ERIN REFUGEE ACTION UPDATE JULY 2023
Please share the news of the arrival of Abdul Mefleh, our latest Syrian newcomer and our first family reunification sponsorship. Abdul is the youngest brother of Khawla Mefleh whose family of four were sponsored by our ERA community in 2017.
Abdul (known to family as Abood) is 27, single and has been living as a refugee in Jordan since 2011. With no path to citizenship or legal avenue to work or an education in Jordan, Abdul is looking forward to learning English and finding a future in Canada.
His sister and family are well established in Kitchener so he will start out there, however ERA will provide the financial, cultural, educational and emotional support that we always have over the next year.
Abdul is enthusiastic about discovering this new country. A trip with his family to Niagara Falls was in his words “excellent”! He is studying English using online tools until in-person ESL resumes in September. He has the help of his fully fluent nieces Raneem and Tasneem to practice with and for help with his English exercises, provided by Deney.
He’ll have his G1 drivers license soon, which is always a celebrated milestone with newcomers.
His skill set as we know it so far is as a baker and a cook. His eyes light up when we eat together and start to discuss the food, its preparation or seasoning. We are looking forward to what he’ll treat us to from the kitchen.
Thanks to our ERA / All Saints Anglican Church partnership, since 2016 we have provided a fresh start, safety and a path to citizenship for 4 families (14 people).
Three babies have been born over the past 7 years and one family has reached the point of becoming Canadian citizens!
As needs arise, we will reach out to you, the ERA community for assistance. We are planning a year end fundraising appeal but want to have a better sense of our goal before launching that effort. Stay tuned.
Thank you for your interest and support. Please continue to hold in your hearts the tens of millions of refugees and displaced persons around the world.
We are all family!
erinrefugeeaction.ca 