Haida Gwaii volunteers build ramps for injured Syrian refugee girl

A group of Haida Gwaii volunteers and Parks Canada officials, who spent weeks preparing a home for a Syrian refugee family, scrambled to find new accommodation after learning one child is a double amputee.

The volunteers, who are sponsoring the refugee family of eight, had arranged for them to move into a two-storey home in Queen Charlotte City. The house belonged to Parks Canada, which agreed to rent it to the Syrian family for $800 per month.

But the volunteers had to switch plans when they learned that one of the children, a four-year-old girl, lost a leg below the knee in an explosion.

• Meet some of the Syrian refugees who have made B.C. their home

Beng Favreau, one of the volunteers who is helping to sponsor the Syrian family, said the girl has a prosthetic leg and uses crutches, so she will have difficulty with stairs.

Volunteer built ramps

After learning the news, Parks Canada agreed to switch homes, providing a one-level bungalow instead. It also paid for ramps for the house.

A Parks Canada spokesperson said a local hardware store supplied the lumber at a discount, and Haida Gwaii contractor Derek Swain, along with a crew of workers, volunteered to build the ramps.

The house overlooks Skidegate Inlet.

Favreau said news of the girl's disability underscored the need to help refugees fleeing the war-torn region.

"That just reaffirms why we want to do this," Favreau said. "If we as Canadians can help with every little bit so that they can rebuild their lives ... I think we should."

The Syrian family, whose kids range in age from one to 9, has been living in Jordan since fleeing their home in Daraa, Syria. They are expected to arrive in Canada within weeks.

"If you look at a country that's torn apart, all the people are suffering, it just doesn't seem right to have to leave your own country to find somewhere else to live," Favreau said.

Villagers have donated home furnishings and this weekend the sponsorship volunteers will clean the house to ensure it's ready for the family.

The volunteer group has also sponsored another Syrian family, which is expected to arrive in Sandspit.

The two families are the first Syrian refugees to arrive on the north coast islands.

Favreau said the goal is to ensure the family feels safe, "to experience home and to experience what safety is all about again, and to experience that you can still have a new life."