This valley is extremely fortunate to be the home of many “refugees” from other parts of Canada, people who have come here because of our area’s relatively salubrious climate, natural beauty and other attractions. Once here, however, most of them have become actively engaged as full members of the community, helping to make life better for us all.
Some of them, in fact, have joined long-term residents as members of the Creston Refugee Committee to help bring real refugees here, people who have had to flee their native lands to escape persecution and death.
According to chair Linda Price, the committee has been operating for over 30 years. It brought Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees here in the late 1970s but it has again been particularly active during the past decade.
In 2005, it played host to the six-member Samai family from Sierra Leone. Although most members of that group have moved elsewhere, the mother, Leona, and her son, Abdul, still live here.
Since last autumn, however, the committee has been really busy.
In September, the five-member Abo-Nofal family arrived. Consisting of the father and mother and three children (a fourth baby is on the way), they were originally Palestinians but lived in Iraq until forced to flee to Syria where they lived in a refugee camp for five years.
The Abo-Nofals plan to move to Burnaby, to be near relatives, in August, but the Creston Refugee Committee will maintain responsibility for them until its one-year commitment is up in August.
Meanwhile, a seven-member Burmese family arrived on July 22. They are Karens, members of a minority that has consistently been at odds with the repressive Burmese government. For 12 years this family — father, mother and three children, plus the mother’s mother and 17-year-old brother — has been living in a refugee camp just across the Burmese border in Thailand.
This will be the first time the Creston Refugee Committee has had to provide for two families at once. Needless to say, the arrival of the Burmese group will put a strain on the already hard-pressed 24-member committee.
It appreciates the support it gets in the form of donations from members of the community but its main source of revenue hitherto has come via Sunday brunches served at churches throughout the valley. They entail a lot of work and the opportunities are limited.
Consequently, the need for donations has become even more pressing — but Price is confident that our community will respond to the challenge.
Already, Pete Banman has offered a large house at a very reasonable rent. That, says Price, exemplifies the sort of generosity that is needed.
She notes that, since the committee operates under the auspices of Trinity United Church, tax-deductible receipts can be issued for donations of $20 or more if they are made at the church.
“These refugees have had to contend with more than their share of hardship,” she says. “Let’s make them feel welcome here and help them to become happy and productive Canadian citizens.”