Donate to Support Ali and Nina!

NEW UPDATE BELOW!

We are a small group of friends who have banded together through Canada's unique refugee sponsorship program to help a young Afghan couple. They've been separated for nearly ten years, and—with your help—we have sponsored them to reunite and build a life in Canada! We appreciate any contributions to this fund. Your donation will help cover their expenses including rent, household items, and clothing for their new life in Canada.

Here is their story. (Names have been changed to protect the safety of their family members still in Afghanistan).

Ali and Nina met as children. Their families knew each other, and Ali often went with his father to visit Nina’s family in a nearby village. Nina always looked forward to Ali’s visits. He was kind; she made him laugh. As they grew up, both Nina and Ali were determined to improve their families’ prospects; Nina studied to be an engineer, Ali to be a journalist. Their engagement was a love match, and their parents approved. 

But shortly after their engagement, the Taliban threatened Ali’s life. He had been so proud to graduate from school and find work in a big city informing the public, but his job as a journalist made him a target. Armed men stormed his home and threatened to kill him and his family; he escaped by climbing out a window and fleeing for his life.

 Nina still lived in their rural home region, which had no cell reception or internet. After months without a visit from Ali, Nina’s father travelled to Ali’s family home and found it deserted. A neighbour told him Taliban had come, and the entire family had been chased away.

 Nina never gave up hope that Ali was alive. For four years, she heard nothing. Then one day, out of the blue, there was a message from Ali. He was in a refugee camp in a country far away. He had undergone a terrible journey, but he was alive, and he still loved her.

“She was crying, I was crying—it was the happiest day of my life,” Ali told our sponsor group. “These long years of pain made me old in my youth,” Nina confided, “but waiting for someone you love is really beautiful, and knowing that one day he will come and take your hand.”

Since that first phone call, Ali and Nina have talked every day. But resettlement is a long, slow process. Ali has been stuck in his UNHCR camp for many long years, and Nina could not join him there. She graduated from her engineering program—one of only a handful of women. Then, this past August, the Taliban took control of Afghanistan again. Both Nina and Ali are members of a vilified ethnic minority, the Hazara. Due both to her ethnicity and her connection to a former journalist, Nina’s life was now also in immediate danger.

In early 2022, Nina bravely said goodbye to her family and succeeded in departing Afghanistan. At this time, she is waiting in a safe location for the final steps in their relocation process to be completed. 

UPDATE!!!!!

We have happy news! After 9 years in a refugee camp, Ali flew to Toronto in November. We received word that Nina would receive her travel documents soon. Our group and Ali set up their apartment in anticipation of her arrival. He explored Toronto and met other newcomers who are also settling into life in Canada. He wandered out one evening and came upon the Santa Claus parade - so he watched all of it!

Finally, about three weeks after his arrival, Nina received her travel documents. They chatted by phone in anticipation of seeing each other face-to-face for the first time in almost a decade!

Our group was at the airport to greet her, together with Ali, who had brought her a bouquet of flowers. When she finally walked through the frosted door at Pearson airport, he took a few long strides and they wrapped their arms around each other and held tight. The sight brought us all to tears.

We welcome donations to this couple's future.

Your donation will be deeply meaningful to Ali and Nina. Contributions will go exclusively towards their expenses during their first year in Canada, specifically rent, household items, food, transportation, education, and clothing as they begin their new life. These funds will be transferred directly to Ali and Nina for their use in financing these essential items as outlined by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (more info here: https://www.rstp.ca/en/infosheet/group-of-five-g5/).

We greatly appreciate any contributions to help Ali and Nina begin their new chapter.

The individuals helping Ali and Nina with their move to Canada include Tom Howell, Linda Besner, Megan Howatt, Lia Grainger, Bob Kotyk, Angela Lyon, Jess Grant, Abigail Lapell, Ann Mackeigan, Philip Coulter, Emma Coulter and Shoma Sinha.

Be part of helping Ali and Nina begin their new life together in Canada!