Regional Connections Immigrant Services marked World Refugee Day Saturday with a celebration in Bethel Heritage Park that brought together newcomers from around the world.
The afternoon featured music, face painting, yard games, food, and stories, with several people stepping up to the mic to speak about their journey to Canada.
Nisha Hayles shared how she came here from Jamaica to start a new life.
“I was given the chance to start again,” she said, noting, however, that her two sons were not able to come with her initially. “For nine long years I lived with the reality of being separated from my children.
“As a mother, there is no greater pain than being separated from your children. But there is also no greater strength than a mother’s determination to create a better future for them. That determination carried me through every challenge, it carried me through the refugee process, through the waiting, through the uncertainty, and through the years of longing.”
Her reunion with her children was a joyful one, and Hayles is grateful to everyone who provided her with the support to make it possible.
“Today, our family is together. We continue to build new memories, strengthen our bonds, and look towards the future with respect to our hope,” Hayles said.
Also sharing his story was Aqylbek Muratbai, who arrived in Canada seven months ago as a political refugee from Karakalpakstan.
“For me, this isn’t just an international date on the calendar. It’s a very personal day,” he said. “It’s a day to remember people who were forced to leave their homes, their families, their communities and the life they had built simply because they wanted to live in safety and dignity.”
Fleeing political persecution and imprisonment back home, Muratbai found safe haven in Canada.
“Many countries were reducing support, closing programs, or making protection harder to receive,” he recalled. “But Canada gave me a helping hand, and I will never forget that.
“Canada didn’t just save my freedom. Canada saved my life.”
Muratbai has been humbled by the kindness he has received since coming to live in the Pembina Valley.
“I can honestly say that I have never in my life received so much support from so many people at the same time,” he said. “Again and again I meet people who are ready to help.
“I have never seen such a close and caring community,” Muratbai continued, listing the many organizations and programs eager to help newcomers find their footing in Canada. “Everywhere I see people helping each other. For me, this is the real strength of Canada.
“Canada gives protection to people escaping persecution, war, violence, hunger, and disasters. But refugees don’t come only with pain and fear, we also come with hope, skills, dreams and a strong desire to contribute. A refugee is not only a person who lost a home, a refugee is also a person who wants to build a new one. And when a community opens its doors, a new beginning becomes possible.
“That’s what Winkler has given me. That’s what Canada has given me.”
