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The dozen or so members of Rainbow New Beginnings didn’t know each other before they joined hands in early 2016 with a shared mission: To help a persecuted LGBT person find safety, security and a new life in Canada.
The Ottawa-based sponsorship group welcomed a gay newcomer in his 20s from the Middle East in September 2016 and is currently raising money to sponsor a second person.
“It was great to have all these people from different walks of life come together to help an LGBT refugee,” said Andrew Carroll.
The 26-year-old public servant is one of the younger members of the group, which includes other current and retired bureaucrats, as well as people who have worked in the health care field.
In addition to the hardships of war and forced migration, refugees who identify as LGBT are often burdened by additional woes. They may have faced persecution at the hands of police or the legal system in their homeland, been publicly outed, or lacked spousal rights and other protections enjoyed by all Canadians, regardless of sexual orientation, Carroll explained.
Many LGBT refugees also arrive here alone, without the support of parents, spouses and children.
The sponsor group in Canada becomes a de-facto family, Carroll said. Members provide rides to language classes and medical appointments, as well as organize social outings and take the newcomer out for a night of dancing at Babylon or the Lookout.
Last year, the young man sponsored by Rainbow New Beginnings — which has a privacy agreement in place that prevents the group from sharing too many details about him, including which country he’s from — went home to Niagara Falls to celebrate Christmas with Carrolls.
“He really got along well with my family,” Carroll said.
Rainbow New Beginnings and Everyone’s Sister, another Ottawa sponsor group that came together this year to sponsor a 22-year-old woman who is currently in Syria, are co-organizing a film screening Thursday at the ByTowne Cinema.
After Spring, produced by former Daily Show host Jon Stewart, follows two refugee families in transition and aid workers fighting to keep the Zaatari refugee camp running. Home to 80,000 people, Zaatari is the largest refugee camp for Syrians in neighbouring Jordan. Since the camp opened in 2012, 5,000 babies have been born in the camp.
The filmmakers spent months in the camp with the goal of putting “a human face to the Syrian refugee crisis.”
While Rainbow New Beginnings is focused on LGBT refugees, Everyone’s Sister sponsors individual women refugees seeking to reunite with family in Ottawa. According to the group, at least half of the refugees in the world are women and girls whose refugee experience puts them at a heightened risk of sexual and gender-based violence.
Thursday’s film screening begins at 6:45 p.m. Tickets are $10.
mpearson@postmedia.com
twitter.com/mpearson78
查看原文...
The Ottawa-based sponsorship group welcomed a gay newcomer in his 20s from the Middle East in September 2016 and is currently raising money to sponsor a second person.
“It was great to have all these people from different walks of life come together to help an LGBT refugee,” said Andrew Carroll.
The 26-year-old public servant is one of the younger members of the group, which includes other current and retired bureaucrats, as well as people who have worked in the health care field.
In addition to the hardships of war and forced migration, refugees who identify as LGBT are often burdened by additional woes. They may have faced persecution at the hands of police or the legal system in their homeland, been publicly outed, or lacked spousal rights and other protections enjoyed by all Canadians, regardless of sexual orientation, Carroll explained.
Many LGBT refugees also arrive here alone, without the support of parents, spouses and children.
The sponsor group in Canada becomes a de-facto family, Carroll said. Members provide rides to language classes and medical appointments, as well as organize social outings and take the newcomer out for a night of dancing at Babylon or the Lookout.
Last year, the young man sponsored by Rainbow New Beginnings — which has a privacy agreement in place that prevents the group from sharing too many details about him, including which country he’s from — went home to Niagara Falls to celebrate Christmas with Carrolls.
“He really got along well with my family,” Carroll said.
Rainbow New Beginnings and Everyone’s Sister, another Ottawa sponsor group that came together this year to sponsor a 22-year-old woman who is currently in Syria, are co-organizing a film screening Thursday at the ByTowne Cinema.
After Spring, produced by former Daily Show host Jon Stewart, follows two refugee families in transition and aid workers fighting to keep the Zaatari refugee camp running. Home to 80,000 people, Zaatari is the largest refugee camp for Syrians in neighbouring Jordan. Since the camp opened in 2012, 5,000 babies have been born in the camp.
The filmmakers spent months in the camp with the goal of putting “a human face to the Syrian refugee crisis.”
While Rainbow New Beginnings is focused on LGBT refugees, Everyone’s Sister sponsors individual women refugees seeking to reunite with family in Ottawa. According to the group, at least half of the refugees in the world are women and girls whose refugee experience puts them at a heightened risk of sexual and gender-based violence.
Thursday’s film screening begins at 6:45 p.m. Tickets are $10.
mpearson@postmedia.com
twitter.com/mpearson78
查看原文...
