'Tremendous amount of community support' for Gaza families in Winnipeg for medical care

Two families from Gaza that moved to Manitoba for medical treatment were welcomed by the premier, the Manitoba Islamic Association and members of the local Palestinian community at an event in Winnipeg on Sunday. 

In January, provincial officials welcomed an 11-year-old boy who could not get the medical care he needed due to the Israel-Hamas war. Last month, a second child from Gaza arrived to access life-changing medical care in the province.

Ruheen Aziz, vice-chair of the Manitoba Islamic Association's board, said Sunday's event at the association's Grand Mosque on Waverley Street was an official welcome party for the families now that they have settled in the city.

"They are adjusting well to the Winnipeg community, the school system, the larger community as well. They're happy to be here," Aziz said.

"I think that humanitarian aid, something like this where we're talking about children and their health, becomes top priority for everyone, not just people from Gaza or people from our community."

In conversation with CBC's Nadia Kidwai on the Weekend Morning Show on Sunday, S.J., who came to Winnipeg with her 11-year-old son and cannot be identified due to concerns for her family's safety, said he is doing well but is missing his family back home in Gaza.  

N.N., a member of the second family brought to Manitoba from Gaza who also cannot be identified due to safety concerns, said the community here has been very supportive of her family, including her mother and three boys, since they arrived in May. It's hard being away from home, she said, but she's hopeful her child gets the medical care he needs in Canada. 

S.J. and N.N. spoke to CBC News through translator Ramsey Zeid, president of the Canadian Palestinian Association of Manitoba. 

Aziz said the Islamic association is providing food, housing and funding support to the families, while community members are stepping up to help in any way they can — from taking the kids for ice cream to driving them to school and medical appointments. 

"There's been a tremendous amount of community support," Aziz said, while thanking the province, and Premier Wab Kinew specifically, for bringing the families to Manitoba. 

Kinew said the government helped to arrange the families' flights and provide health-care services for the children once they arrived. 

"I think the most important thing is you see these two young kids thriving, and that's what we want for any child," he said. 

"These two kids are coming from a part of the world where basically the health-care system has collapsed. They each have serious health needs and they've been able to get them [met] here in Manitoba." 

Kinew told CBC News the province is working with medical experts in the province to bring in a third family.

Manitoba Islamic Association board chair Hakim Ghulam said the association is hoping to bring in as many families as possible and hopes other provinces take Manitoba's lead. 

"We want to do as much as possible," he said. "At the end of the day, if you save one soul … it is as if you have saved the whole [of] humanity."