Newcomer children arriving in Winnipeg will now be welcomed with a special gift.
Welcome Place — Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Council, is giving children dolls and teddy bears dressed in clothing from each child’s culture.
Rita Chahal, the organization’s executive director says more than 100 children come through their doors each year.
“It’s really, we focused on being kind to one another and being kind to our children. So I hope this program will grow and we will be able to provide these dolls to other settlement agencies across the country,” she said.
On Monday, Zaburi Muremera’s five children all got their own present. The family was living in a refugee camp in Rwanda since the parents fled the Congo.
“It won’t make the kids feel lonely anymore so they will be happy,” Muremera said.
“Back home, we didn’t have peace and now we have peace.”
Muremera says she wants to become a health-care aid while her husband wants to become a truck driver while they raise their children in Canada.
This new program is called Touch of Kindness and the goal is for each newcomer child to get a package.
To do that, Chahal says they need donations.
Chahal says the welcome packages are being made by a charity in the United States called Don’t Cry… I’m Here.
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