As part of a recently-formed community group called “Newmarket Together”, St. Paul’s will be partnering with the Town of Newmarket and Trinity United Church to sponsor a refugee family from Afghanistan. AURA (The Anglican United Refugee Alliance) will coordinate the sponsorship. Our role will be the administration of funds from the donations.
The family consists of a mom, a dad, and 3 young children (picture below). They were rapidly transported out of Afghanistan with none of their possessions, and are currently living in a refugee camp in India awaiting permission to enter Canada. This cannot happen until funds are raised to provide them with support, and until they have been cleared to come to Canada. Financial support will come from the broader community, but we are asking you to prayerfully consider helping this family either through an Outreach donation designated to the refugee initiative or via an e-transfer to the church. In either case, please ensure that your donation indicates the purpose.
In February 2021, this family left their jobs, their school, everything they had built, everything they owned, behind. They left because Samiullah, who has earned a master’s degree in economics, worked in finance with a US funded organization to build infrastructure in Kabul. He was told their lives were in immediate danger. The Taliban would kill anyone connected – in any capacity, to the U.S. Samiullah received threats directly from the Taliban and left when the targeted killings of Afghans were on the rise in Kabul. We also know that Afghanistan is no longer safe for women and girls.
Sadly, we are all familiar with the horror stories about Afghanistan recently shared in the media.
Abdul Hanif had this to say about his brother’s current situation:
“It’s not easy to just leave everything, house and car and everything, behind and just leave like that. It is a big decision but you would only do it when someone is desperate,” Hanif said. “He saw people, how brutally… They know how to find them and a gun man will look like a regular person but then he’ll just shoot someone in the head.”
Even though they are now in India, Samiullah worries about his family’s perilous situation, keeping them safe and supported in Delhi. He worries about his family situation in general because there are health, education, work related concerns due to a lack of access to medical, educational and employment support for refugee families.
In Newmarket, Samiullah has a wonderful brother Abdullah Hanif and his family waiting for him. Abdul lives and also works here in town providing mental health crisis support at a local agency. As mentioned above, Abdul and his family will provide food, housing and transportation for his brother, sister-in-law and little nieces and nephew.
Newmarket Together has begun the budgeting and the paperwork, with support from AURA ( Anglican United Refugee Alliance) https://www.auraforrefugees.org
We need your help!
Please help us sponsor this wonderful yet desperate family and welcome them to our amazing Newmarket. Let’s show everyone that Newmarket makes a difference through caring, kindness and support. Together, we can share our compassionate community with a family who will then pay it forward!
https://www.gofundme.com/f/afghan-family-needs-our-help
From our wonderful Mayor of Newmarket, John Taylor:
“A great community is one where everyone belongs, everyone feels welcome, and everyone has an opportunity to participate. Supporting families to move here for a safer and more prosperous life is a testament to what a great community we have here in Newmarket. While I’m supporting this sponsorship as an individual, I hope the fact that I’m the mayor illustrates that Newmarket is a welcoming community.”
