Help Ravi Vinasithamby's Family With Pregnancy Expenses

Viniththa Ravi and Ravi Vinasithamby were Internally Displaced Persons from Sri Lanka who recently moved to Canada. They are married, and lived together with their two daughters, with a third child on the way.

Viniththa was born in a village in northern Sri Lanka in 1990, as the Sri Lankan Civil War raged on. She grew up fleeing from place to place, and lived in constant fear of bombings and attacks. By the time she was five, she had grown used to being displaced multiple times while only carrying whatever she could hold. Her mother, desperate to protect her, sent Viniththa and her sister to a hostel far from home. They were separated from their family for seven years, only being able to communicate through letters. When the war ended in 2009, Viniththa was reunited with her family, but nothing was the same. Her family had lost many loved ones, and her father and brother had been detained and illegally tortured by the government.

Despite her struggles, she was determined to build a life beyond the war. She completed a diploma in tailoring and focused on community development and rebuilding projects in any way that she could. It was during this time that she met her husband, Ravi.

Ravi had endured a similar story, as he spent time in an Indian refugee camp after fleeing the island, but was forced to return home. He then spent 27 years as an Internally Displaced Person, during which time he focused on educating himself in any way possible. By the time the war ended, Ravi had been displaced over 40 times. After earning a BSc in Environmental Science from a state university, and pursuing a master’s degree, Ravi met Viniththa in 2009, and they got engaged in 2012. While raising their two daughters in Sri Lanka, the economic collapse of COVID-19 brought a new wave of instability and violence to the nation. Ravi and Viniththa didn’t want their daughters growing up in the same instability that they did, and so Ravi made the difficult decision to sell everything, take out loans, and move alone to Canada to pursue a new life for him and his family. He arrived in Saskatoon in October of 2022, pursuing a master’s degree in water security at the University of Saskatchewan. He worked tirelessly to integrate into his new home, volunteering at the Open Door Society and the Saskatchewan Research Council, where he secured a contract job as an assistant scientist in April of 2023.

In October of 2023, after one year of living without his family, he was finally reunited with his wife and kids when they arrived in Saskatoon. They finally felt as if they had a future in front of them. Viniththa started English classes, and in May of 2024, they were overjoyed to learn that she was pregnant with her third child. In August of 2024, Ravi completed his Master’s degree with top grades. But all this joy was short-lived.

Since their family’s temporary residence permits were expiring at the end of August of 2024, Ravi applied for permit extensions for their entire family in June of 2024, expecting them to be processed within 50 days. After completing his studies, Ravi also applied for a Post-Graduation Work Permit on September 17th, 2024.

Due to immigration delays, the entire family fell into “maintained status”, meaning that Ravi was unable to work until his permits were processed. Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. Despite repeated inquiries, the family was told that family permits take longer, with no estimated timeframe.

Ravi lost his job because of these delays, which caused his family severe financial distress. For the past five months, the family has been without income, struggling to pay rent, bills, and groceries. More urgently, the family recently found out that their Saskatchewan health cards will expire in February of 2025, right before Viniththa’s due date of February 28th, 2025. This means that their newborn will be uninsured, and the family unable to pay for any necessary medical expenses.

They have already contacted their local MP, the IRCC, the Saskatchewan Health Ministry and every other possible organization for help. None of them could give them a clear answer or timeframe.

This crisis has pushed this family to their breaking point. The fear of giving birth without healthcare, financial security, or a safe future haunts the family every day. Ravi and Viniththa struggle to take care of their daughters, and deal with being unable to eat and sleep because of their stress and financial difficulty. Despite seemingly doing everything right, this family is in a position of despair, with no idea of what can be done to help them.

Any amount of support will go towards covering the medical expenses for Viniththa’s delivery of her baby, paying for living expenses such as groceries, rent, and essential bills, and providing basic necessities for the baby such as diapers, clothes, and a safe place to sleep. Your kindness could mean the difference between hope and despair for their family.

Anything helps.

Thank you.