Like many of us, Navor wants nothing more than to provide for his family. That’s why, in 2010, he started coming to Canada—first for five to six months at a time, then for eight.
“I came because I wanted to help my family,” he tells us. “I have a daughter, sister, and mother who all depend on me. In Mexico, I wasn’t able to do that. In Canada, I can.”
But it hasn’t been easy. Not at all. Navor works long hours. He saves up everything he can and counts down the days until he can see his family again. When he first arrived, it was particularly tough. “Learning where everything was, how to get around, and how to ask for help was difficult. I didn’t even know where to start. I didn’t have any community.”
It’s still not easy. I still miss my family … but after everything that has happened, I’m thankful. I’m thankful that Abbotsford Community Services and their Legal Advocacy Program is here to help. And I’m thankful that people care enough to make sure that I can continue providing for my family.
Thank you to everyone who has donated. You have changed my life—and you have changed my family’s life, too.
Then the fire happened—just as he was starting to get a handle on things. “It was about 9:30 in the morning,” he recounts. “I was busy doing my job when I saw the smoke. I didn’t know where it was coming from … nobody did. But I hoped and prayed that it wasn’t coming from my house … then I found out that it was.”
Navor panicked. He worried that he was going to lose all of his possessions. Even more than that, he worried that he was going to lose his job.
“When I finally got to the house, I realized that I had lost everything. My food. My clothes. My documentation. What was I going to do? How was I going to continue?”
Within hours he had his answer.
Legal advocacy workers from Abbotsford Community Services showed up to help reassure workers and “truckloads of food, clothes and other things” started showing up from local community organizations like ACS. “I was very thankful. It meant that I didn’t have to miss a single day of work.”
“If something like this were to happen in Mexico,” he continued, “nobody would have helped. But here in Canada, people cared.”
“It’s still not easy. I still miss my family … but after everything that has happened, I’m thankful. I’m thankful that Abbotsford Community Services and their Legal Advocacy Program is here to help. And I’m thankful that people care enough to make sure that I can continue providing for my family. Thank you to everyone who has donated. You have changed my life—and you have changed my family’s life, too.”