Interpreters have an invisible gift. When I met Mariano at the appreciation dinner for READY Tour volunteer interpreters, I was amazed to discover he speaks 8 languages – 3 verbal and 5 sign languages. I wouldn’t have guessed it just by looking at him. Mariano voluntarily gives 3 hours on Friday afternoons at the READY Tour program to interpret for newly arrived refugee claimants, helping them learn and understand how to prepare for their refugee hearings. A big thank-you to Mariano, and to the 30+ READY Tour volunteer interpreters: you share your gifts of time, skill, and good hearts to make refugee protection more accessible.

Every summer the Kinbrace community enjoys a weekend of camping together. This year, with our largest group ever (70 people!), we piled into school buses and travelled out to Maple Ridge, BC for three days of sun and fun. Continue Reading →

On World Refugee Day 20 June 2014 refugee claimants in Metro Vancouver and Toronto have a new resource available to help prepare for their refugee hearings.

Refugee Hearing Preparation:  A Guide for Refugee Claimants (RHP Guide) provides:

• an overview of key legal issues
• timelines to track refugee claims
• strategies to prepare for the refugee hearing
• a hearing preparation checklist
• answers to FAQs
• lists of legal and community resources
• etc

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At Kinbrace we believe in partnership.  Working together helps us better achieve our purpose of providing the very best welcome and support for people in Canada’s refugee protection system.

Kinbrace is partnering with World Vision Canada’s Partners to End Child Poverty program, working to see refugee claimant families experience meaningful integration into systems and relationships in the Canadian community.  Launched in 2010, this 5-year Family Integration Project jumped into action assisting 8 of the Tamil refugee claimant families who arrived on the MV Sun Sea, and has since served families from around the world who are making Canada their new home.

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Imagine swimming upstream through a medicine20.org dark maze. You only have a certain amount of time to reach the end successfully, and your life depends on it….

Seeking refugee protection in Canada can feel like going through a turbulent, watery maze. People who desperately need help face a system with tight time frames and complex procedures. This system, full of cultural and legal nuances, can be hard to understand and difficult to navigate. People seeking refugee protection often feel disoriented, and like they’re on the verge of drowning.

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The knock came on our front door at 7:30 pm one Friday evening.  Opening it, I saw two men standing on the front porch:  one with a suitcase, whom I didn’t recognize; the other, an old friend.  Greeting me with a big hug, Muteba* reminded that he’d stood on this very porch in 1999, having just arrived from one of Africa’s most troubled countries.  Now, fourteen years later, he stood with a newcomer named Claude.

As we sat down in the living room Muteba interpreted for Claude.  Claude had just arrived in Canada, needing help and a place to sleep.

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Kinbrace is honoured to receive MOSAIC’s 2014 Human Rights Award, granted to people or organizations who demonstrate significant contribution in the field of human rights and ethnic relations, among other criteria.

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Ricardo emerged out of the rain and darkness of a Vancouver winter carrying with him a carefully wrapped box. It was a Tuesday evening – our regular time to gather as a community to share food and friendship at Kinbrace.

I hadn’t seen Ricardo for over six years. He’d lived at Kinbrace for several months in 2006 when he first arrived in Canada seeking refugee protection. Skilled as an artist and construction worker, he soon found work, moved from Kinbrace, and shortly after received refugee protection.

Then, we lost contact.

“I wanted to come back to say Thank You,” he said as we ate from our steaming bowls of soup.

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