Often news stories of horrific violence and war seem so far away, on the other side of the planet and in a whole different culture involving a set of circumstances that are frankly difficult for most Canadians to fathom and comprehend, unless they came from a similar circumstance themselves.
The violence and war in Syria, involving both a civil conflict and ISIS, the feared terrorist Islamic Nation group, has driven out huge numbers of that country’s residents, causing them to feel desperate enough to put their very lives at risk to make treacherous crossings of the Mediterranean and then trek across Europe in search of a new, safe place to live.
The visual images of thousands upon thousands of people streaming across such countries as Slovenia, Hungary and Germany have shown us so many people who left their lives and homes behind, most because their homes were destroyed and they have nothing left.
As Canadians, we cannot conceive of a circumstance that would be so dangerous and so bad that you as a family would be willing to completely uproot yourself and flee to another country hundreds and even thousands of miles away, where the culture and language is completely unknown to you.
Thus that horrific story from a distant land may well become very close and known to us, even here in Weyburn, as Canada is stepping up as a citizen of the world, and will try to take in some of the fleeing refugees.
Many larger communities have already begun welcoming families, but in order to handle the number of refugees Canada has pledged to take, smaller communities like Weyburn will have to step up as well, and the effort has begun with the Weyburn Syrian Refugee Committee.
There are many details that have to be worked out and t’s to be crossed before Weyburn can welcome a refugee family, but the effort has begun, and many individuals and organizations are pooling their resources to make it happen, with the goal to bring in two families to begin with.
There is much more work to be done, and once the committee is ready, there will come a point when donations will be needed, not to mention volunteers to help, such as to pick the family up at the airport, to show them around the community and help the family to integrate into a new culture and community. This will be Weyburn’s chance to shine and make a difference in a new way. — Greg Nikkel
