Family out of Sierra Leone, seeks refugee status
Jorge Barrera
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Nov 17/00) - It's Tuesday evening and Foday Dumbuya is getting ready to go to work - to his second job.
He's working two jobs to support his extended family that's preparing to make the long trip from Ghana to Canada. They escaped war-torn Sierra Leone three weeks ago with the help of the YWCA and Yellowknife donations.
"My mother is anxious to come, everyone is anxious to come," said Dumbuya.
He originally planned to have his eight family members stay at his modest Frame Lake home but thought it better that they had their own apartment and the biggest chunk of money he makes at his second job is going toward paying their rent.
"They need space to heal," said Sandra, Foday Dumbuya's wife. "They've seen so much, they need space to deal with the after affects of war.
It has been a long haul for Foday Dumbuya to get his family out of Sierra Leone. He spoke to his mother for the first time in two years this August.
He has been trying to get his family out of the war zone for a year and last summer resorted to a door to door campaign to raise the money to get them out. Now that money is being used to pay for airfare and food for his family who are staying at a church-run hostel in Accra, Ghana.
According to Don Babey, representative with the YWCA in Yellowknife, the Dumbuya family has applied for refugee status in Accra and are now waiting for a reply.
"We're getting everything out there ready," said Babey. "They have their exit requirements (medical, criminal background checks) and their passports."
Dumbuya's family falls under a pilot project run by Immigration Canada that deals specifically with refugees from Sierra Leone. Under the Blended Sponsorship Pilot Project, the department is allowing 250 Sierra Leone refugees into Canada on top of the 7,300 the government is sponsoring. The project is a partnership between private and federal sponsors who split the cost of resettlement.
"We're just extending a helping hand to these refugees," said Danielle Sarazin, spokesperson for Immigration Canada. Under the project the refugees are fast-tracked through the system to ease transition.
Until they arrive, Dumbuya is going to keep his two jobs; it's the least he can do for his family who he hasn't seen for years.
"It's about survival," he said.
