Fundraiser to help post-secondary student stay in Canada
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New Edinburgh News
Dec 11, 2020, 4:27:02 PM12/11/20
to New Ed Talk Listserv
Dear
neighbours,
It's
that time of year many of us are feeling generous.
I
wanted to share with you this fundraiser for
a mother in the National Capital Region who is raising money for her son's education so they can stay in Canada.
(For those not on FB, you can send donations to the fundraiser administrator, Portia, at portia...@gmail.com.
She will send you a receipt).
Details about the fundraiser follow:
The following is a letter to the community from Esther, who needs an emergency source of funding by the end of
the year in order to keep herself and her son Joseph in Canada. Give generously.
__
In order to stay in Canada, my son needs $7,000 dollars by the end of the year.
My name is Esther. I am a single mother here with my son Joseph. He is a student, suffering from trauma from war in the country we came from. His life has been a sad one, and full of suffering. Through many sacrifices and much hardship, I managed to bring him to Canada to save him from his mental and psychological distress. Joseph is currently attending a university program in the National Capital Region to become a social worker.
Asking for help takes courage and exposes your vulnerability. Especially asking for financial help. As a migrant, it also exposes you to immigration risks. But, I have no choice. As an international student, if he stops his studies for lack of money, he will lose his student status and be deported, and he will lose all the progress he has made here.
Most urgently, I need $10,000 to cover tuition for the upcoming semester or else he will face deportation. As an international student, he is not eligible for any social assistance. In total, I am requesting financial assistance of $30,542 for my son so that he can complete his social work program.
He still has four sessions of $6,958 each to complete his diploma (6,958 x 4 = $27,832) and his psychological and neurological treatment sessions ($2,710).
I gave up everything to come here and support, assist, and accompany him on his journey. I have been in Canada for 17 months with visitor status. I did everything I could to get a job offer in order to obtain a work permit, and to be able to work to support him, but to no avail.
I have used up my entire savings to pay for his tuition, rent and health care.
We’ve been able to somehow manage to meet living expenses (rent, food, personal needs, etc.) However, tuition fees are too high for us, that is why we are appealing to your generosity.
The two university sessions that he has already done have brought him a lot, his life has clearly improved. The program that he is taking aims to help vulnerable people, who have suffered or continue to suffer from trauma, physical or psychological violence, people who are struggling with drugs or alcohol.
The next semester begins in January 2021. That is, less than a month away, and we have no more money to face this new school year. I paid in September 2020 for the fall semester, I still haven't been able to raise the money for January 2021. It's too close.
Without medical care and with the terror of a deportation, he risks having a mental health crisis and ending up on the street.
Please do not let all our efforts and sacrifices to be in vain.
Thank you!
__
The last year has been a destabilizing and unfamiliar time. The anxieties and insecurities brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic have affected us all, but especially those with precarious status in the country, those living with the realities of anti-Blackness in Canadian society. Esther’s story exists in the context of Canadian universities charging exorbitant fees to international students, in order to make up for substantial underfunding from the government. Supporting Esther and her son is a way for us to challenge the forces that seek to make the lives of migrants always precarious, always fearful.
Donate to help a mother and son stay. Donate to support a family.
Donate to make the National Capital Region a stronger community.
Status for all.
__
In order to stay in Canada, my son needs $7,000 dollars by the end of the year.
My name is Esther. I am a single mother here with my son Joseph. He is a student, suffering from trauma from war in the country we came from. His life has been a sad one, and full of suffering. Through many sacrifices and much hardship, I managed to bring him to Canada to save him from his mental and psychological distress. Joseph is currently attending a university program in the National Capital Region to become a social worker.
Asking for help takes courage and exposes your vulnerability. Especially asking for financial help. As a migrant, it also exposes you to immigration risks. But, I have no choice. As an international student, if he stops his studies for lack of money, he will lose his student status and be deported, and he will lose all the progress he has made here.
Most urgently, I need $10,000 to cover tuition for the upcoming semester or else he will face deportation. As an international student, he is not eligible for any social assistance. In total, I am requesting financial assistance of $30,542 for my son so that he can complete his social work program.
He still has four sessions of $6,958 each to complete his diploma (6,958 x 4 = $27,832) and his psychological and neurological treatment sessions ($2,710).
I gave up everything to come here and support, assist, and accompany him on his journey. I have been in Canada for 17 months with visitor status. I did everything I could to get a job offer in order to obtain a work permit, and to be able to work to support him, but to no avail.
I have used up my entire savings to pay for his tuition, rent and health care.
We’ve been able to somehow manage to meet living expenses (rent, food, personal needs, etc.) However, tuition fees are too high for us, that is why we are appealing to your generosity.
The two university sessions that he has already done have brought him a lot, his life has clearly improved. The program that he is taking aims to help vulnerable people, who have suffered or continue to suffer from trauma, physical or psychological violence, people who are struggling with drugs or alcohol.
The next semester begins in January 2021. That is, less than a month away, and we have no more money to face this new school year. I paid in September 2020 for the fall semester, I still haven't been able to raise the money for January 2021. It's too close.
Without medical care and with the terror of a deportation, he risks having a mental health crisis and ending up on the street.
Please do not let all our efforts and sacrifices to be in vain.
Thank you!
__
The last year has been a destabilizing and unfamiliar time. The anxieties and insecurities brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic have affected us all, but especially those with precarious status in the country, those living with the realities of anti-Blackness in Canadian society. Esther’s story exists in the context of Canadian universities charging exorbitant fees to international students, in order to make up for substantial underfunding from the government. Supporting Esther and her son is a way for us to challenge the forces that seek to make the lives of migrants always precarious, always fearful.
Donate to help a mother and son stay. Donate to support a family.
Donate to make the National Capital Region a stronger community.
Status for all.
Christina Leadlay
Managing Editor,
New Edinburgh News
@newednews
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