Hello, friends, community, and compassionate souls

My name is Bafo, and I am reaching out today in order to ask for your support in my family’s time of need as it is extremely urgent. In 2020, my family and I made the decision to leave everything behind and start anew in Canada. We were determined to build a better future, to heal from the struggles of the past, and to give myself and my younger siblings the opportunity to thrive. But it hasn’t been easy.

Since arriving, we’ve faced many challenges. Some of which were expected, and some of which were not. Throughout the past four years we’ve faced significant challenges, delays, complexities, and the uncertainties of the legal immigration process. Each step has taken longer than anticipated, with roadblocks that have made it harder to settle and establish ourselves.

My siblings are currently in High School. The youngest 13, middle 17, and I'm now 19. I was supposed to graduate 2 years ago, in which I did, and pursue a post-secondary career, yet that hasn't occurred due to expired documentation and not being allowed to apply to all sorts of things. My father continues to grow older, and it really pains me to see him working as hard as he is to support all of us. And on top of everything, he's developed a chronic cough over the past year. Luckily, nothing else has ensued beyond that. I've tried to help make money, but I'm unable to acquire a job given our status. It's like he's carrying to much weight on his shoulders, and I wish there were ways I could ease his burden. He's done so much for us.

The pain of the past is something we carry with us everyday. A few months before we left our home, we faced a heartbreaking loss– the passing of my mother, who meant the world to us. Losing a parent was devastating, and it added a layer of grief. It was one of the hardest things we’ve ever had to endure, but we chose to move forward, in order to honor her memory by building a life we can all be proud of.

Now it's just my father, my younger siblings, and me. We’ve been doing our best to support each other, but we’re still working hard to get back on our feet. The financial strain from the past few years has been overwhelming, and we now find ourselves in need of some support to move forward. I don’t want to give up our dreams of stability, independence, and bright future that we could create here in Canada, but we need some help to make that a reality.

After all the detailed correspondence with our lawyers over the course of the past few months, we have finally reached the final stages of resolving our legal matters. And that is a CAD $5,000 + HST fee required to complete and file some necessary paperwork. Unfortunately, we are unable to afford this amount of money. It's also been indicated that the paperwork/response must be filed before January 24, 2025 as we’ve been given a deadline from November 25, 2024.

Further details: We had received a letter form Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). As part of the application process of ultimately attaining residency, being the parent applicant, he had to go through some sort of background police check everywhere he had resided. Those countries being Ghana, Italy, and the US in that order. He was clean for the US, but apparently not for Italy. He'd been accused of some sort of fraud or impersonation charge, in which he committed 20 years ago or so. He had unknowingly committed it as all he wanted to do was try and support our family and begin working. What he did was use a friend's identification to enable him to attain a job and whatnot. He meant no harm, only to provide for our family. Regardless of this, on paper, it's seen as a criminal offence and this is the punishment. Our lawyers have stated that this application is a separate process, and after further discussion they proposed addressing the matter with a formal "Personal Rehabilitation Application" which will require the office fee of CAD $5,000 + HST, totaling $5,650 I had mentioned earlier.

Note: Prior to Canada we had lived in Italy and later America, about 14 years total of my life was spent in those two places along with father, siblings, and for the most part, my late mother as well. We are currently living in an apartment complex, however after paying so much money to the lawyers these past few years we haven't been able to pay our rent for the past 2 months as well as some bills. As a result, we will be getting evicted within the next 7 days.

Breakdown of Fees:

initial payment of $200 (to submit the application)

$5,650 - Lawyer & Legal fees

$2,328.18 + $845 - Overdue rent and bills

Total: $9,023.18

We are asking for your generosity and support as we continue to navigate through this difficult time. Any donation, big or small, will go a long way in helping us pay the legal fees as well as essentials such as housing, and health.

Thank you for taking the time to read our story. Your support means the world to us as we strive to navigate through all this.

With the utmost appreciation,

My family and I