Sponsoring Latifa & Faiz to Canada

I have already lost Latifa once.

Over thirty years ago, my young parents were forced to flee their homeland of Afghanistan with their newborn girl in their arms. With death haunting their heels, they endured a most dangerous and grueling refugee journey spanning one country to the next until they reached Canada. Like many refugees, baby Latifa desperately needed access to shelter, nutrition and healthcare, but her short life came to an end before I could ever meet my eldest sister.

My father reminds me of how he came to Canada with a red blanket and a single $50 bill. They did not have a suitcase to bring their possessions and belongings. Instead, they only brought memories of their families and homes, knowing they would never see them again. They carried the heaviest burden of all in their hearts, the hope to survive, to live to see another day.

Decades later, this same heartbreaking story continues to repeat itself.

Latifa was only thirteen when her only brother bartered her away to a violent, drug-addicted man who was much older than her. The little money it afforded her orphaned siblings could not compare to the traumatic cost of this singular painful year when her humanity and rights were stripped away from her -- this was the first time, but not the last. She hails from the same village that my parents called home. Latifa barely escaped with her life, only to travel to India and eventually to Indonesia, where her human rights continued to be violated. Every step away from her home was filled with growing terror and vulnerability for this young girl travelling alone to save her own life.

Her nightmarish refugee journey has been marked by issues from overcrowded and dangerous living conditions to preventable medical emergencies due to poor access to quality health care. Not to mention the harassment, conflicts and mental illnesses she experienced along the way.

In 2005, Faiz left the village of Jaghori in Ghazni province to follow in his father's footsteps as an entrepreneur. Together, they worked to repair small electronics and installed antennas in distant villages to connect to radio and television broadcasting. Upon returning from Kabul on a work trip, he was apprehended by the Taliban, first for his seemingly Asian appearance as a Hazara Afghan and second for his collaboration with foreigners. He had previously trained in Pakistan, learning how to repair mobile phones and computers, which he continued to study through a collaborative 10-month mentorship program hosted by a Norwegian organization. His punishable offence was his pursuit of education and vocational training, which he previously denied in his own and neighbouring countries.

For a second time, Faiz was forced to flee Afghanistan, again to escape the cruel and deathly grip of the Taliban. Unfortunately, he later learned that his brother and father had been captured and murdered. With a burning wish to renew his lease on life, Faiz found himself in Indonesia. For the first few years, he was detained and tortured along with hundreds of other refugees. More than sixteen fellow refugees, one of whom was his closest friend, had succumbed to the crippling depression and mental anguish as they set themselves on fire to escape their living hell.

At a time in their lives when both Latifa and Faiz had been faced with unimaginable and unrelenting threats to their safety, well-being and mental health, they turned to creativity to see them through the pain and grief. They collaborated on Youtube videos to showcase refugee lived realities in Indonesia and commentate on life and survival by creating ethnic dramas to work through their difficulties. Prohibited from working and earning a living, Latifa and Faiz continue to develop online content to process and explore their undue and disproportionate hardships in life. They are unable to work, travel, or get married, and they dare not dream of a life of freedom, safety and fulfillment. From one wretched life to another, they survived certain dangers of dying in their homeland to finding themselves not truly living in a foreign country.

Years later, this heartbreaking cycle of intergenerational trauma and persecution stops now.

As the daughter of Hazara Afghan Canadian refugees, I realize that my life here in Canada resulted from sheer luck. A family member working in collaboration with a well-meaning Catholic community came together to support and uplift my parents from a devastating and hopeless situation. Today, I reach out and extend the same learned grace and generosity to two more Hazara Afghan refugees stranded in a foreign country. I call upon peers, community members and all who have the privilege of a warm home, nourishing food, safety and belonging.

Funds raised will be used as soon as possible to sponsor Latifa and Faiz to Canada. An estimated $25 000 will provide one year of income support for a family of two, along with $5000 to cover start-up costs, which include food, household items and winter clothing. Please generously donate as we work with our community to help this well-deserving couple start a new life in a country they can finally call home.

We will not lose Latifa again -- now, it's up to you and me to bring them safely home.