ECUMENICAL

Best Laid Family Planning Gone Awry Refugee Sponsorship and Support

London Interfaith Refugee Sponsorship Alliance.

The Ecumenical Refugee Sponsorship and Support Group in London consists of nine churches including: Christ Church, St. Alban's, St. George's, St. Jude's and St. Luke's Broughdale Anglican churches. Back in 2002 after much careful thought and planning,the Ecumenical Group sponsored a Kurdish family – a widow with eight children. Immigration agreed to support the family financially and the Ecumenical Group agreed to help them settle. When the group received word from Immigration that the family would be arriving in December that year, members of the group sprang into action to get ready for them – looking for housing, planning orientation meetings for them, etc. Un-beknownst to the folks at Immigration, the refugees had family in the St. Catharines area and only stayed in London three days before moving away to join their relatives. Although the support group members were happy for the family,they were also disappointed – they had been ready, organized and eager to help.

The Ecumenical Group met again in early 2003. This time the group members decided to make short-term, mid-term and long-term family plans. After much agonizing it was decided to sponsor the Nyanwi family from Burundi. Immigration would finance this sponsorship and told us this family of five girls and their parents were “travel ready” meaning we could expect the family to arrive within a few weeks and we happily anticipated their arrival.

Meanwhile the group had also been approached to facilitate a “family linked” sponsorship. A Sudanese family in London wanted to bring other family members here. The Lugella family of nine would require minimal support on our part since their family here would also help with their settlement and Immigration was again willing to finance the sponsorship so this family could be reunited. We could expect them in a few months and so the group did some mid-range planning for their arrival.

For the long-term the group decided to proceed with the private sponsorship of the Musamu family from the Democratic Republic of Congo. This was to be a family we would support financially and help with their settlement. We were told to expect the application/sponsorship process for this family of six would take 18-36 months. We were eager, started the paper work, watched as the financial support for them came in, waited anxiously to hear word on their application, and were ready to spring into action as soon as we heard they could come here.

We waited the few weeks for the Nyanwi family to arrive. The weeks turned into months and still they hadn’t arrived. We waited some more, and waited some more and we were getting worried. Finally we got the word, there had been a mix-up with their papers but they would arrive May 4, 2004. Again we sprang into action and were thrilled to meet them and started the serious work of finding housing, teaching them how to shop, use the bus, use the bank, arranging schooling for the girls and parents and all the other myriad things to help them settle.

We were just hitting our stride when we got word the Lugella family would arrive June 23, 2004. This wasn’t quite what we planned, to be responsible for two families, sixteen people, in seven weeks but we were excited to meet them and once again started looking for housing, helping them settle and planning for school in September. After much searching we found a townhouse for the Lugellas and they settled in and we were all looking forward to relaxing the rest of the summer.

That’s when we received word the Musamu family, who we were not expecting for at least another year, would be arriving August 11, 2004 – three families, 22 people, in fourteen weeks, not the family planning we envisioned but so wonderful! A flurry of phone calls and emails went out and we found and furnished an apartment for them and had it ready before their arrival. It was so moving to meet this family and help them get established here in London.

In February 2005, the members of the Ecumenical Group held a celebration – a time for all the people who had been actively and passively supporting the Nyanwi, Lugella and Musamu families, and for the members of these families, to get together. It was a great success as people mingled and exchanged stories

The Ecumenical Refugee Sponsorship and Support Group is now looking forward to the arrival in 2005 of two more government financed families from the Sudan and is planning for the private sponsorship in 2006 of a family in Columbia. Life is never dull – it is oh so rewarding! We would welcome any churches in London to join the Ecumenical Group and be a part of our family planning!

Katharine Timmins Huron Refugee Committee.