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WKFoR is helping to share a new book on a refugee family’s journey. Stepping Stones tells the story of Rama and her family, who are forced to flee their once-peaceful village to escape the ravages of the civil war raging ever closer to their home. With only what they can carry on their backs, Rama and her mother, father, grandfather and brother, Sami, set out to walk to freedom in Europe. Nizar Ali Badr’s stunning stone images illustrate the story.
(If you buy with this Buy Now button, ten dollars of your purchase will be donated to WKFoR)
Learn more at the website:http://steppingstonesthebook.com
Download the poster and share with your networks!
A Fruitvale couple has sponsored Rahaf Zwayne from Syria. Learn about this incredible story here!
Welcome! A long-awaited and eagerly anticipated refugee family landed in Castlegar Tuesday afternoon. Zing Men and Tha Tin and their adorable baby have come from Burma (Myanmar) via the Canadian immigration offices in Singapore after spending more than four years in Malaysia. Lun Lun Sun, also a Burmese refugee who arrived to Rossland in 2014, sponsored by WKFoR, was on hand to greet them! Lun Lun will have an incredible opportunity to share what she has learned about living in the Kootenays (and Canada) over the last two years.
The West Kootenay Friends of Refugees is hosting a classical music concert to raise money specifically to help bring additional family members of our current families to Canada. Family reunification is important to building community and helping our families settle into their new life. This also helps ensure security for those closest to them that are still in need of resettlement.
Welcome Rahaf to Canada!
The West Kootenay Friends of Refugees, and especially Melva and Ian Scott of Fruitvale, were thrilled to welcome Rahaf Zwayne to Canada. The Scotts are privately sponsoring Rahaf who is originally from Syria and most recently Istanbul, Turkey. The couple met Rahaf while they were travelling in Turkey and have been in almost daily contact with her via Skype ever since.
The WKFoR would like to thank all our donors, especially those who attended a concert in February held to assist the Scotts with this sponsorship. Rahaf will be a real asset to the group when the Abdin family arrives (soon, we hope), since she speaks perfect English as well as Arabic.
Five days after her arrival, she spoke at a student symposium in Nelson May 17th on refugees and climate change. Her heartfelt thanks and experience are shared in this short clip: Rahaf speech
Students from the RSS and J.L.Crowe Interact Club met on Wednesday, Feb. 24 with Christine DeMarco, of the West Kootenay Friends of Refugees.
Ms DeMarco, who taught several of these students as kindergarteners described the work of the WKFoR and gave an update on the two families who have been sponsored so far.
The WKFoR is eagerly awaiting the arrival of a Syrian family, who should be flying in to the Trail airport shortly. The Interact club had placed donation jars in RSS and J.L. Crowe and were pleased to present five hundred and fifty dollars to help with the resettlement of the new refugee family.
The students at L’ecole des Sept Sommets, the local French School, have been busy raising money and creating welcome materials to be displayed for the Abdin family in their new home. The family is due to arrive any day!
A big thank you to Rossland’s United Church Women who baked pies so they could donate $1000 to the WKFoR group to help with sponsorship.
WKFoR welcomes any support from groups near and far to help reach our goal of continued sponsorship of refugee families in need. Please get in touch!
Rossland’s new Canadian families reflect with the Trail Times on their holiday season in snowy Rossland:
http://www.traildailytimes.ca/ourtown/363843561.html
AND
Canada’s national newspaper profiles two ski towns sponsoring Syrian refugee families (Rossland and Whistler)
