Success Stories - A real Canadian Christmas: Langley school district helps refugee kids adjust

January 2010

Colour Photo: Ric Ernst, The Province
Mother Nwel Nwel and her daughters Hser Tha,
nine months, and Sha Koh Wah, 12,
are among the Karen families the
Langley Christmas Bureau helps.

Early in the morning, a 13-year-old child in a village in eastern Burma heard a pack of dogs barking. Her parents quickly gathered her sisters and brothers, and the family of 10 ran as government troops stormed their village, shooting machine guns and burning huts. The family hid by a river in the jungle, watching smoke rise above the trees. When day turned to night they ran through the jungle and crossed a river into neighbouring Thailand, where they lived in a refugee camp. That was 1992.

The child, Zipporah Min, of the ethnic group called Karen, says leaders of the ruling military junta had pledged “the only place you will find a Karen is in a museum.”

In 2006, Zipporah Min became one of the first 350 Karen to settle as a refugee in Langley. Now she works with the Langley school district, helping young Karen adapt to life in B.C.

Two of the parents she has been helping, Ali Shar, 43, and his wife Nwel Nwel, 36, came to Langley in 2007. Ali Shar says they rejoiced at leaving their bamboo hut in a Thai refugee camp.

When he heard the Canadian government had accepted his family, Ali Shar remembers thinking: “If we go to Canada we will be free to go where we want to go. The children will have a future.”

When the family arrived in Langley and saw the snow-capped mountains bordering the fertile valley, he thought: “I’ve never dreamed of a place like this.”

Lisa Sadler is a settlement worker for the school district, and says the Langley Christmas Bureau – and hockey – support the families and help Karen youth fit in.

Last year the bureau gave Karen children hockey sticks and equipment. The younger children play road hockey, and about 40 of the teens are involved in a hockey program with former Canucks great Trevor Linden.

“They feel like they are Canadian now,” Zipporah Min says. “It’s a very big experience for them [since they’ve] never seen ice before.”

“The Langley community has really gathered around [the Karen],” Sadler says. “And hockey really helps them integrate. It helps them meet Canadian kids.”

Sadler says her work with the Karen underlines the value of Canadian citizenship.

“As I hear the families’ stories it breaks my heart,” she says. “I feel so fortunate to have grown up in Canada safe, with a roof over my head.”

–Last year, Province readers raised $335,000 for the Empty Stocking Fund, now in its 91^st year. The money is in turn given to 27 community groups that provide food, shelter and gifts to thousands in need. The funds are administered through partner United Way; and The Province covers all administrative costs for the campaign.

Source: Sam Cooper
The Province

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