IT TAKES A JOURNEY TO UGANDA
Fazila Mukidad’s life was forever changed by political unrest in Democratic Republic of Congo. By 2016, her parents and siblings had long ago fled the country in the midst of the violence, leaving Fazila behind to live with her grandmother. She later learned her father had died.
After her grandmother was killed, teenage Fazila made the treacherous journey on foot to seek asylum in Uganda.
“I fled with our neighbours. We left together in the middle of the night. I followed them because there was no way we could stay. The one person I had was dead, so I had no choice,” she says.
The neighbours believed Fazila’s uncle lived in a Ugandan refugee camp. They managed to track him down, and Fazila stayed with him before they got the opportunity to come to Canada through the Blended Visa Office-Referred (BVOR) Program in September 2019.
“In the resettlement camp, you hear people say, ‘there’s this process where you’re able to move to another country.’ What you know is that UNHCR is trying,” Fazila says.
Accueil Francophone, an organization in Winnipeg, sponsored Fazila, her uncle, and his family through BVOR. From the minute they arrived, Fazila was surrounded by a supportive community to help her find a footing in Canada.
“When we got to the airport, the whole community came to welcome us. You feel like you’re not alone. They were really helpful,” she says.
The sponsors arranged for Fazila to have a place to stay, and the very next day, began to show her how to navigate life in Canada. They took Fazila to open a bank account, and accompanied her to the grocery store and a nearby thrift store for warmer clothes.
“It was September, so it was a little bit cold,” she says.
Next, they helped Fazila register for English classes and later, enrolled her in adult high school so she could obtain her high school diploma and attend university to study nursing.
Accueil Francophone was “really helpful. We didn’t know anyone apart from them, so whatever questions we had, they were able to answer it,” Fazila says. “Another thing—they connected me to a therapist to talk about my past experiences. The lady was so good. We still talk sometimes.”
Years after the one-year sponsorship agreement with Accueil Francophone has ended, Fazila is proud to maintain a relationship with the people who supported her journey to Canada. She is grateful for the BVOR program, and hopes her story can inspire more people to help refugees.
“You can change somebody's life,” she says. “People are suffering, so it’s really good to see [sponsors] make a difference.”
Ready to become a refugee sponsor? Email ittakesalocal@refugee613.ca, and we’ll refer you to the experts to help you get started where you live.
