A teacher comes to the aid of refugees

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Saturday, January 20, 2018 17:18

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Saturday, January 20, 2018 17:18

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For the last several days, the teacher Rachel Shugart no longer counts his volunteer hours. His cronies and she is trying to help hundreds of refugee families that are in need of effects of school and winter clothing.

“The first week, I had to spend 60 hours, and this, in addition to my work. I make deliveries three times per week. In the morning before going to work and after my day. As a teacher and mother of a family, I know that for children it is important to have the same hardware as the other. And then, without a snowsuit, these children do not go outside during the recess,” said Rachel Shugart, teacher at Montreal.

The family apartment is transformed into the headquarters and place of collection of donations. The living room has become a mini warehouse. Bags on the ground filled with mittens and toque and on the sofa several snow suits of different sizes waiting to be distributed.

“The great majority of these families are migrants who have fled the United States, since this summer, by the way Roxham. The government gives them a certain amount each month, but they do not cover all the expenses and when you have nothing, it is a lot. The idea is to create meetings and a social network between the donors and the families,” she adds.

The federal government is said to have treated more than 22 000 applications for asylum in Quebec in 2017.

There are implications in the two largest school boards in Montreal that do double duty to accommodate refugee children.

At the commission scolaire de Montréal, there are 3 707 enrolment of migrant pupils since September, and 270 since January.

For its part, the commission scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys account 439 new migrant children since September, including a dozen that arrived in January.