Here is the Go Fund Me link if you are ready to jump in and help: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-bring-the-al-taha-family-to-safety-in-canada
And here are more details on this beautiful story:
The kids in my Upstanders Academy are helping bring the Al Taha family to safety here in the Ottawa/Gatineau area. As is the case with all the awesome things we get up to, this story is a bit long and has so many amazing parts! I will try to be as short as possible in my storytelling …
In our April Break Online camp, we connected with a fantastic new friend, Amanda, who has helped settle 150 refugee families through a heartfelt, soulful, inspiring grassroots effort of volunteers. The kids got to interview Amanda and learn all about the why and how. You can watch the first clip from that amazing interview here.
During this conversation, Amanda told us about the family that she is currently working to bring here to safety – the Al Taha family. This family consists of a mom, three older children, and two boys – ages 12 and 10. They are originally from Syria, but have been living in Lebanon for many years, desperately waiting to find a new home where they can be safe, where the boys can attend school, where they can flourish. Through Amanda, the kids in my April Break Camp connected with these two boys – Mohammad and Hussein – over What’s App, sharing messages back and forth all week. And you will never believe this … but the first day that we sent them messages, we received a note back saying how happy they were to hear from us because it happened to be the two year anniversary of their father’s death. What?!!? What are the chances of that? What an amazing lesson for my campers about the power of kindness and the importance of letting people know they are loved and not alone. We learned that their father was electrocuted to death in the family’s make-shift home, in front of them … adding to the trauma that they have already experienced. Oh my heart.
Over the week long camp, we found out what the boys’ favourite song was. So my campers and I decided to do a dance video for them to this song. Then they sent us back a video of them singing along to the song too! It was so beautiful and magical.
We then came together again in July for a week long summer camp to learn more about Refugees. During this camp, the amazing Dylan Black joined us to interview the kids about everything they had learned. You can watch this short clip from this interview to see us all dancing to the song – to see how we share love with the boys through music and dancing.
The exciting news is that this amazing family has been approved to come to Canada! We are working with Amanda to get all the necessary pieces into place for their arrival. An apartment has been secured. We are now trying to get all the furniture and supplies they need, so that they can arrive to a full, happy, welcoming home. If you want to help, we would be super grateful for any donation you could make to the above Go Fund Me link. Let’s show our kids the power we have when we come together as a community to help others. Let’s show them what the world can look like when we choose to lead with love.