A Healer Needs Our Help
Donation protected
Meet a refugee whose story and accomplishments – even at a young age – are truly amazing.
Yasin Bakhtyar is a 20-year-old Afghani refugee living in Indonesia. With only a grade eight education, he has taught himself English at an advanced level, and taken an online university degree.
He has become a healer for his fellow refugees, helping them through the depression, anxiety and physical pain that he has experienced himself from his long period of detainment, which continues today.
Canada Caring Society volunteers became aware of Yasin's situation and have now taken on the responsibility of submitting a sponsorship application to bring him to Canada as a refugee.
His story
Yasin was born in Baturkhal, in rural Afghanistan. At the age of 13, he tragically lost both his parents in a car accident. He moved in with his sister and her husband. It was an abusive household, and threats were made against his life.
At the age of 16, he set out from Afghanistan, fleeing the Taliban along the way (via a late-night escape from a farmhouse), and found his way to Indonesia, where he claimed refugee status. That was four years ago.
Since that time, he has stayed in a refugee camp, and now refugee housing, in Makassar, Indonesia. As a refugee, he is not allowed to work or otherwise support himself. And the UNHCR, which once promised to resettle Yasin and his fellow refugees in another country, now says there is no such plan.
The hopelessness of this would break an ordinary person. Yasin, however, has made the best of his difficult situation. Along with his activities as a student and a healer, he has started a blog to share his experiences with the wider world through a blog called Yasin: The Reluctant Refugee.
Take a moment to read it, and see for yourself what a sensitive and intelligent young man this is: https://reluctantrefugee.wordpress.com/
There is hope
I discovered Yasin through his blog, and after getting to know him better, was elated to discover that he has a UNHCR certificate. This rare document means that Yasin can be privately sponsored to come to Canada where he will be able to live and work in Whistler, BC.
Yasin is being sponsored by Canada Caring, an organization I run, and whose activities are listed here: https://www.canadacaring.ca/ His application has already been completed, thanks to Stephen Watt, a volunteer friend of mine, who visited Yasin in person in Indonesia in May.
All that’s holding us back from bringing Yasin to a better future in Canada? Fundraising.
Most private sponsorship applications required $13,000 for each refugee to be held in a secure account before the application can go forward. Because Yasin will have his housing and other necessities covered, his fundraising requirements are fewer. Thankfully!
$7,500 CAD is the amount we need to raise before we can submit the application.
The path ahead
Once we reach our $7,500 fundraising goal, the application is submitted to Canadian immigration, and the money is held in a secure account by Canada Caring until Yasin’s arrival.
The funds will then be distributed to Yasin over his first 12 months in the country, in accordance with a plan filed with the Government of Canada. Typically startup funds are given on arrival in Canada and the living expenses are distributed on a monthly basis.
Please consider giving. Every donation, large or small, brings us one step toward giving this talented young man a new start in a country he is looking forward to call home.
Help us bring him to safety and make his dream come true.
Thank you for your support. And please share! Every dollar helps....
Laurie Cooper
Canada Caring Society
Whistler, BC
Canada
Yasin Bakhtyar is a 20-year-old Afghani refugee living in Indonesia. With only a grade eight education, he has taught himself English at an advanced level, and taken an online university degree.
He has become a healer for his fellow refugees, helping them through the depression, anxiety and physical pain that he has experienced himself from his long period of detainment, which continues today.
Canada Caring Society volunteers became aware of Yasin's situation and have now taken on the responsibility of submitting a sponsorship application to bring him to Canada as a refugee.
His story
Yasin was born in Baturkhal, in rural Afghanistan. At the age of 13, he tragically lost both his parents in a car accident. He moved in with his sister and her husband. It was an abusive household, and threats were made against his life.
At the age of 16, he set out from Afghanistan, fleeing the Taliban along the way (via a late-night escape from a farmhouse), and found his way to Indonesia, where he claimed refugee status. That was four years ago.
Since that time, he has stayed in a refugee camp, and now refugee housing, in Makassar, Indonesia. As a refugee, he is not allowed to work or otherwise support himself. And the UNHCR, which once promised to resettle Yasin and his fellow refugees in another country, now says there is no such plan.
The hopelessness of this would break an ordinary person. Yasin, however, has made the best of his difficult situation. Along with his activities as a student and a healer, he has started a blog to share his experiences with the wider world through a blog called Yasin: The Reluctant Refugee.
Take a moment to read it, and see for yourself what a sensitive and intelligent young man this is: https://reluctantrefugee.wordpress.com/
There is hope
I discovered Yasin through his blog, and after getting to know him better, was elated to discover that he has a UNHCR certificate. This rare document means that Yasin can be privately sponsored to come to Canada where he will be able to live and work in Whistler, BC.
Yasin is being sponsored by Canada Caring, an organization I run, and whose activities are listed here: https://www.canadacaring.ca/ His application has already been completed, thanks to Stephen Watt, a volunteer friend of mine, who visited Yasin in person in Indonesia in May.
All that’s holding us back from bringing Yasin to a better future in Canada? Fundraising.
Most private sponsorship applications required $13,000 for each refugee to be held in a secure account before the application can go forward. Because Yasin will have his housing and other necessities covered, his fundraising requirements are fewer. Thankfully!
$7,500 CAD is the amount we need to raise before we can submit the application.
The path ahead
Once we reach our $7,500 fundraising goal, the application is submitted to Canadian immigration, and the money is held in a secure account by Canada Caring until Yasin’s arrival.
The funds will then be distributed to Yasin over his first 12 months in the country, in accordance with a plan filed with the Government of Canada. Typically startup funds are given on arrival in Canada and the living expenses are distributed on a monthly basis.
Please consider giving. Every donation, large or small, brings us one step toward giving this talented young man a new start in a country he is looking forward to call home.
Help us bring him to safety and make his dream come true.
Thank you for your support. And please share! Every dollar helps....
Laurie Cooper
Canada Caring Society
Whistler, BC
Canada
Organizer
Laurie Cooper
Organizer
Whistler, BC
