Graham Slaughter/CTVNews.ca
Paying it forward is something one Ontario man is taking to heart, as he prepares to sponsor 14 Syrian refugees after coming to Canada after the Vietnam War as a refugee himself.
A Syrian refugee woman waits at the registration office at the UNHCR Headquarters in Amman, Jordan, Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2015. Canada has launched a fast-track resettlement program for Syrian refugees that the nation’s ambassador to Jordan says could serve as a model for other countries. (AP Photo/Raad Adayleh)
Trieu Nguyen, who is an engineer, said he wanted to “honor not just my parents’ efforts and sacrifices, but the generosity of Canadians back then.” Nguyen is sponsoring the Al Rahmo family, with 12 children aged one to 20.
The Nguyen’s were among 60,000 Vietnamese refugees, or “boat people,” who were accepted to Canada as refugees between 1975 and 1980.
So in 1981, the Nguyens gathered up their lives and, like scores of others, boarded boats headed to the South China Sea. Nguyen was just three years old. The Ryerson United Church in Hamilton sponsored the family of five to resettle in Canada, and Nguyen’s parents, Dong Nguyen and Viet Truong, worked several jobs to make ends meet.
Nguyen and his wife, Brooke Biggs, started an online fundraiser to help meet their goal of $64,000, which they estimate is enough to support the 14-person family for a year. They’ve already raised more than $14,000.
