Yxe Underground

Welcome to Valerie Veillard’s sitting room. There’s tea and snacks on the coffee table in front us and she’s flanked on her couch by Nathalie Baudais and Twyla Yobb. Between the three of them, they have decades of experience in sponsoring refugees and helping them settle in Saskatoon. Valerie, Nathalie and Twyla are part of a sponsorship group working with the Mennonite Central Committee to bring a refugee family from Afghanistan to our city. The Jamili family has been waiting for months to learn if they will begin a new life in Saskatoon, while Valerie and the team have been working behind the scenes to ensure they will get to Canada safely. That means filling out forms, fostering relationships with organizations like the Saskatoon Open Door Society, and fundraising…lots and lots of fundraising.The group has already sponsored the settlement of two adult children from the Jamili family, and it is hoping to soon reunite the family here in Saskatoon. The world of refugee sponsorship is new to me, and I am grate