Belleville women fundraising to save Afghan family in danger

A group of six women in Belleville are working hard to help bring a family facing imminent danger over from Afghanistan.

Mary Miller and Sylvia Terpstra have known each other through the Canadian Federation of University Women, but now, their connection runs much deeper.

Back in December they caught wind of a family, three adult children along with their mother and father, who are facing serious danger in Afghanistan.

“This family in particular, they were very active in women’s rights, very publicly active for a long time and they made a huge difference in their community, but that’s not serving them well right now,” said Miller.

They are facing persecution for encouraging women to get an education and in professional endeavours. According to Terpstra and Miller the women in the family have been accosted and their house was even bombed.

Along with four women in Belleville, they formed the Afghan Family Fund to help raise money for the family to secure passports and safe passage to a better life in Toronto.

“The most important thing is to get them out of Afghanistan, and that is tricky, that’s very tricky, because they don’t want people leaving,” said Miller.

“We realize how good we have it in Canada and we think it’s our humanitarian duty to try and help if we can,” added Terpstra.

They are also calling on the federal government to accelerate the process of getting refugees out of Afghanistan.

The two women say donations can be made to the Afghan Refugee Sponsorship Fund through The County Foundation or via e-transfer to afghanfamilyfund@gmail.com