Last December when Coquitlam resident Tima Kurdi saw the prime minister on TV personally welcoming Syrian refugees to Canada, it brought tears to her eyes.

"He showed compassion," Kurdi told the Straight by phone. "He understands the situation."

It was an understandably emotional event. Kurdi's sister-in-law and two nephews had died on September 2 fleeing war-torn Syria. Their boat filled with other refugees capsized in the Mediterranean Sea.

The image of three-year-old Alan lying face-down dead on a Turkish beach horrified people around the world, prompting a backlash against governments that weren't welcoming refugees.

Kurdi was at the forefront of public calls for a much more generous response to the suffering of Syrians.

For a while, it dominated the federal election campaign, leading Trudeau to promise to accept 25,000 Syrian refugees if the Liberals won.

"He saved 25,000, but more needs to be done," Kurdi said this week, noting that borders must be kept open for those who are fleeing war. "We have to remind every country: help them, do not close the door. People have no idea what it means to be homeless."

Today, Kurdi will be among 12 speakers at the TEDxEastVan event taking place at the York Theatre. She admitted that she's feeling a little nervous, before adding that it's important for her to speak up for refugees.

A turning point came when she received a phone call from her brother Abdullah, who said that his son's death was a wake-up call to end the suffering. She had earlier tried to help him get to Canada, even visiting her MP, Fin Donnelly, who raised the issue with the federal government.

"It clicked in my head," Kurdi said, "and I said, 'Well, if I couldn't save my own family, let's save the others. And I became almost a voice for people who don't have a voice."

She sought to bring awareness on a global level, travelling to Brussels to speak in front of a wall that features a painting of her three-year-old nephew. This came as the European Union was debating how to deal with the refugees.

Kurdi also went to Germany where she was inspired by the people's generosity. She recalled individual Germans seeing Syrians on the street and inviting them to live in their basements for free.

"They show compassion," Kurdi said. "They understand it."

And she also reunited with her brother in Erbil, which is the capital of the Kurdish area of Iraq.

Later, another brother, Mohammed, his wife, and five children joined her at the Vancouver airport, where she offered a heartfelt thank you to the prime minister. The family later opened a hair salon in Port Coquitlam. 

It's been a tumultuous and heartbreaking year for the Damascus-born and -raised hairdresser, who immigrated to Canada in 1992.

"My whole life changed," Kurdi said. "I became a different person."