Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - August 28, 2008, Winnipeg, Manitoba C m y k Page b1 famous Mascot race sunday free poker after the races Fri. & sat. Free Pony rides & petting farm Sun. & Mon. Last barn tour saturday 9 30am phone 885 3330 to sign up Bonus chances to qualify for $ 50,000 action Classy action packed stakes races time is running out join us this Holiday weekend Fri. & sat. 7 00 pm Sun & Holiday Mon. 1 00 pm go to Assiniboia Downs. Com for videos & updates pm 885 3330 Portage & perimeter Only 13 Days of live racing left Home run great mortgage 4. 9 % wow. Cambrian. My. Ca mortgages starting at apr annual percentage rate. Mac. Subject to change. 0 bed bugs a growing nuisance but not for Poulinos / b5 City & business City editor Paul Samyn 697 7292 City. Desk free press. My. Ca i Winnipeg repress. Com thursday August 28, 2008 b 1 l ast week i received a flurry of e mailed stories from readers All different but All with the same theme. Thank you. I thought you might enjoy Reading them As much As i did. Him. Sinclair i was hoping you could pass along a thank you to some local businesses. My son Brandon is five years old and has a mitochondrial disease. Mito is a genetic defect in the to dyes ability to create Energy for its cells and can Lead to serious problems in every part of the body. In Brand ones Case it affects his Muscles and the movement Centre of his brain so he has difficulty walking and cannot talk or eat most food due to muscle weakness. His disease obviously permeates every aspect of our life in spite of our efforts to keep things Normal. In spite of his challenges Brandon is a very typical five year old who is starting first Grade this fall. He loves most things that five year old boys like. Bugs mud and anything loud. And loves to do All the same things As other five year Olds even when they Are nearly impossible for him to do. This Spring thanks to the generosity of a local business and local foundation Kern Hill furniture and the rehabilitation Centre for children foundation we had the Opportunity to attend a Manitoba Moose game. Brandon came alive at the Arena. He was absolutely in his element. He still talks about it and asks to see their website regularly. He was Able to sit and watch and be a regular kid at the hockey game for a night and he was just thrilled. This summer again thanks to the generosity of another business and local foundation Winnipeg Blue bombers and variety childrens Charit Brandon was Able to attend a Blue bomber game. He was glowing the whole night. He met the Mascot he met the cheerleaders he met the policeman near the staircase. Then today once again thanks to a local business and another local foundation relax and the childrens Hospital foundation Brandon had the Chance to go to a Gold eyes game. Again it was a total blast. He got right into the game he got right into the fudge Isles he got right into the Pepsi. The Point to this is to offer a face to the local donors who made this possible. The face of a Little boy who three times this year for a few hours was Able to leave his disability and illnesses at Home and go out to be another Little boy at the Ballpark or Arena or stadium. For one night he was Able to enjoy himself eat ice Cream drink Slu shies and stay up late because hers All hopped up on chocolate. It May have Only been three nights this year but i guarantee you that by Brand ones standards they were the Best three nights of the year. So from the Bottom of my heart thank you for giving my son the Chance to get out and just be a boy for a few hours. And thank you to the folks at the Arena stadium and Ballpark for making the extra Effort to make the visits special for him. Gordon Sinclair or. W Hen an exhausted 66 year old Ida Kip Ala dropped dead in june her family fell apart. She and her elderly parents daughter and two grandsons came to Canada within the last year As refugees from Congo. The eyed spent the previous five years in a Burundi refugee Camp. Ida took care of everyone said Paul Wambaja on wednesday. He is one of her grandsons teachers Speaks swahili and has spent much of the summer helping the family thatus been torn apart by her death. The compassion that allowed the family to enter Canada As refugees a snot enough to guarantee they would have a Good life Here. Once Ida died the rest of the family members were left without someone to care for them. Now members of the congolese Community and service providers Are scrambling to find a solution. Social workers have already placed Idaus two grandsons in care. The focus is on the three vulnerable adults including Idaus mentally challenged daughter the Mother of the two boys. Wambaja said he believes the stress of having so Many to look after and not being Able to speak the language contributed to Idaus rapid decline to cancer that was diagnosed shortly before her death. Her North american style funeral and burial were devastating for Idaus frail and culture shocked parents said Deo Nawira president of the congolese Community of Manitoba inc. They wanted to Bury her. They wanted to participate and use a Spade Nawira said. How could they just leave her in the ground and walk away after Idaus funeral her parents in their 80s refused to return to the apartment where the eyed been staying. Mafali Evele and Abedi Kip Ala were scared communicate with anyone and they stomach the food prepared by Home care that was so foreign to their system. Ida who also could Only speak swahili had been walking to their inner City apartment suite three times a Day to prepare their meals until she died. You cant Force them to go where they dont want to go said Wambaja. Here they just want to die he said in Idaus rank rundown two Storey suite on landside Avenue where they re staying. They ave taped a Colour photocopy of her picture on the Bare Wall. Better for them to go Home and die he said. Idaus parents say they want to go Back to their town of kind in Eastern Congo where they have family. Civil War drove them out with Ida daughter Celestine and two grandsons. In a Burundi refugee Camp one of her grandsons became sick from diabetes and there was no available treatment. The boy and his close knit family were allowed to come to Canada on humanitarian grounds. Ida came last summer and the grandparents United with them in february. Now they Are staying in the landside apartment with Idaus daughter 40 year old Celestine who will be moving to a care Home. They can barely manage to get up the Steep narrow stairs to go to the bathroom or their bedrooms on the second floor. They dont know How to use the stove and cant shop or do their own banking. Service providers like Welcome place and volunteers in the congolese Community say its an unusually bad situation. This is not a common situation and it needs a very uncommon solution said Nawira with the congolese Community of Manitoba. Concerned members have been trying to take care of them cooking their traditional meals and cleaning their Home. But with people in the newcomer Community working so hard for their own families and trying to make ends meet volunteers dont have the time or resources to care for them indefinitely said Nawira. Some people Are doing two or three jobs. They re exhausted. John Zychek the director of citizenship and immigration for Manitoba said its their policy to assist refugees to come to Canada and make every Effort to help them resettle Here. We Hope we can identify Community support to overcome some of the challenges they May face. He said that if the elderly couple make up their minds that they want to leave they would be giving up their status Here and be responsible for their own air fare Home. Citizenship and immigration does not pay for their Way Back. Now the Community is wondering what to do said Nawira. It is a dilemma. Carol. Sanders free press. My. Ca refugees left with Little Hope late daughter was their sole caregiver by Carol Sanders three simple stories and three simple thank yous continued please see Sinclair b 2 this is not a common situation and it needs a very uncommon solutions Deo Nawira president of the congolese Community of Manitoba inc. Sarah Kearney Winnipeg free press Abedi Kip Ala struggles up the stairs of his landside Street Home. The elderly congolese immigrant and his wife speak Only swahili. Sarah Kearney Winnipeg free press Mafali Evele is nearing 90. A picture of her daughter who died suddenly in june hangs on the Wall. Family photo Brandon 5, meets Blue bomber Mascot Boomer at a game this summer. A 01_ aug 28 08. Ind b1 8 / 27/ 08 11 55 10 pm ;