Felix the Cat
01-03-2006, 04:45 PM
Family marks first Noel in Canada (http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1136242214760&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154&t=TS_Home)
There was much more commotion at the Newton household over Christmas than in years past ? more toys, more wrapping paper and more clutter as four new family members experienced the holiday the Canadian way.
It has been less than a month since Garry and Sharon Newton opened their Midland home to a Congolese refugee family whom Newton met while on a volunteer United Nations mission. By Christmas Eve, the underbelly of their decorated tree was ballooning with gifts ? so many that the Newtons decided to put some presents in storage for next year, in hopes of making their next Christmas just as plentiful.
"We had people who we'd never even dreamed of who came in, two days, three days, before Christmas to drop off gifts," he said. "We had piles and piles of them under the tree."
The favourites of the three young children, Newton said, are a Cabbage Patch doll, puzzles, Lego, dinky cars and anything electric, "which I take away from them after a few minutes," Newton said, laughing.
The retiree said he was taken aback by the outpouring his family received from across the country and beyond after a Dec. 7 Toronto Star article documented the arrival of Lucy Magie and her children ? Dieu-Merci, 7, Setishe, 5, and Danny, 3 ? at Pearson International Airport.
At first, Newton was getting up to 100 emails a day from people inspired by the story in places as far away as New Jersey and Jamaica. The flood, he said, caused his computer to crash.
"I think that our gesture of helping here will help somebody help somebody else less fortunate," Newton said recently. "It will snowball. Only good can come of it."
Newton met Magie, whose husband was killed when she was pregnant with her youngest son, two years ago. She was working as his housekeeper in Bunia, in the volatile Democratic Republic of Congo.
Last year, Newton and his family decided they'd like to help Magie give her three children a better life. They were able to scrape together enough money to pay for an immigration lawyer and the Magies' relocation costs, and to commit to giving them a home until Magie is self-sufficient.
Newton acknowledged it could take years for Magie to be able to support her family on her own. For now, he, his wife and their two adult daughters are enjoying rediscovering life with their expanded family.
"We made a huge snowman which is now in pieces, and we took out a banana for the smile, potatoes for the eyes and apples for the buttons. They (the food) disappeared as fast as we took them out," Sharon Newton said, laughing.
"We call them the eating machines," she said, adding the children have had a steady sampling of roast turkey, Christmas cake and cookies over the holidays. Their favourite breakfast is Honey Nut Cheerios.
The variety in food is in sharp contrast to the steady diet of yams and rice that the children were used to in Africa, but Newton said there isn't anything ? not even vegetables ? that has caused them to turn up their noses.
In Africa, Christmas celebrations entailed "men stepping out of the hut with rifles and shooting bullets in the air," Newton said. This year, presents were something new, and the novelty isn't showing any signs of wearing off.
"They've never seen toys," Sharon Newton said.
"They go from one to the next; they're very good about sharing and taking care of each other. You can see the African way there."
As for the Canadian way, the Newtons said they're grateful for the donations that have come in so far, including a used minivan from a Toronto donor.
Students from the local high school where Sharon Newton used to teach have agreed to help make necessary repairs.
This month, Dieu-Merci and Setishe will be ready to start school, and with their mother, the two have visited classrooms. Newton said they can't wait to go back.
"They wake up early in the morning and put their coats right on, get ready to go to the door," he said. "They're beginning to realize this is the way the Canadians do it."
There was much more commotion at the Newton household over Christmas than in years past ? more toys, more wrapping paper and more clutter as four new family members experienced the holiday the Canadian way.
It has been less than a month since Garry and Sharon Newton opened their Midland home to a Congolese refugee family whom Newton met while on a volunteer United Nations mission. By Christmas Eve, the underbelly of their decorated tree was ballooning with gifts ? so many that the Newtons decided to put some presents in storage for next year, in hopes of making their next Christmas just as plentiful.
"We had people who we'd never even dreamed of who came in, two days, three days, before Christmas to drop off gifts," he said. "We had piles and piles of them under the tree."
The favourites of the three young children, Newton said, are a Cabbage Patch doll, puzzles, Lego, dinky cars and anything electric, "which I take away from them after a few minutes," Newton said, laughing.
The retiree said he was taken aback by the outpouring his family received from across the country and beyond after a Dec. 7 Toronto Star article documented the arrival of Lucy Magie and her children ? Dieu-Merci, 7, Setishe, 5, and Danny, 3 ? at Pearson International Airport.
At first, Newton was getting up to 100 emails a day from people inspired by the story in places as far away as New Jersey and Jamaica. The flood, he said, caused his computer to crash.
"I think that our gesture of helping here will help somebody help somebody else less fortunate," Newton said recently. "It will snowball. Only good can come of it."
Newton met Magie, whose husband was killed when she was pregnant with her youngest son, two years ago. She was working as his housekeeper in Bunia, in the volatile Democratic Republic of Congo.
Last year, Newton and his family decided they'd like to help Magie give her three children a better life. They were able to scrape together enough money to pay for an immigration lawyer and the Magies' relocation costs, and to commit to giving them a home until Magie is self-sufficient.
Newton acknowledged it could take years for Magie to be able to support her family on her own. For now, he, his wife and their two adult daughters are enjoying rediscovering life with their expanded family.
"We made a huge snowman which is now in pieces, and we took out a banana for the smile, potatoes for the eyes and apples for the buttons. They (the food) disappeared as fast as we took them out," Sharon Newton said, laughing.
"We call them the eating machines," she said, adding the children have had a steady sampling of roast turkey, Christmas cake and cookies over the holidays. Their favourite breakfast is Honey Nut Cheerios.
The variety in food is in sharp contrast to the steady diet of yams and rice that the children were used to in Africa, but Newton said there isn't anything ? not even vegetables ? that has caused them to turn up their noses.
In Africa, Christmas celebrations entailed "men stepping out of the hut with rifles and shooting bullets in the air," Newton said. This year, presents were something new, and the novelty isn't showing any signs of wearing off.
"They've never seen toys," Sharon Newton said.
"They go from one to the next; they're very good about sharing and taking care of each other. You can see the African way there."
As for the Canadian way, the Newtons said they're grateful for the donations that have come in so far, including a used minivan from a Toronto donor.
Students from the local high school where Sharon Newton used to teach have agreed to help make necessary repairs.
This month, Dieu-Merci and Setishe will be ready to start school, and with their mother, the two have visited classrooms. Newton said they can't wait to go back.
"They wake up early in the morning and put their coats right on, get ready to go to the door," he said. "They're beginning to realize this is the way the Canadians do it."