In acknowledgement of his Mennonite heritage, a son of Powell River is doing good by helping others flee oppression and find safety and security in Canada.
A family of four Eritreans are now Nanaimo residents thanks to the efforts of youth pastor Travis Barbour and his congregation at Nanaimo Neighbourhood Church.
Although Barbour left Powell River when he was six, he said he still considers it his hometown and credits the town with his life after it helped his Mennonite grandparents flee persecution from Ukraine and Russia.
Barbour said history and recent events in the news are what inspired him to want to help refugees.
“The idea was in response to the global refugee crisis hitting the news,” said Barbour, referencing the drowning of three-year-old Syrian refugee Alan Kurdi off the coast of Turkey. “My wife and I both had a reaction as we have a child around his age.”
Although the larger city of Nanaimo has more resources to help refugees, Barbour said Powell River is also suitable to accept and support refugee families.
“Powell River is a close-knit community,” he said. “If people work together they can provide everything a refugee family needs to survive.”
Newly arrived in Nanaimo on Monday, January 25, the Muslim family is composed of a grandmother, mother and two daughters aged six and three.
After fleeing political unrest in the East African country of Eritrea, the family stayed in a refugee settlement in Ethiopia for an unknown number of years, said Barbour. The location of the girls’ father is still unknown.
The family fled a country listed by the United Nations as being in gross violation of human rights, said Barbour, with mandatory military conscription for those between 18 and 45, danger of arbitrary detention in secret prisons and little freedom of the press.
“Although Syria is in the news now, the situation in Eritrea has been bleak for a long time,” said Barbour. “We haven’t talked with them too much about what they’ve escaped from.”
After forming a steering committee at his church in September, Barbour said the committee made contact with the family within a month and submitted the required paperwork to sponsor them privately, using the Mennonite Central Committee as the sponsorship-agreement holder.
Barbour said the committee raised just under $21,000 to bring the family over, which included income assistance, startup costs and airfare.
Now that his sponsored and much-awaited family have arrived in Nanaimo, Barbour said things have been busier than ever, particularly given the language barrier. The family speaks Afar rather than Tigrinya, the country’s predominant language.
Safe in their new home, Barbour said the family seems to be adjusting and are very keen on sharing the Eritrean coffee ceremony with their sponsors.
“It is really heartwarming,” said Barbour. “You feel a bond with people you can’t say much to, but there is a bond there, even without the words.”
