.

Volunteers for Habitat for Humanity of Eastern Connecticut are putting the finishing touches this week on a new duplex at 122 and 126 Golden St. that will end the years-long journeys for two refugee families that have escaped wars in Syria and Sudan.

Amna Azrag, her husband, Ezairig Elnemair and their four children received the keys to the four-bedroom home at 122 Golden St. in an online virtual Habitat for Humanity home dedication ceremony Dec. 4. In a nearly identical ceremony, Ahmad Mahlo, his wife, Zainab Hbaish and their four children will occupy the adjacent home at 126 Golden St.

The two families, who will move out of two cramped apartments in New London soon for their new homes, already are friends, Habitat officials said. On some days their children have played together in the open homes as their parents helped with the construction. The families have marveled at the large back yard, plotting spots for their vegetable gardens and play areas, a recent Habitat newsletter said.

The parents, not yet proficient in English, told their stories to Habitat officials through interpreters.

Azrag and Elnemair fled their native Sudan shortly after they were married rather than endure the incessant civil war any longer. They joined millions of other Sudanese seeking refuge in Egypt. They were living in a cramped, expensive, infested apartment in Cairo when they decided to begin the lengthy refugee vetting process to come to the United States. After three years of waiting, they received a two-week notice that they were to leave for the U.S. They arrived in New York City on July 28, 2016, now with four young children.

The refugee assistance programs, Start Fresh Inc. and Integrated Refugee Immigration Services (IRIS), helped the family resettle in a small two-bedroom apartment in New London. Azrag works as a teacher’s assistant at a child care center and an after-school care facility. Her husband, Elnemair, works at Mohegan Sun.

The family’s oldest daughter, 17, attends the Science and Technology School in New London and is “very involved” in Junior ROTC and volunteers once a week at a local soup kitchen. Their 14-year-old daughter likes to read and write poetry, acting and singing. Their 12-year-old girl enjoys bike riding, swimming and basketball, and their 8-year-old son likes to play any game, read, and do karate and soccer.

“We were elated to be selected for a new Habitat home,” Azrag wrote for the Habitat newsletter. “… “We are all grateful to God and the Habitat for Humanity Organization for making our dream of home ownership come true.”

Just two months into the devastating Syrian civil war in 2011, Mahlo and Hbaish watched as the house next door to them in Aleppo was bombed, the couple told Fresh Start. The couple grabbed their two daughters, a few possessions and fled to southern Turkey. They worked as much as they could and lived in tiny apartments as their family grew to four children, their youngest daughter diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

Hbaish took on the arduous task of applying for refugee status, and the family waited several years before being approved for refugee status. They too came to New London, where Hbaish worked at a restaurant preparing food before COVID-19 hit, and Mahlo works at Mohegan Sun. Their children, two boys and two girls, attend New London schools.

“Home is where my family is, where we are all together,” Mahlo said for the Habitat newsletter. “Habitat for Humanity has helped us find and build our very own home.”

During the Dec. 4 dedication ceremony, Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Terri O’Rourke said the Golden Street duplex is part of the eastern Connecticut Habitat’s “largest investment in a single neighborhood ever.” The two four-bedroom Golden Street homes are the second and third homes in Greeneville and will be followed by 12 more homes in a new housing model — single family, semi-attached homes “allowing us to take better advantage of large lots to serve more households,” O’Rourke said.”

The ceremony featured traditional gifts to the families, a quilt presented by the quilters’ group at the United Methodist Church of Gales Ferry and a knitted prayer shawl presented by the Cross Road Presbyterian Church in Waterford. Habitat presented its traditional gifts of a toolkit for the new homeowners and a Bible.

“We gather to hope and pray that this home we dedicate today becomes a beacon of hope for this family and for others,” Sue Latourette, pastor of the North Stonington Congregational Church and a Habitat board member, said in the ceremony.

Latourette asked for a blessing of each section of the home — the living room, kitchen and bedrooms, asking God to protect each family member as they sleep.

“We ask that you bless this entire house and those who will live in this home,” Latourette prayed. “Visit with your love and gladness all who come and go and preserve us in peace throughout our lives and all our days.”

c.bessette@theday.com