Give Rory a new life in Canada!

Here is your chance to change someone's life forever. 
My name is Danny Ramadan, I was born in Damascus, Syria, and I used to be a refugee.

In Syria, being gay - such as myself - is a burden that you carry around. You can't live within the society, you live on the outskirts of it; accusations of homosexuality might end you up in prison for three years. 

I struggled a lot for the many years I lived in Syria, then in my travels around the Arab World; I lived in Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon and other places, I kept looking for a home, until I decided to find a refuge in the West -and I started working on immigrating to Canada. 

For two years, I lived in Lebanon as a refugee, applying to come to Canada, in hopes for a better future. In September 2014, I became one of the "very" few lucky Syrians who managed to get their immigration request approved. 
Read my story, and get to know me on a video interview with CBC on this link.

My boyfriend and I had one hell of a challenging year here in Canada, we faced so many struggles, but now - as we approach our one year anniversay here, we decided that it's time to give back to the world who alligned just right to get us right here. 

We found ourselves great jobs: I work for a local LGBTQ-focused organization, he works in a dental office. We are a living proof that refugees - and Syrian refugees - can be successful addition to the Canadian society. 

But we want to do more: Just the same way that our lives has changed in the past year, we want to pay it forward: We want to sponsor a friend of ours to come here to Canada and join us. 

Rory - which is not her real name - is a Syrian refugee who lives current in Turkey. She identifys as a lesbian. She -too- faced the difficult society, the harsh war, and the family pressure due to her sexuality. She too is pushing for life to be better. 
(This is me in my first gay pride parade here in Vancouver. I'm sorry I can't share Rory's photos, as she is still in the closet, and sharing her photos might put her in danger.)

We got the support of Rainbow Refugee, a Canadian organization that supports applications of LGBTQ refugees to come from across the world. We have a small group of folks who wants to help in resettling Rory, and helping her find a great home here in Vancouver.  Read more about Rainbow Refugee here on this link . 


(Look how far away from home I am, please help me get my friend to join me here and create a home for us)

We are almost done with writing Rory's application to submit to the Canadian government. We want to get Rory here as soon as possible: She is living among millions of other refugees in Turkey; she needs the support to come here. 

Without our support: Rory will not be able to have a meaningful life, where her life is celebrated for who she is. If we didn't get her here, she will be living in hiding forever, breaking down within; as she struggles with the other refugees in Syria.  

My biggest dream is that one day, one beautiful day, I will be able to create a Cananda-based NGO that cares for Syrian refugees here in Canada, and help them integrate into the Canadian society; for now, as a very first step, let's work together on getting Rory here. 

I will be recieving the donation you will be giving, and as it is, I will be delivering it to Rainbow Refugee: In turn, Rainbow Refugee will be keeping those funds on the side until Rory is here in Vancouver. For the first year of her life here, those funds are going to be used as monthly payment to her, to support her in her journey finding a job, and starting a career here in Vancouver. 

This goes with the instructions set by the Canadian government for any privately sponsored refugee: which is the way we want to go in sponsoring Rory. 

Please help me change my friend's life. Please help me make it possible for her to leave the Syrian refugee crisis behind and come to safety and bright future here in Vancouver.