We need your help reuniting a family, torn apart by war in Syria

~ an appeal by Sarah Cummings Truszkowski, email: sarahtruszkowski77@gmail.com (and her family) in Regina, SK

For the last two years, our family has been working to raise money – a whopping $65,000 – to co-sponsor a Syrian refugee family of 12 to Regina, Saskatchewan.   

In 2018, the Rajab family arrived in Regina as refugees.   We met the Rajabs through the Regina Open Door Society (RODS) soon after their arrival and the families have become close. The parents, Mohamad and Amal, have been going to school nearly full-time through RODS for the last few years.  Amal has completed her English language learning and has applied to become a Canadian citizen!  Mohamad is just a few months behind her. He has also been volunteering at a community garden in Regina.

Mohamad Rajab has asked us for help to bring his late brother’s widow, Souaad Mahli, and her seven children, daughter-in-law and three granddaughters living in Lebanon as refugees, to Regina (that’s a family of 12!).

Nadem Rajab and his son were killed when their home was bombed in Syria. His wife, Souaad Mahli, and seven of their children survived and they are now refugees living a very difficult life in Lebanon.  We are raising money to sponsor Souaad and her family to give them a new life in Canada. 

This family has suffered immeasurable loss.  Bombs and gunfire have taken brothers, sisters, children and parents. While Souaad and her family have escaped the ravages of war in Syria, their situation in Lebanon is far from perfect. Syrian refugees are treated badly in Lebanon, and life is very hard. Many Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon are being burned.

We are working with the Knox-Met United Church in Regina.   Any donation over $15 will be issued a charitable tax receipt. Cheques can be made out to: KnoxMetropolitan United Church, 2340 Victoria Avenue, Regina, Saskatchewan, S4P 0S6. Or you can send an eTransfer to treasurer@knoxmetregina.org. Please add a note that the funds are a donation to the Souaad Mahli refugee project.

We need this money, to show that we can pay for their first year in Canada, in order for the Canadian Government to allow our sponsorship to take place.     

The sponsorship package has been completed, and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has approved the application and forwarded it to the overseas visa office! As of December, 2022 we have raised over $26,000 and are seeking new opportunities, partnerships and donations to raise more funds.

Presently, we are around $26,000 raised and still going!   To start, we set up a Go Fund Me to make online donations easier for everyone. Here is the Go Fund Me: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-unite-a-syrian-refugee-family We have shared this with all our contacts, and the Go Fund Me has brought in around $11,000 so far.

We have also contacted churches in Regina, friends, and family – some of whom made direct donations to our cause – as well as held a Syrian Fundraiser Dinner at Bushwakkers Brewpub. We were also generously given tickets to a Bryan Adams concert, and raffled them off making a fair bit from that!  And, finally, our most recent fundraiser was selling Peace T-shirts (Canadian made T-shirts and printed locally by Articulate Ink in Regina).  

Slowly but surely we continue our work to get us to the large amount needed.

We welcome your support and ideas about raising the rest of the money.

Thank you.

The Souaad Mahli Fundraising Committee