Everyone Needs Someone to Believe in Them, Says (and Sings) Fred Penner

Fred Penner, World Vision President Michael Messenger,
Edgar Gonzales. (World Vision photo.)

Everyone needs someone to believe in them—that’s the new message from Winnipeg-based musician and children’s entertainer Fred Penner

Penner’s new single, “Somebody Believes,” was launched this week as part of International Development Week, February 3-9, a time when the relief and development sector celebrates how Canadians help people around the world escape poverty.

Penner, 72, wrote the song three years ago after hearing the story of Edgar Rodriguez, who had been sponsored as a child by World Vision.

“Today he’s a very successful man,” says Penner, who travelled to Zambia with World Vision 16 years ago.

“He became an accountant, married, is raising a family. And he attributes all of that to the World Vision experience.”

During his speech, Rodriguez used the phrase “somebody believed in me,” Penner says.

“I’m always on the lookout for a good phrase or line that could perhaps become a song,” he says. “That just struck a chord with me, literally and figuratively.”

Penner went back to his hotel room and, after an hour, wrote the song.

He played it occasionally at concerts, but “it never really had a life. It felt like it needed to go somewhere because the concept is so very important.”

That “somewhere” was World Vision.

“I thought, because this song came from a World Vision experience, that's where it needs to be rejuvenated,” Penner says.

He contacted World Vision, and the new music video is the result.

Recorded in Winnipeg at the Signpost Music, the song features local musicians such as the Bros. Landreth and Alexa Dirks (also known as Begonia).

The video features images of children helped by sponsorship through World Vision.

For Penner, “it's a pretty powerful and timely perspective” in the world today, where so many people feel powerless and anxious.

“If we don't give that kind of support to each other, and really act upon it, then what's the point of this journey?”

He hopes the song, which is for both children and adults, will inspired people to “pay it forward” to others. 

“Do something, even if you're small,” he says, noting that for the price of a cup of coffee people in Canada can help kids in a county like Zambia pay school fees so they can get an education.

“We have no real understanding of how much we really have, and how we can use our resources to make a difference in people's lives.”

As for Penner himself, the song is his own way to pay it forward.

“It’s a little overwhelming to me to know that I have been blessed with this kind of career, and such an enviable life,” he says.

Music is also an extension of his spirituality, and his Mennonite background.

“The spirituality that I was raised with was very strong,” he says of growing up and going to church in the Winkler area.

“I don’t know what I would have done if I had not had music and had that spirituality to hold me.”

As for how his spirituality impacts his life today, “I have a responsibility for other people in this world,” he says. “I am my brother's keeper.”

Of his music, he says “much of what I’m doing is not coming from me. There is a higher power, I am a vessel. The inspiration comes, and I’m prepared to offer it to the world in as many ways as I possibly can.”

His latest offering is his new song, “Somebody Believes.”

“Edgar was able to rise above poverty and injustice,” he says. “All it took was for someone to care, for someone to believe in him.”

When he ponders his legacy, Penner says he hopes he can look back and say he shared the message “we really can do better at being good people in this world, in understanding each other and accepting each other, and being more tolerant and giving to each other.”

That, and the importance of believing in others and what they can do and be, in Canada and around the world.

“Never underestimate your ability to make a difference in the life of another person,” he says. 

From the Feb. 9, 2019 Winnipeg Free Press.

Global Day of Prayer to End Famine

“Thank-you for not forgetting us.”

If there’s one thing I hear most often when travelling in the developing world, that’s it.

It’s said after I ask people who have received donated food, or other assistance, what they would say to Canadians who made that help possible.

Of course, they are grateful to have something to eat. But their comment goes deeper. They are glad to know someone far away cared enough to stop what they were doing, even for just a few minutes, to think about those who are hungry.

Tomorrow, June 10, Christians in Canada have an opportunity to join Christians around the world in remembering people in Africa who are facing food shortages. That’s when they are invited to be part of the second annual Global Day of Prayer to End Famine.

The invitation comes from the All Africa Council of Churches, a fellowship of Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox and Indigenous churches in Africa with a membership over 120 million Christians across the continent.

In a letter from the Council, issued with support from the World Evangelical Alliance and the World Council of Churches, Christians from outside of Africa are being asked to pray, reflect and act to raise awareness of the food needs facing millions of people in places like South Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria and Yemen.  

In the letter, the Council notes that, after years of progress towards ending world hunger, “the numbers of hungry people globally have started to climb—a startling reversal less than three years after global leaders collectively agreed that achieving the ambitions of the Sustainable Development Goals demanded that no-one be left behind.”

One of the main reasons for the rise in numbers is conflict, which is “making millions of our sisters and brothers hungry, homeless and vulnerable,” they state, adding that children and women are often the most affected.

And yet, the Council notes, while the world has “more than enough resources and food for all . . . less than 50 percent of needed resources to address these challenges are being collected.”

For these reason, they ask Christians around the world to stand in solidarity with Christians in Africa “to support them to realize a future free of extreme poverty, hunger, and violence.”

To date, 135 churches, denominations, church-based NGOs and other organizations around the world have signed on to signal their willingness to invite their members and supporters to pray, remember them, and perhaps donate to help those who are facing hunger. This includes some churches and organizations in Manitoba.

But what to pray? That’s always a challenge. It’s hard to know what to say. Sometimes our prayers can feel hopelessly inadequate when faced with such overwhelming needs.

To help, The Global Day of Prayer website offers links to prayers and other resources, such as the prayer below from Canada.

Loving God,
we bring before You the people of Africa who are currently experiencing famine and personal hardship.
We do not know them personally,
but we share a common bond as human beings, created in Your image.
Our hearts go out to them,
as many find themselves in desperate circumstances—
without food, without shelter, without hope.
There seems to be so little that we can do for them.
The pictures on the news are difficult to watch,
and we’d often rather look away.
But you have called us to be your hands and feet in our world;
to speak and act for those who cannot speak and act for themselves.
So we pray that Your Holy Spirit would prompt us to action.
Give us generous hearts,
to share freely with those who have nothing.
Give us courage to speak on their behalf
to those who are shaping our country’s response.
Give us perseverance,
to continue to pray fervently for their welfare.
Grant us Your mercy, God,
as we seek to live out our calling as Your disciples.
We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

  

It’s a great prayer for the Global Day of Prayer to End Famine, or for any day when people want to remember those who don’t have enough to eat.

I know they will appreciate being remembered. 

For more information, visit www.praytoendfamine.org

From the June 9, 2018 Winnipeg Free Press.

Aid Groups Need to Pay More Attention to Religion: Duncan Green

"We never talk about religion in the aid business . . . ‘why not?’”

In the world of international relief and development, Duncan Green is a rock star.

Author of the acclaimed book How Change Happens, Green has been Head of Research for Oxfam in Great Britain since 2004.

It’s a job that enables the highly-respected former aid worker and journalist to travel the world researching, writing and speaking about the best ways to alleviate poverty and combat injustice.

His popular blog, from Poverty to Power, is a must-read for people who work in the relief and development industry.

So when Green—who describes himself as an atheist—says that aid groups, and the governments that support them, need to pay more attention to the role of religion in eradicating global poverty, people take notice.

Religion, he says, “is central to the lives of poor people in a way that governments, aid and NGOs are not. All the research shows that poor people trust religious organizations, turn to them in times of need.”

Research on how poor people see their lives, he adds, “shows absolutely, without a doubt, that the institutions they most relate to . . . are faith organizations.”

When Green was in Winnipeg last fall to launch his new book, I had a brief chance to talk to him. Since our time together was short, we continued via e-mail.

During our exchanges, he noted that one of the first places people often turn to for help during a disaster are “their churches and mosques.”

He shared an example from Indonesia, after an earthquake in 2006.

In one village, Oxfam aid workers asked residents what they most needed to start the rebuilding process. Their answer? A new mosque, to replace the one destroyed by the earthquake.

This wasn’t what the aid workers expected. But they did it—and it made a big difference.

“The community in question was one of the success stories,” he says, noting it rapidly recovered from “both in terms of rebuilding its infrastructure, but also social cohesion and healing after the psychological trauma of the earthquake.”

Religion is also important when it comes to development—something aid groups spend a lot of time thinking about.

What are the best ways to help people change the structures and systems that oppress or prevent them from reaching their potential?

"As we think harder about how change happens, religion keeps cropping up,” Green says.

For him, this includes how religion influences social norms around things like the role of women. 

“Through worship and education they [faith groups] already play a major role in shaping and reshaping norms,” he says.

It is easier for faith groups, which are already respected by poor people, to change behaviours of their adherents than it would be for “secular aid agencies.”

Religion is also important in fragile and dysfunctional states, where government services are absent.

In these situations, “the role of non-state actors such as faith organizations becomes relatively more important in running society,” he says.

Faith groups, he adds, “are more likely to be in the really remote bits of those places, where the state barely penetrates.”

Of course, it’s not all good news; religion can have both a positive and negative impact on aid and development, he says.

Despite that, “if we [aid groups] are serious about development, we need to understand much more about the diversity, divisions and debates within each church on things like women’s roles.”

This is true, he says, “even if, like me, you are a devout atheist.”

But if religion is so important in development, why does it get so little attention in the international aid community?

“The aid system has a secular way of working,” he says, explaining that it has “an enlightenment, secular, rational worldview.”

As a result, the secular presuppositions they operate under can make “automatically alien to the majority of the people we claim to be working for and with,” he says. “There’s a profound contradiction in the secularism that is so deeply rooted in the aid business.”

The way aid groups ignore the role religion plays in the lives of the majority of the world’s poor “has always struck me as profoundly odd,” he says.

"We never talk about it [religion] in the aid business. The question I have is, ‘why not?’”

It would be interesting to hear the answer.  

From the Feb. 3, 2018 Winnipeg Free Press. Photo Credit: Xavier Cervera.

Islamic Relief Enables Canadian Muslims to Help Locally and Globally

Organization one of the fastest-growing NGOs in Canada today

Mennonites can help the world’s needy through Mennonite Central Committee. Lutherans in the can respond through Canadian Lutheran World Relief. 

Baptists, Presbyterians, Christian Reformed, Catholics and other groups have their own relief and development arms.

Canadian Muslims can also extend a hand to the world’s poor through their own agency—Islamic Relief Canada.

Founded in 1984 in Great Britain in response to the famine in Ethiopia, today Islamic Relief has chapters in a number of countries, and provides assistance in 40 developing nations around the world.

The Canadian chapter was founded in 2007. In 2009, it received $1.2 million in donations. Last year the figure was over $28 million, making it one of the fastest-growing international relief and development groups in the country.

A lot of the money it receives comes during Ramadan, which took place this year from May 26 to June 24. In addition to fasting and prayer, it’s a time when Muslims especially remember those who are hungry and needy.

“We get half of our annual income that month,” says Reyhana Patel, who heads up media and external relations for Islamic Relief.

For Muslims, one of the five pillars of their faith is the zakat, or the obligatory sharing with the needy. 

Most Muslims tend to give it during the month of Ramadan, since they believe giving during that holy month provides the giver with a double reward.

In addition to giving their zakat, Muslims also give another special donation in Ramadan during an iftar, the meal that breaks their daily fast.

The ancient formula for how much to give was two kilograms of either flour, wheat, barley or rice for each person in the household. In Canada today, Muslims typically make a gift of about $10 per person for everyone at the meal.

Some of that money is donated to Islamic Relief through what it calls Share Your Blessing. 

Through it, Canadian Muslims are invited to sign up to host an iftar with their family and friends, using the occasion to break the daily fast and raise money to help needy people around the world.

Islamic Relief provides a package of materials for each host to share with guests about its work, along with pledge forms so people can make donations. Last year, one iftar in Canada raised $90,000 for the charity.

Once misconception about the organization, Patel says, is where the money goes.

“Although most of our programs are in Muslim countries, our assistance is available to all, not just to Muslims,” she says, noting that the organization provided help after the Haiti earthquake, the typhoon in the Philippines and for people affected by the Fort McMurray wildfires. It also funds a program in Toronto for disadvantaged youth.

“We don’t only help Muslims,” she adds. “We give to whoever is in need, just like other NGOs.”

As well, she notes, “anyone can donate to Islamic Relief, not just Muslims.” All donations are tax deductible.

Current appeals include for the famine in Africa and Yemen, as well as for victims of inter-communal violence in Myanmar and refugees from the fighting in Syria.

Ongoing programs include orphan sponsorship, and health, education, medical and water projects.

In addition to donations, the organization also gets grants from the Canadian government for its work overseas. It is also part of the Humanitarian Coalition, which brings together Canada’s major relief agencies to respond to emergencies in the developing world.

For Idris Elbakri, past president of the Manitoba Islamic Association, supporting Islamic Relief is a good way for Muslims to help those in need.

“Through it Muslims in Canada can realize their obligation to help others both locally and globally,” he says.

Beyond the good work that Islamic Relief is doing around the world, it also means a lot to the Muslim community in Canada.

“The respect and recognition it gets from other NGOs, and the Canadian government, shows how Canadian Muslims are in the mainstream of Canadian values,” he says.

From the June 17 Winnipeg Free Press.

Millions Face Starvation, But Does Anyone Give a Shit?

African Christians call for day of prayer to end famine May 21 

“I have three things I’d like to say today,” said American author Tony Campolo to a crowd at the 1982 interdenominational Spring Harvest church conference in England.

“First, while you were sleeping last night, 45,000 kids died of starvation or diseases related to malnutrition.

“Second, most of you don’t give a shit.

“Third, what’s worse is that you’re more upset with the fact I said ‘shit’ than the fact that 45,000 kids died last night.”

Campolo’s words—for which he became infamous—come back to me as I think about the terrible food crisis in South Sudan, Somalia, Yemen and parts of Kenya and Nigeria.

An estimated 20 million people face starvation in those countries, the largest humanitarian crisis since 1945 according to the UN.

And it’s not as if this came out of nowhere; the disaster has been forecast for many months. And yet, for the longest time, it seemed as though the world—to use Campolo’s words—didn’t give a shit.

Except for a bit of media coverage here and there, there was virtually nothing about it in the media. 

There are several reasons for this—it’s hard for the media to get into the worst-affected regions, and they don’t have the resources they used to.

Then there’s the Trump effect; the new President, and his unpredictable ways, has sucked up much of the media oxygen.

Added to this is the general fatigue everyone feels over the extended Syria crisis; will it never end?

Two groups that are trying to break the silence are the All Africa Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches. The two groups have issued a call for a Global Day of Prayer to End Famine on Sunday, May 21.

Noting that “more people face famine today than any time in modern history,” the groups are calling for prayer for an end to the hunger, and to the conflict that is causing so much of the need.

“Churches have a prophetic role in calling to mobilize their members, the wider society, and governments, and making a difference during this unprecedented period of suffering,” they state, adding that “food is more than a human right; it is a divine gift that cannot be impeded.”

Since that is the Sunday of the May long weekend in Canada, it’s possibly the worst time for a day of prayer in this country—attendance at worship services will be lower than usual. But people can still pray at the cottage, the lake or the beach.

Of course, it’s not just Christians who can pray; anyone, of any faith, can do so. When it comes to asking God to help end the suffering, we’re all in this together.

But what to pray? The Global Day of Prayer website has some resources on its website, as does Canadian Foodgrains Bank.

But if you want a simple one you can use, good for anyone of any religion, here’s a prayer from the aid group Christian Aid:

God of all grace, hold all those who are hungry in your infinite love.
Be with those for whom the earth’s resources have run dry;
Be with those who must walk for miles to find their daily bread;
Be with those for whom survival is a fragile hope.

And be with us, as we read the stories of those who bear such acute suffering;
Give us hearts of compassion to respond in your service,
So that together we may see restoration where there is pain,
And all may rejoice in your goodness.

To that we can all say, "Amen" and, "yes, I give a shit."

From the May 13 Winnipeg Free Press.

World Food Day and Food Waste, or Eat All the Peas on Your Plate

October 16, is World Food Day. It’s a day to remember the almost 800 million people in the world who don’t have enough to eat.

Thinking about it reminds me of when I was a kid at the supper table. My parents would tell me to eat all the food on my plate because “people are starving in Africa.”

I didn’t know anything about food security or famine relief back then, but one thing I knew for certain was this: Eating all the peas on my plate wouldn’t mean people Africa would get more food.

My parents knew that, too. But that wasn’t the point. The point they were trying to make was that food was special, even sacred, and I was lucky to have so much of it—so don’t waste it.  

For people of faith, treating food respectfully, and not wasting it, is a widely-held value.

In Islam, the Koran tells Muslims to “eat and drink but do not waste; for Allah does not love those who waste.”

In Buddhism there is a concept known as “mottainai,” which encourages followers to always be grateful for the resources they have, such as food, to be respectful of them, to use them with care and not to waste them.

In Judaism, there is the ethical principle of “Bal tashchit,” or "do not destroy," which has been applied to all forms of senseless damage, including wasting food.

For Sikhs, food is part of spiritual life of every Sikh, and is referred to as rijak, or divine sustenance. Sikhs are admonished to eat only what they need, and to avoid overindulgence; gluttony is viewed as morally reprehensible. 

In the New Testament, Christians read about the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000. After the meal, Jesus instructs his followers to gather all the leftovers “so that nothing is wasted.”

And yet, despite all this, food waste is a huge problem today. According to Value Chain Management International, a Canadian organization that specializes in the reduction of food waste, Canadians waste over $31 billion of food every year.

Forty-seven percent of that waste happens in Canadian homes—letting food get old in the fridge, forgetting that leftover pizza, buying too much and not being able to use it.

As for the remainder, 20 percent is lost in production, 10 percent in retail and on the farm, 9 percent in restaurants and 6 percent in transport.

It’s no better in many other countries. One estimate pegs food waste in the U.S. at over $160 billion a year. In the U.K., for every three tonnes of food that is eaten another tonne goes to waste.

Worldwide, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that over $3 trillion worth of food—a third of all the food that is grown—is lost or wasted.

Not only is that food not eaten, it contributes to climate change. Food waste, it turns out, is one of the largest sources of garbage in landfills. As it decomposes, it releases methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.

Someone who wants to make food waste in Canada a national political issue is NDP Member of Parliament Ruth Ellen Brosseau.

Brosseau has introduced a Private Member’s Bill to Parliament that calls on the Canadian government to declare October 16—World Food Day—as National Food Waste Awareness Day in Canada.

Her bill also calls for the development of a national strategy to reduce food waste in this country.

The goal of such a day, she says, is to “raise awareness, stimulate debate, support existing initiatives and perhaps encourage new ones,” and to “demand that the government take concrete action to tackle this scourge.”

A Buddhist blessing before eating says: “This food is the gift of the whole universe, each morsel is a sacrifice of life. May I be worthy to receive it.”

And, I would add, not waste it.

World Refugee Day: "Your Help Makes Us Feel Like Human Beings Again"

The hands of Father Paul.

June 20 is World Refugee Day. To mark that occasion, the Humanitarian Coalition has brought together a number of NGOs in Canada to remind Canadians of the plight of 60 million displaced people in the world today. I used the following story in my June 18 Winnipeg Free Press faith page column. Note: For security reasons, none of the people quoted in this column wanted to be photographed.

The meeting with aid workers from Syria about the dire situation in that country was proceeding as smoothly as it could for such a dire subject—until the translator started crying.

“I’m sorry,” Miralle said, after translating a report about how children in that country are suffering due to the war.

“I have kids of my own.”

In truth, I was feeling a bit teary-eyed myself at the meeting, which took place in March at the Beirut, Lebanon office of the Forum for Development, Culture and Dialogue (FDCD).

I was there as part of my work with Canadian Foodgrains Bank, an organization that provides resources to its 15 member agencies so they can help people who don’t have enough to eat around the world.

It was a hard meeting, but it was also rewarding to know that the aid provided by Canadians through was making a difference.

The assistance is “filling the gap,” said Rev. Dr. Riad Jarjour, president of FDCD, adding that “some would literally die of hunger without this help.”

The aid workers, a mix of Christians and Muslims from Syria, agreed.

“Your help makes a big impact on people’s lives,” said Mustafa. “If there is no food, they will only think about leaving, go to Europe. For this reason, we want to provide food.”

Many of the people he is assisting “fled without anything, only the clothes they were wearing,” he said. “This assistance is the only food they are getting. There is no other help.”

Before the food arrived, people were only getting help once or twice a year, added Ibrahim. “Now it is every month. If this project stopped, it would be a catastrophe.”

Rahaf works with children. It was her comments that made Miralle cry.

She described the terrible living conditions facing the children she visits—kids with no shoes, socks or winter clothes, unable to go to school, witnessing terrible things like their friends and adults killed, living in fear for their lives.

When she asks parents about the food provided by Canadians, “they say it is a miracle,” she said. “They tell me they can find a solution for their challenges if they have something to eat.”

Then it was Father Paul’s turn. “Thank-you,” he said. “Your help allows life to go on . . . your help makes us feel like human beings again.”

When the food arrives, recipients want to know where it is coming from.

“We tell them it is coming from Christians in Canada,” said Dr. Jarjour.

The assistance is also “strengthening the church” in Syria and promoting “good inter-religious cooperation,” he added—it enables a powerful witness for peace and cooperation that is much-needed in a country torn by sectarian divisions.

After their reports, we asked the aid workers from Syria what keeps them going.

“We are providing a service to those in need in a horrible situation,” said Mustafa. “That keeps me going, even though there are times when I cry because I can’t help everyone who is in need.”

“It makes me feel good when we see needs and we can help,” said Ibrahim. But, he adds, “there are times when I feel helpless.”

For Father Paul, it’s simple: “We are bringing life in the midst of so much death . . . when we give them food, we can see hope in their eyes.”

Added Rahaf: “It’s something I can do for my country. And if, God forbid, I should ever be in such need, I would want people to respond in the same way to me.”

June 20 is World Refugee Day. Across Canada, a number of humanitarian aid groups are participating in a national campaign to draw attention to the 60 million people who are displaced from their homes.

As we think of the many who have fled their homes for safety, we can also think of people like Ibrahim, Mustafa, Rahaf and Father Paul who are doing what they can to help.

And we can pray for them, and for all those who are afraid and homeless today.

Helping Syrian Refugees in Canada and Closer to Their Homes

Lots of churches are planning to sponsor Syrian refugees--a generous response that warms all of our hearts. But sponsoring refugees is expensive. It can cost between $30,000 to $50,000 to bring in one family. This is money that will not be available to international aid organizations that are trying to help the millions of desperate Syrian refugees still in the region--people who are hungry, yet who want to return home one day to rebuild their shattered country. Maybe we can do both: Help people who want to come to Canada, and those who, like young Angeline above, are still in places like Jordan and Lebanon. 

 “Don’t forget me.”

That’s what a Syrian woman told Don Peters, Executive Director of Mennonite Central Committee, when he visited her in Lebanon.

It was 2013, and Peters had met many Syrians in that country who had fled their homes In Syria for uncertain lives as refugees. They told him about escaping as their homes were being destroyed, and about watching conflict envelop their cities and neighbourhoods.

“Many had crossed into Lebanon without official documents and little money,” says Peters. 

“They were worried about how they would buy food and pay for housing. They wondered if they would be able to find work, schools for their children and medical attention for their injuries.”

Most of them said their dream was to return home to Syria one day to rebuild their shattered communities and lives.

As Peters looked into that woman’s eyes, he realized she was asking him something profound, something beyond her own personal story.

“She was asking me to remember all the people we had met, and all the refugees who would seek a safe haven in places such as Lebanon,” he says.

Unfortunately that woman, and the millions of other Syrians still in the region who are affected by the conflict in their country, they are in danger of being forgotten today by many Canadians.

This isn’t happening out of lack of care or concern. To their great credit, many churches and other places of worship, along with businesses, governments and others, are responding generously to help relocate Syrian refugees to Canada. 

We have all been moved by the heartfelt scenes in the media as sponsors welcome families from that war-torn country to their new home.

This response is a good, right, proper and Canadian thing to do. Everyone who has donated money, time or effort to help resettle Syrian refugees in Canada is to be commended. 

But the number of refugees coming to Canada is just a fraction of the many people from that country who need our help today.

Right now, there are an estimated three million Syrians who have fled for safety to Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey. Over six million are internally displaced within Syria itself. The World Food Programme (WFP) is feeding over four million people inside Syria and 1.3 million more in neighbouring countries.

These are people who hope to go home one day, when the war finally ends. But with almost all the attention today on helping bring refugees to Canada, its hard for aid agencies to raise awareness about their needs—or get the funding they need.

For example, declines in funding has meant that the WFP has had to reduce the amount of food it provides for Syrian refugees by a quarter. This means people have to eat smaller meals, and less frequently. Other aid groups face similar challenges.

This doesn’t mean Canadians should stop helping bring Syrian refugees to Canada—far from it!  But perhaps they can help people come here, but also help those who are still in the region.

One way to do that would be for groups sponsoring refugee families to add ten percent to the total they need to raise. This extra money can then be given to help those who are still in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

For example, it costs my own agency, Canadian Foodgrains Bank, $13.50 to provide supplemental food for one Syrian refugee in Lebanon or Jordan for a month through its member agencies. It’s $67.50 for a family of five. 

Since it can cost between $30,000 to $50,000 to sponsor one family to come to Canada, an extra ten percent would provide $3,000 to $5,000, or enough for a group to “sponsor” another three to six families a year.

For Peters, that encounter with the Syrian refugee woman two years ago stayed with him. “Of all the places I have been, and the people I have met during my time at MCC, that day in Lebanon is one of my most profound memories,” he says.

Not all of us can have a personal experience like that. But we can all join together in remembering her, and the millions more Syrians in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria who need our help. 

Donations made by December 31 to registered charities responding to the needs of Syrian refugees in the region will be matched 1:1 by the Canadian government.