Kingston writers’ group creates Go Fund Me page to help raise money for Syrian refugee family

A Kingston writers’ group has set up a Go Fund Me page for a Syrian refugee family that has been living in the city for the past year.

The Kingston Writers’ Refugee Committee raised the money to help Jamal Saeed and his family settle in Kingston in September 2016 with his wife and two sons. But that money’s running out and now the group is turning to the internet to try to help the family.

As a teenager, Saeed was arrested for handing out pro-democracy pamphlets. He spent 12 years in Syrian prisons, finally being released in the early 1990s.

“A lot of prisoners had to be tortured, to be beaten, three times a day. The jailers would lovingly say: this is your breakfast, this is your lunch, this is your dinner,” Saeed explained.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "A lot of prisoners had to be tortured, to be beaten, three times a day. The jailers would lovingly say: this is your breakfast, this is your lunch, this is your dinner," Saeed explained.

The author and artist managed to build a life for himself.  He got married and had two sons. But when the Syrian civil war broke out in 2011, everything changed, he says.

Saeed recalls the day he decided to flee his country.

“One day a big explosion happened and then our house moved, my older son when the house moved he came, try not to cry and said, ‘dad help us to go. It’s not good to continue our life here.'”

The Saeed family fled to Dubai. A few years later, they received an email from Ray Argyle from the Kingston Writers’ Refugee Committee asking them if they would like to come to Canada.  The committee was able to secure a grant from a literary foundation and committed to help support the Saeed family for a year.

The group provides the family with a monthly contribution to help cover the cost of rent, food and other essentials.  Saeed is looking for work and his wife, Rufaida, works part-time in a real estate office.  But the sponsorship funding is drying up.

Argyle created a go fund me page on Tuesday, to help raise $6,000 to help see the family through the rest of 2017.

“The Saeed family wishes to be one among us, another family, enjoying the life in this community and contributing,” said Arygle, who is the chair of the committee.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The Saeed family wishes to be one among us, another family, enjoying the life in this community and contributing," said Arygle, who is the chair of the committee.

In 24 hours, more than half of the goal had been raised.  Argyle is hopeful others will open up their hearts and wallets to help the new Kingstonians.

“I feel it’s the most worthwhile thing I’ve ever done. So I can only say, their presence among us has been a source of constant joy and pride.”