SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
It's still not known exactly when a family of Syrian refugees is coming to Yellowknife but fundraising is going ahead with a benefit concert held on Tuesday.

Sarwat Awan, left Jennifer Drouin, Hunaifa Malik and Gabriela Wasicuna were spring cleaning on Phinney Court back on May 8. The group, organized by Malik, cleaned up two areas of the city which raised $1,000 for a Syrian refugee family that will be coming to Yellowknife. The latest Syrian fundraiser in the city takes place at NACC on Tuesday night. - photo courtesy of Nazim Awan

The show, taking place at the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre, will feature live music, dancing, shadow puppetry, story telling and poetry, according to fundraising co-ordinator Suzette Montreuil.

"The Yellowknife artistic and musical community has really come together in benefit of this concert. It's going to be a great show" Montreuil said. "Part of the show tells the story of the struggle of the refugees but also the part of them coming and finding a home. It's in support of a really good cause."

Montreuil said that for the Syrian sponsors in Yellowknife, it can be frustrating not knowing when the families will actually arrive but she added that it is likely even more frustrating for the Syrian families. She said it's important that fundraising continue so that the city is absolutely ready for them when they do arrive.

"The fundraising that we're doing is to help make their transition into Yellowknife easier," Montreuil said. "When they come here they will get an orientation. We understand about the cold weather and we will help them accommodate to that. We have people from around the world here - the Philippines, Somalia, Nigeria - many countries that are very hot and they find a way to accommodate here."

Montreuil said the federal government has slowed down its process of bringing Syrian refugees to Canada because it has already met its

initial goal of bringing 25,000 of them here.

The concert at NACC will aid four Yellowknife groups aiming to bring one Syrian family each to Yellowknife. Two of the groups are made up of private residents while the other two are from the Calvary United Church and the Anglican Trinity Church.

Lindsay Armer is a member of sponsorship group Yellowknife Welcomes Refugees Number One. She is getting regular updates from Citizenship and Immigration Canada but said officials have yet to provide a date when the family will be arriving.

"The family is in a refugee camp in Beirut, Lebanon where they have been for the past four years," Armer said. "We are getting a little impatient because we want to meet them and get them out of the refugee camp."

Armer said the group's paperwork was forwarded to Citizenship and Immigration back in January. She told Yellowknifer in April that she hoped the family would be here by the end of May.

She said yesterday that she's simply not sure if it will happen before the end of the month.

"Calvary and ourselves are pretty much at the same stage. We've been assigned families and we're just waiting for those families to come," Armer said. "The other two groups have submitted their paperwork, however they've not been assigned families."

As Yellowknifer had confirmed in a story back in February, it is a family of six that is expected to eventually arrive in the city including a mother and father as well as four brothers aged seven, nine, 10 and 13. The children are expected to attend Range Lake North School once they get here, although Armer said that has yet to be confirmed. She said the family's privacy and confidentiality is of the utmost importance to her and the sponsorship group.

Volunteers have set a goal of raising $20,000 per refugee family but did not share how much has been raised to date.

Tuesday's show begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 and $18 for students and seniors and can be purchased online at www.naccnt.ca.

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