Trick or Treat

It's a strange world we live in.  Here in North America, we have the privilege of celebrating a holiday dedicated to all thinks "Spooky". We delight in, and pay good money for the chance of having the crap "safely" scared out out us.  Meanwhile, elsewhere, the horror is all too real, and it's relentless.
This week, I want to share something that one of our PEERS group core members, Carrie Klassen, wrote.  

"We just picked up our Halloween candy for tomorrow night, and as I set it on the counter, the bag of Tootsie Rolls took me right to a small village in India. I'd had a long but uneventful flight. I'd been worried I wouldn't find my ride to the place I was staying, but I did. I was a healthy woman with money in my pocket and contacts who could help me. But I arrived in my room and was afraid to leave for 24 hours (probably more, and even then, struggled). Everything was different. The smells, the sounds, the firecrackers, the cows poking their heads in my window. I was overwhelmed. I didn't know how to function outside of that room, yet. So I stayed there and ate only the candy I had brought from home to give to children. The thought of venturing out, navigating, trying to figure out how to get myself food when I couldn't speak a word and didn't know the customs... I wasn't capable of it yet. That so simple thing was too much. And so, looking at my Tootsie Rolls, I am thinking of the refugees all over the world who are arriving at new places but won't feel safe for some time. I had every advantage. I hadn't lived in a camp first, or lost family, or been exposed to war or violence or risk, and I couldn't figure out how to feed myself. I am saying a prayer that their extraordinary courage sustains them through the hard transitions to new lives. And that someone is able to guess at whatever their version of Tootsie Rolls is, and can give them some familiar comfort at the places they arrive."

Our new government appears to be sticking to it's promise to bring 25 000 refugees to Canada before years end and it seems more and more likely that our Syrian family might arrive in just a few short months. If all goes well we'll be matched with our SAH* in the next week or so, and to a family shortly after.  To think, when we started this process two months ago, we thought we might have to wait up to 4 years to be matched!  

With our fundraising well in hand, we will soon start reaching out to our community with other ways that they can help us.  Hopefully, as Carrie mentioned, we will be able to give them the comfort and support they so badly need.

*Sponsorship Agreement Holder