‘Share what we have’
Local parish members have provided fresh start to many refugees
Catherine Mullally lives a blessed life.
She does not, however, take her good fortune for granted.
She has long felt compelled to help others living in far less comfortable circumstances.
And she has had plenty of compassionate company along the way.
Mullally, a Charlottetown resident who teaches English composition at UPEI, has been a member of the St. Pius X refugee committee since it was struck in 2000.
She is one of about a dozen people who have been involved for the past 20 years.
“I think that is part of our duty as Christians,’’ she says.
“I think it’s kind of the least we can do out of our good fortune is to see if we can share it with others.’’
Share it, they have.
The committee has helped bring almost 50 refugees to Prince Edward Island over the past two decades.
On Sunday, June 23, parishioners of St. Pius X parish in Charlottetown held a potluck brunch to honour the families the parish has sponsored and to give a hearty tip of the hat to the many volunteers who helped the families settle here.
Mullally says the parishioners spoke about how much they had gained from the experience and celebrated all the good the refugees had brought to Canada.
“They teach us about the life of people in other parts of the world,’’ she says.
“They give us a mirror on our own blessings.’’
Mullally marvels at the resiliency of refugees in overcoming grave hardship.
In 2002, for instance, Momo Kanneh, a Liberian journalist, fled his country and was helped to come to Charlottetown by a group of Canadian journalists.
Sadly, he had left behind his son and a group of eight nephews and nieces whose parents had been killed and who had been on the run for several years. They refugees ranged in age from five to 19.
As a single person, Kanneh was not eligible to sponsor so many, so he sought out partners.
Grant Curtis of the Christian Life Committee and the St. Pius X parish agreed to help.
Mullally recalls the committee bringing 12 of Kanneh’s relatives to P.E.I. over the next few years.
“The federal government supported them financially for two years and our committee contributed time and energy; we drove them to their appointments, helped them to furnish their apartments and generally settle in,’’ she says.
“We helped them get organized for school and get involved in sports.’’
Parishioners like Al and Lynne MacDonald spent countless hours tutoring the refugees in English and helping them with their studies.
Mullally is heartened by how the refugees have adapted, settled and succeeded, coming from such harsh situations.
Her parish sponsored a Columbian mother and her 10 children to come settle in P.E.I. They have been making the most of their considerable hand up.
“With the Columbian family, it’s a big family, and it’s wonderful to see their kids graduating with honours from Colonel Gray (high school),’’ she says.
“It’s amazing. You see how they deal with poverty. Their optimism – they’ve gotten this far, which, of course, is a miracle. They are quite a tribute. And they are bright…they’re bright as buttons, those kids.
I think they will contribute quite a deal to our country.’’
The St. Pius X refugee committee has great cause to be proud of all the new starts in life they have provided to refugees.
The need for help, though, remains immense.
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees estimates there are about 68 million refugees in the world with only seven per cent settled.
“It’s so important for us to share what we have,’’ says Mullally.
“Our ancestors were refugees. My ancestors were Irish. They came across in very difficult conditions and this land welcomed them.’’
Prae Reh,19, and his sister Sai Meh, 22, are grateful for being given a fresh start.
Meh spent 17 years in a refugee camp in Thailand. Prae was born in the camp.
Life in the camp, says Meh, was harsh.
She lived with her brother, her parents and her grandparents in a small hut.
Meat was a luxury they seldom enjoyed.
“If you don’t have money, you just ate rice,’’ she says.
Meh dreamed of a better life in a better place.
P.E.I. has provided that since she and her brother arrived here with their parents in 2015.
Meh, who works in a Thai food truck, says “so many things’’ are better now than the tumultuous life in a refugee camp.
She says her parents, who worked on a farm in Thailand, love going to college to learn English.
She and her brother both plan to stay in Canada, but are not sure if that will be on P.E.I.
Still, Meh and Reh are grateful for the remarkable help many Islanders have provided in assisting them in settling in the province.
“I want to say thank you to everyone,’’ says Reh.