Afghanistan

working at a homeless shelter for 6 1/2 years you see a lot. you hear a lot of stories why people are on the street. when you think you've seen it all, you are constantly mistaken.

this evening, near the end of my shift, a man approaches me at the front door. he smells like body odor, unshaved, broken english, shaking. he shows me his arm, it has a hospital tag bracelet.

he tells me his story. i tell you his story.

he arrived in Calgary this morning. he was rushed to a hospital because his kidneys were not doing good, he was peeing blood. he was just discharged from the hospital with no where to go but they gave him the Mustard Seeds address.

i ask "where did you come from"

he's still shaking, and apparently this was a hard one to answer as he tears up. mexico; but he spent the last 9 days locked in the back of a shipping truck with very little space to even turn around. he arrived in Mexico from Afghanistan on april 4 and made arrangements to be illegally smuggled into Canada so he could apply for refugee status.

9 days, two borders, no room, a couple bags of chips, a couple bottles of water, and a couple bags to pee and poo in. he thought he was going to die. when i talked to him, he hadn't slept once in those 9 days. i cannot imagine. and so i bring him to our shelter, and so begins his life in canada.

i find this super tough. i hear of refugees, but rarely, and this is the first time i've actually been one of the first contacts. when he arrived this morning, he didn't even know where in canada he was. he is so weak, so broken, and emotions on my end can hardly contain it. i pray so hard that canada welcomes him and eases his burdens. i pray that my work place does not fail him and shows him dignity and hospitality. i pray that he will be able to thank God for a new life.

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July 13 Update

This man I have met with several times since his recent arrival.
He has spent 2 months at the Seed, he has received refugee status, he has received funding from Immigration for $600 a month, and he has just started rented a shared place for $560 a month.

He is in the process of aquiring a work permit, but that will take another month or so to get. So at this point, he is living in poverty with little he can do about it.

I have approached the Seed about giving him donated gift certificates, but they have none. I rarely, scratch that, never ask for money on behalf of others but he genuinely needs help. I recommend gift certificates. We hear of over a billion people globally living on less than a dollar a day, but this is happening here too.