Help Michael DeSouza
Donation protected
Michael DeSouza is a Pakistani Catholic suffering tremendous persecution at the hands of Muslims in his native country. His story has been told in numerous American publications, including New Oxford Review and The Federalist, among others . Michael, a loving and faithful husband and father of three children, has been accused of blasphemy, and many Muslims in Pakistan want him dead. In 2012, Michael fled with his family to Thailand, where they lived for five years, hoping to gain refugee status with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. That refugee application was denied, and Michael and his family spent eight months of 2016-2017 in a Thai detention center. Illness and the fear of death convinced them to return to their home in Karachi, Pakistan. Michael and his family have lived there again since August 2017, where Michael, with the help of several international donors, purchased a tuk tuk, or motorized rickshaw, to provide for his family. 
On 16 March 2018, Michael was ambushed by four Muslim men who recognized him from many years ago. They physically assaulted him and burned his tuk tuk. The damage to his body was so severe he was taken to the emergency room. Once again, Michael is without a means of supporting his family, and he is afraid for their physical welfare. Please consider supporting Michael and his family, who will need financial aid while Michael recovers from his injuries.
His family need funds for food, housing, and schooling for the two older children and Michael will need finances in order to purchase another rickshaw. The rickshaw that was burned had cost them a little less than $2,000 USD. Michael and his family's financial needs will continue until they are able to find a safe place to live and steady work. We are raising these funds to hopefully provide a method of obtaining a steady source of work for Michael. If Michael's family decides it is too dangerous to try to drive a rickshaw again, then we hope these funds will allow him and his family to look for safer options in other areas.
All of your donations will be going to the family. We will be covering the cost of all of the fees that will be needed to send the money to them in Pakistan. We will be withdrawing the money from GoFundMe to our personal account and then wiring the money to the Pakistani bank account in Michael's wife's name. We have successfully sent them our own money this way two times in the last few months. A wire transfer to a bank account is the safest option for the DeSouzas. If they were seen walking out of a WesternUnion with a large amount of cash, they would become more of a target. International wire transfers take about 5 business days to reach the recipient.
Thank you for contributing a donation, but most of all for your prayers. As friends of Michael and his family, your help means so much to us as well. We first met the DeSouza family at our local church in Bangkok, Thailand when they were applying for refugee status with the UN. We moved back to Northern Virginia area shortly after Michael and his family flew back to Pakistan.
This fundraising effort was created by Claire Chalk, wife of Casey Chalk, who wrote about Michael in The Federalist .
On 16 March 2018, Michael was ambushed by four Muslim men who recognized him from many years ago. They physically assaulted him and burned his tuk tuk. The damage to his body was so severe he was taken to the emergency room. Once again, Michael is without a means of supporting his family, and he is afraid for their physical welfare. Please consider supporting Michael and his family, who will need financial aid while Michael recovers from his injuries.
His family need funds for food, housing, and schooling for the two older children and Michael will need finances in order to purchase another rickshaw. The rickshaw that was burned had cost them a little less than $2,000 USD. Michael and his family's financial needs will continue until they are able to find a safe place to live and steady work. We are raising these funds to hopefully provide a method of obtaining a steady source of work for Michael. If Michael's family decides it is too dangerous to try to drive a rickshaw again, then we hope these funds will allow him and his family to look for safer options in other areas.
All of your donations will be going to the family. We will be covering the cost of all of the fees that will be needed to send the money to them in Pakistan. We will be withdrawing the money from GoFundMe to our personal account and then wiring the money to the Pakistani bank account in Michael's wife's name. We have successfully sent them our own money this way two times in the last few months. A wire transfer to a bank account is the safest option for the DeSouzas. If they were seen walking out of a WesternUnion with a large amount of cash, they would become more of a target. International wire transfers take about 5 business days to reach the recipient.
Thank you for contributing a donation, but most of all for your prayers. As friends of Michael and his family, your help means so much to us as well. We first met the DeSouza family at our local church in Bangkok, Thailand when they were applying for refugee status with the UN. We moved back to Northern Virginia area shortly after Michael and his family flew back to Pakistan.
This fundraising effort was created by Claire Chalk, wife of Casey Chalk, who wrote about Michael in The Federalist .
Organizer
Claire Chalk
Organizer
Fairfax, VA