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How the kindness of Canadians helped a marathon champion adjust to new life in Niagara Falls, Ont.

Posted on: May 25, 2026

Philes Ongori and John Mochama fled political persecution in Kenya and hope to be reunited with their kids

Philes Ongori can run like the wind, but it isn’t just when she’s blasting past the competition at marathons that she’s moving faster than most could imagine.

Her life has been moving at a blistering pace for the better part of three years, since she and her husband, John Mochama, made the difficult decision to move to Canada as asylum seekers, leaving their children behind in their home country of Kenya.

But as hard as some of the choices have been, the couple say the kindness of Canadians has gone a long way toward making them feel embraced by their new city of Niagara Falls, Ont.

Read more from CBC News.