Community opens its arms - Tounkara closer to bringing family form Guinea

March 03, 2010

Prince George Citizen - The community of Prince George is rising to the occasion to help a landed immigrant regain his family and life in his new land of Canada.

Mamadou Tounkara is receiving support from Key Life Financial Group Inc, and Dominion Lending Centres, to help bring his wife and three children from the Republic of Guinea in Africa.

The two organizations are spearheading a fundraising campaign to raise the $12,000 needed for the four airfares by August. Otherwise the family’s legal papers – like medical and photos—will expire and they will have to begin the process again as they’ve done several times already at great expense.

In a news release, Key Life said they believe in security, freedom and happiness for every family and wish to help Tounkara reunite with his family whom he has not seen for more than 11 years.

Tounkara has worked tirelessly to receive his landed immigrant status and has the unanimous support of people at the Immigant & Multicultural Services Society as well as Conservative MP Dick Harris and Le Cercle des Canadiens Francais, the release stated.

The company went on to say it is “pleased to support such a wonderful man who is trying to accomplish such a worthy goal. Therefore it is our honour to help him with this last and final crucial step to reunite with his wife and family.”

The organizations are organizing fundraising events and have opened a trust account at the Bank of Montreal on West Central Street in Tounkara’s name. The account number is 3259-118.

“This is very, very good, and I like it so much. What a good country this is,” said Tounkara.

His English may still be laboured, but there’s no mistaking his fighting back tears when speaking of the possibility of seeing his family again.

His story, featured in The Citizen on Feb.26, tells how he was jailed and tortured for five years in his native country because he was perceived to support an overthrown government rather than the new regime.

He escaped from jail to Canada as a refugee who could never go back due to the risk of death.

He went to work as soon as he received a work permit, first in Montreal and then as a tree planter in northern B.C. and has worked for 11 years before gaining his landed immigrant status in late February. Today he owns and cooks in the Africa Café which he wants to enhance as a family business with wife Fatoumata, and children Amadou, 18, Marian, 16 and Abrahim, 11, whom he has yet to meet.

Francine Bussieres at IMSS is keeping track of donations, which on Tuesday totaled $1,556.