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In their own words - stories form the frontlines
A Migrant Worker with a Medical Emergency and a Family in Need of Support from the Refugee Ministry - A personal story of Unwavering Hope, Faith and Miracles.
It was the beginning of our DREAMS, or at least it was supposed to be. It was the day that my husband left for Canada to work as a farmworker in Leamington, Ontario. My husband did not want to leave me. He did not want to leave our daughter, but he had no choice. It was the only chance to escape tremendous suffering, and he grabbed it. It was a sacrifice our family had to make.
Poverty, lack of formal education, scarcity of employment opportunities, and extreme hardship - reasons why my husband had to say good-bye to me and our two-year-old daughter.
His motivation? So that our daughter will not experience the same hardships he had had all his life. To give us; his family a better life.
This reality is not just our reality. It is the reality shared by many others. It is a story of DREAMS and sacrifices, thoughts of a better life for one’s family, to have a small house to call home, to give education to their children, and if lucky enough, maybe even to have a comfortable life after one retires and grows old. But it came with the sacrifice of being away from one’s family for many years. Leaving loved ones behind to work abroad is a bitter pill that nobody would want to swallow.
In Canada, my devoted and loving husband worked very hard and was forced to cope with many changes. He dealt with:
Long and tiring days at the farm… Cold winter nights…
Foreign language. Unfamiliar food. No friends and family. Longing for the warm
embrace from his daughter and me. Sad and homesick. He endured it all. “It is all for our family’s sake”, he said.
I supported him. We encouraged each other. Through long phone
conversations, we tried to uplift each other and we prayed together. For two and a
half years, he watched our daughter grow from an adorable toddler to a sweet
little girl only through video chats. Sadly, it was also only in the video that my
daughter and I saw him well and healthy.
I had no idea that he was very ill. There were days he would mention that he was feeling weak and dizzy. Despite that, he would get up and go to work. He would always say it was nothing, “It is simple sickness, and I am heavily tired at work.” Afraid to upset his employer if he called in sick, he kept on working. His desire to provide not only for me and our daughter but also for his parents, who are elderly, my husband neglected the early signs of his body weakening.
April 10, 2017 – the unthinkable happened.
Diagnosed with bacterial meningitis, he fell into a coma. My husband was given only a
5% chance of surviving. During that time, everything to me was a blur. There was only one thing clear: my daughter and I needed to be with him in Canada.
April 27, 2017 – I arrived in Canada with my daughter.
The two of us stayed at his side every day to give our love, care, and support to him in his fight for life. The hardest part was to hear the disheartening words that there was a very minimal chance for my husband to come out alive from his comatose state. But I refused to give up. My faith in God is far too strong to give up. While he was unconscious, we kept talking to him. I connected with his parents in our country through video chats to see him and talk to him. We told him many stories. We filled his room with Christian music. We prayed endlessly.
Our first MIRACLE happened after two months…
He woke up from the coma. Unfortunately, the infections were so severe that it caused damage in his brain. I am thankful he is in Canada, where healthcare is so advanced that he lived this long. Although he is still in a vegetative condition, my husband is still alive and fighting after more than three years – despite what science dictates.
With so many different things happening, I was so confused, and I did not know what to do. What will happen to my daughter and me? Will my husband survive? How are we going to live? How long can I stay here and be with my husband? Will Canada force us to leave the country due to our lack of permanent immigration status? With all these questions and more, I was only holding on to my faith in GOD.
Since my daughter and I arrived in Canada more than three years ago, we have met many kind and generous people. I believe that another MIRACLE happened when God sent a person to accompany me to the Diocese of London Refugee Ministry in Windsor, Ontario, where I met Claire. I did not know what to expect before reaching their office, but I heard from many people that if there is one place that can help me find answers to some of my questions, it will be there. In my mind, any assistance at that time would help.
From that initial meeting, so many of my prayers have been answered. Claire knew what I needed, and little by little, things began to unfold.
Spiritual Support – arrangement was made for a priest to visit us at the ICU to pray for spiritual healing for my husband.
Emotional Support – assured me that I was not alone and that they would walk with me on this journey
Settlement Support - an application was initiated to stay in Canada on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.
Financial Support – application fees and costs for necessary medical examinations were paid; otherwise, I could not have submitted my application.
Prayer Support- they never failed to remind me that they are praying for my family.
Claire, staff, volunteers and I worked very hard to gather and complete all the documents necessary to submit our application as soon as possible. I will forever be grateful to all those who dedicated their time and effort from the start of our application until we finished it. Although our application doesn’t guarantee any approval, with the Lord’s intervention, I believe it will not go in vain.
I will always be thankful to the refugee ministry. They became family to us. Every Christmas since we arrived in Canada, volunteers from St. Mary’s church in Maidstone delivered Christmas gifts to my daughter. The smile on my daughter’s face is priceless.
Even during these critical times of the pandemic, they remembered us. Since I am still waiting for a decision from Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada, I am not eligible for any financial assistance from the Canadian government. To ensure that we have food on the table, they provided us with grocery gift cards. They also delivered masks and hand sanitizers so we can protect ourselves. I always wonder if there is any country that is more compassionate than Canada, where people wholeheartedly help strangers like us.
Presently, my husband is still in a vegetative state. Still, my HOPE grows stronger each day because I trust the Lord that He has a plan for him- for keeping him still alive and sparing his life during all those critical moments when everyone thought there was no way he will survive. I still continue to visit him every day in the hospital and assist with this therapy. Unfortunately, due to COVID, my daughter is not allowed to join me. Again, they connect through video chats. We love my husband so much that we will continue to be with him on this journey of his life.
We all have our own difficult situations in our lives. I want to encourage everyone not to lose HOPE. It doesn’t just give you the strength to overcome pain, but HOPE also makes the journey easier. When I’m hopeful for anything, I believe that sorrow and difficulty of today will soon end.
I will not give up. If you are reading this and you are also dealing with life’s imperfections and trials, please do not give up. A tragic story only happens when one gives up. So let the fire of HOPE burn within you. Yes, you will get through even though that seems impossible now. Jesus can seriously give you peace amid the storm. I know because I’ve walked through the fire, and He walked beside me every step of the way even during times when I felt like He wasn’t there.
Today, I am holding on to the promise that God gave to us.
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." –Jeremiah 29:11
I can’t imagine the life that my daughter and I have had these past years, having this situation with my husband, without the refugee ministry in our lives. I can still recall so many times when I felt like I was at the end of the rope, and I just cried out Jesus’ name, and a moment later, I felt His love and Spirit cover me. I didn’t think anything would actually happen. But then I was hit by His overpowering love by receiving so much love and kindness from many people.
For the sake of our family, I will work hard to keep our DREAMS alive.
My HOPE will never fade.
MIRACLES happen to those who believe in the power of God and I will patiently wait.
To each and every one that prayed and helped us along the way – THANK YOU.St. Michael’s Refugee Committee - Leamington Ontario
By Frank Moauro, Chairperson, St. Michael’s Refugee Committee
Our committee was formed in 2015. We originally applied for sponsorship of a Chaldean family on December 8, 2015 and after 6 months of correspondence with Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the family was denied for unknown reasons. Under the guidance of Gilbert Iyamuremye at the office of the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of the London Diocese, we completed a sponsorship undertaking for a Syrian family of six people on October 12, 2016 which was accepted under the BVOR Program. They arrived in Canada on the evening of November 16, 2016. Their first questions to us were: Do they need a gun to protect themselves and why aren’t there bars on the windows of their home?
Our committee had already reached out to our parishioners for furniture and appliances and we were fortunate enough to procure a home in that short period of time. We had previously conducted fund raising activities and aside from monies raised from the parishioners, we received monies from the Knights of Columbus, Catholic Women’s League and assistance from “The Holy Name of Jesus” parish in Essex that helped us co-sponsor this family.
Highlights of Abdul aal Family #1
The Abdul aal family spoke at the Masses soon after their arrival and through an interpreter thanked everyone for allowing them to escape the daily threats of shootings and killings. They vowed to us that they would make us proud of them.
Shortly after taking English classes, a parishioner offered the husband a job as a ceramic tile installer and he has worked steady for the past 5 years. The family has saved enough money to purchase their first new home. Since then the husband has recently started his own contracting business and doing well.
The children have adapted very well at our Catholic School system which the parents chose on their own because of how well they were received by the teaching staff.
The family continuously tells us how grateful they are that a Catholic Church would so graciously receive a Muslim family into their community. They have truly been a blessing to us all. We love them!
Highlights Of Jamil Family #2
On November 24, 2017 we applied for sponsorship again under the BVOR Program for a family from Pakistan. This family of 4 fled Pakistan after their Christian family was shot by the Taliban because of their faith. The Taliban were continuously at the Jamil family doorstep forcing them to change their religion or else they would be killed. Out of desperation the family quickly fled to a refugee camp in Bangkok, Thailand. Again, through the great fundraising efforts of our parish, we were able to qualify this family under the BVOR rules and shortly thereafter they arrived in Canada on February 2, 2018. Our committee worked diligently procuring a home and having it fully furnished and only steps away from St. Michael’s church which they attend.
This committee of 12 people guided the family through such things as: school enrollment for the 2 girls, set up bank accounts, utility arrangements, house rental agreement, doctors, dentists, transportation schedules, grocery shopping, English class attendance, introduction to parish families and in general, weekly visits and arranging for them to visit committee member’s homes.
After 6 months of integration, we were able to procure a job for the husband at a local processing plant owned by a parishioner. The family has since purchased a family van and hopes to move into a larger home after giving birth to a newborn last December.
Highlights of Byamungu Family #3
On July 5, 2019 we applied for sponsorship under the BVOR Program for a family in the Congo. Due to We were told about a family of 8 who had been in a Refugee camp in Tanzania for nearly 20 years seeking a new home. Their families were also killed by militia attacks in the Congo. The Jewish Foundation of Greater Toronto, we qualified for a donation of $30,250 to sponsor this family. Because of their generosity we were able to cover the majority of the costs for our 1 year commitment to the family. After receiving one month’s notice of arrival, our committee of 12 went into action and with God’s help we found them a home across from the Church, furnished the home completely for a family of 8 and made arrangements for their safe arrival.
Aside from the many tasks that needed to be performed for them to settle into their new life in Canada, we taught them how to shop and what foods to serve to the children especially for school. They were given a tour of the area so that they could familiarize themselves as to where the malls were, the hospital, doctor’s/dentists offices, bank, and so on. We hosted Christmas events for the children one month after their arrival. We celebrate each child’s birthday and often supply them with a committee member’s special dish. They love pasta and meatballs!
Because of the pandemic it has been very difficult to visit and play with the children. They miss the fact that we cannot enter their home. It has been a lonely time for them all. The husband and 18 year old nephew (whom they adopted because he was abandoned due to the civil unrest and whom we were able to sponsor under a separate sponsorship together with the family), both procured a job at a local manufacturing company managed by a parishioner. They have both adjusted to the job very well. There was unfortunately an incident where they were both tested positive for Covid-19 but are both doing well and working again.
Their immediate goal is to obtain a driver’s license since they have saved enough money to purchase a used van, then in 2 years to buy their own home. This family is very religious, attends mass regularly and in their daily prayers they thank God for the recent blessings he has bestowed upon them which include the birth of a newborn baby very shortly.
Highlights of Shahroz Family # 4
We applied for a family of 3 under the Full Private Sponsorship Program on December 4, 2019 where we had to provide proof that we had $22,866 in cash in a bank account for this family plus in- kind donations for such things as clothing, furniture, food staples, etc. Due to the generous support of a corporate parishioner we were able to procure the funding required to qualify for this sponsorship.
Due to the pandemic, there have been government cutbacks at the embassies and travel restrictions have slowed the process down. We are still hopeful that this family who has been in a refugee camp for the past 5 years will have the opportunity for a new life in our home that we proudly call Canada.
Over the last 5 years, not only have the refugee families been granted a chance at a new life for their families after their years of struggle , the members of our committee have been blessed with their presence and their stories of survival. We have a better appreciation and love for our faith and we now better understand that our sole purpose in life is to serve God and His people. These Refugee families have taught us how to appreciate the little things such as a new coloring book, a birthday cake, a pair of running shoes, a washing machine, clear skies with no sounds of gun fire and so much more. We have deepened our love and faith in God and humanity because of them. We have relayed their stories at the parish functions and out publicly. It is the intention of our committee that this be an ongoing mission both for the needs of these families but also for the growth of our community. We need them as much as they need us.
We pray that God be with us as we continue to sponsor those in need and may He help us to be aware of the trust that He has bestowed upon us by always embracing these families with our unconditional love and support.Refugee Sponsorship Committee - Ingersoll
By Michelle Caskey and Tanya Folkema on behalf of the Ingersoll Refugee Sponsorship Committee.
Early 2015 began with upsetting images and stories coming out of the Middle East, describing the mass exodus of men, women and children running toward safer ground as war raged in Syria. The news told of unimaginable hardship and loss. It described hopeless circumstances with images that once seen, were emblazoned onto all of our brains as we watched from afar. With our hearts and minds firmly directed toward loving- kindness and care for one another, Ingersoll Sacred Heart Church and Ingersoll Christian Reformed Church took on the challenge to give our strength, our health and our abilities toward helping, and the Ingersoll Refugee Sponsorship Committee was born.
As our sponsorship team developed our plans for helping refugees, the news coming out of Syria was relentless. Videos and images of people suffering the worst moments of their lives were constantly in the news. With this, our resolve deepened and we threw ourselves into answering the call to help. So began our journey to bring a family into our community. It was a seemingly impossible task to pluck a family from the images we were witnessing in the news and settle them within our embrace. We joined our desire with the knowledge and connections of the Diocese London Refugee Ministries as our SAH. We spread our plans throughout our community and our community responded. People in our two churches and other churches in our community, along with businesses and private citizens came forward with their offers to help. We were overwhelmed with the energy and love blossoming from all around us from every corner of our town and the surrounding community. Looking back at those moments can still bring me to tears. It cements in my heart, mind, and soul how vital community is within all our lives.
When we as a committee applied to become sponsors to a Syrian family it is important to note that we could have specifically requested to sponsor a Christian family. As a committee which included a Priest, a Pastor and representatives from 3 local churches, we had a frank discussion and unanimously decided that we would accept any family regardless of their religious affiliation (or lack thereof). Our small community is predominantly white with Western-European roots and Christianity is the predominant religion.
Overwhelmingly, the feedback and response from the community was positive, supportive and a beautiful example of living Jesus’ teaching in the Gospel of Luke regarding the question, ‘Who is my neighbour?’.
During those days in 2015, my phone was ringing constantly with offers of help. Other members of our sponsorship team reported the same experience of generosity from all around them. We had donations of money and items being dropped off at the churches and people offering their beautiful talents in an effort to ease the sorrow of this family we would bring to our community. We formed committees and set up donation depots and worked to get everything prepared and organized for this unknown family who we hoped to welcome.
We were told that when the time came, we would have about eight weeks’ notice before our designated family arrived on our doorsteps. We poured ourselves into preparations for their arrival in the summer of 2015, but politics being what they are, we were shuffled around and delayed and given arbitrary possibilities as time dragged on. We had no way of knowing what our family was facing or what those delays might mean to their wellbeing. It was a difficult and stressful time. Then, suddenly, without warning, on January 5, 2016 we were told our family was in the air. We were instructed to get ready to receive them within the next 24-48 hours. So what do you do when eight weeks is whittled down to hours? You put on your running shoes. You call on the community, and you get moving. The only way I can describe what happened next would be we become even more of a community. We met the challenge. The house where our family was going to live was at that time still being occupied by a local doctor and his wife. They had offered their home to our family and would move to another address when the time came. They did this with gusto and with a beehive of community who rushed in and helped them move out, and then set about to prepare a home for our arriving family. God’s hand was firmly on our backs propelling us forward. People buzzed in and around the house making preparations, moving furniture, filling cupboards, and setting everything to order in a beehive of energy. We were ready.
On a cold, sunny day in early January a small group of us set off for Toronto to welcome our newcomers. We met them with smiles and greetings assisted by a translator. We brought them home. God made himself apparent to us many time in those first moments. First our translator, who we had only engaged days before the arrival, asked how we were planning to transport our family home and when we responded we were hiring a large vehicle, insisted that we cancel it as she had a vehicle of suitable size to transport all 7 people and all their worldly belongs at no cost. Our community expanded. The youngest member of the family was suffering from a throat infection as they arrived and we were told we need to take them to the hospital for a check as soon as possible. Our community hospital is very small and we had very few people of Arabic descent within our town. However, as we arrived with our exhausted mom and her sick two year old at the emergency department, the doctor who met us was Arabic and could listen and talk with mom and give such ease and comfort when it was so needed. Over and over these beautiful moments emerged to welcome this family into our community. They were ours and we were theirs; a community built out of necessity and blossoming with love. A week into their new lives in our little town, we enrolled the kids into school.
A few days later, the principal of their new school arrived at our family’s with a dinner of halal chili and buns and dessert to make sure they knew how welcome they were into the school community. This family from so far away, and who had lost so much were wrapped in our community’s love. Our community expanded again.
The community involvement to prepare for this family was genuine and unique; it reflected the gifts and skills of a wide spectrum of ages, denominations, industries, clubs and recreational groups. A local Girl Guides Group stocked the family’s pantry with foods in line with Middle-Eastern cooking that they would be most familiar with; researching together and travelling outside of our county in order to access the appropriate spices and food items. The first Christmas that the family celebrated, they woke up to a porch full of gifts for every member of the household and to this day, none of us are aware of who Santa was on December 25, 2016. The local Soccer Club waived all fees for soccer for their first year and the men’s league invited Abdul to join their team and he has played each year since until COVID. These are just a few examples of the ways that individuals collectively contributed to helping the family settle and we believe was a huge factor in the family deciding to lay down permanent roots in our small town.
Abdul, the dad of our family, desperately needed five things as he arrived in our community—a job, a driver’s license, a tv for his kids, internet, and school for his kids. He recited this list to us daily in that first week. We accomplished three of his needs within the first week. We were able to get him a job within a month. We were able to help him get his G2 license within 6 months. Life developed into routines of daily life: school, work, English lessons, shopping, tea, friendly visits. We were all regularly treated to the delicious foods that Afaf made and shared with us. We helped navigate the multitude of forms that come with being a newcomer and even more than come with enrolling children into school. We rolled through the seasons together. During the winter months they learned that you can’t wash your front steps and sidewalk without creating a very slippery hazard for visitors. In the spring they discovered that mosquitoes are just as annoying in Canada as they were in Syria, and in summer they complained about the heat and humidity like everyone else. And then we complained together as that summer heat gave way to the cool days of fall and the first fluttering of snowfall. We celebrated together: Birthdays, Easter, Victoria Day, Eid, Halloween and Christmas, dotted with impromptu potluck dinners and hastily arranged joyful gatherings of friends who had by now become family. Our community continued to expand.
In 2017 we all welcomed their “Canadian” baby. A beautiful baby boy. Following with Canadian tradition, (and with a little nudge), dad was in the hospital delivery room to welcome this baby into the world…something he had never expected to experience and a moment that is branded upon his heart forever. We had a community baby shower in the church hall filled with women and food and gifts to celebrate his arrival.
Moving forward to August 2017, Abdul and Afaf had been saving for a down-payment so they could buy a home. With the help of a local real estate agent, they were able to find a perfect home for their family to add permanence to their place in our community. Friends regularly come and go from this home, where everyone is always welcome and where tea is always being steeped and love is always apparent in the smiles and greetings, in the laughter of the children, in the hugs and gestures to sit down and visit.
In 2017 we also started the process of bringing Afaf’s two brothers to Canada as refugees. They are twins in their twenties who are living on their own in Lebanon. You only have to look at the news to know that things are not good in Lebanon and that is especially true for displaced Syrians. These two young men are trapped in a place that doesn’t want them. They can’t go home, they can’t move forward in their lives. We have been working hard to bring them to our community, into the loving embrace of their sister, Afaf and her family. We almost had them here. We were weeks away when March 2020 and Covid 19 stopped everything in its tracks. Recently, we have been happy to hear things may be starting to move again for bringing refugees to Canada. We may have them here soon. We are counting the minutes, till we have our boys home with us. These two young men are already an important part of our community, we just haven’t met them yet. God willing, they will be here soon.Emergency Assistance for A Migrant Worker - Luis' Story
In the fall of 2019 Luis, who came from Mexico to work in Ontario, contracted an eye infection at work. His condition worsened and it became clear that his eye would have to be removed. With his visa only days from expiring, and the matter of his compensation unresolved, the involved parties were conflicted and at an impasse. It appeared that Luis would have to return to Mexico without proper care or just compensation.
To help facilitate the situation, we reached out to the Consulate of Mexico in Leamington with our concerns about Luis. A new visa was arranged and a process towards just compensation was initiated. Our role was not in the open, nor was it obvious to other volunteers and agencies, to maintain our relationships with employers of temporary helpers.
Since then, doctors have removed the infected eye and Luis has been healing well. Along with other kind and generous helpers, we have accompanied Luis through his recovery. Our ministry, through the St. Joseph Emergency Fund for Migrant Workers, has contributed to his tenancy at the London Cross Cultural Learner Centre’s Joseph’s House.