Name: Ali Reza Jaffari

Profile: Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, living in Indonesia.

Advantages: UN-Certified, experienced as a volunteer teacher, expert in computer repairing (hardware and software), experienced graphic designer, with skills in Photo-shop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Premiere, Adobe After effect, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Lightroom, Ulead Video Studio and calligraphy. Please learn more in the video below.

FULLY FUNDED.

Risk: At risk of being caught, tortured and killed by the Taliban if returned home.

Ali Reza’s father was mortally wounded by terrorists targetting Hazara people in a tragic blast. Ali Reza continued his father’s work, bringing vegetables from the most dangerous place for Hazaras (Hazarganji) and selling them in the Hazara area. He did not know that it would almost cost him his life. He narrowly missed a deadly attack and fled to Indonesia by boat in 2014.

Ali Reza was treated like a criminal and placed into detention for three and a half years. His resilience allowed him to make the most of a terrible situation. He learned a number of computer programs and computer repair. After being released to live in the community, he started volunteering as an English teacher and a computer teacher. Ali Reza is still a prisoner - with no permission to work or attend school. His life is in limbo in Indonesia. He needs five Canadian friends who can help him start his life again.

Born into Violence and Uncertainty

Ali Reza was born in 1994 in Quetta, Pakistan without legal documents. Like many Hazara, his family had fled the violence of Afghanistan to Quetta, Pakistan, even before he was born. The Hazara in Afghanistan have long been targets of violence. They are a minority group that is long the target of brutal persecution and ‘ethnic cleansing’ in Afghanistan because of their religion, their value of education, and with girls receiving equal opportunities.

Ali Reza’s grandfather was a kind and ordinary person. During the Afghanistan Civil War, a brutal militia demanded that he join them to fight. When he refused, he was murdered. After his death, they threatened Ali Reza’s father as well, so his parents fled to Quetta, Pakistan, where Ali Reza and his sister were born.

Sadly, violence followed the Hazara escaping war. With the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Hazara became targets of terrorism and bombings in both countries because of their moderate, modern ways. After living many years in Pakistan, Ali Reza’s parents could not return to Afghanistan because this time, it was the terrorist group (Taliban) killing the Hazaras due to their religion and ethnicity.

Losing His Parents

Ali Reza’s mother died on July 8, 2006 due to a heart attack. His father was a vegetable seller, using a wheelbarrow. Ali Reza’s father travelled to Hazarganji (a very dangerous place for Hazaras) to buy vegetables and bring them to his area for selling.

On January 10, 2013 two explosions took place in Alamdar Road Quetta where more than 81 people were killed and above 120 were wounded including Ali Reza’s father. His father was paralyzed and bed-ridden for one year, until he died from his injuries.

“My father's catastrophic death left me in shock and I lost everything in my life.”

Ali Reza started living with his sister who had married in 2005. His brother-in-law is a cruel and vicious man, tormenting Ali Reza. He could not stay.

“He tortured me physically for he did not want me to live with them.”

Like his father, Ali Reza started to sell vegetables in his area; he sold vegetables during the days and slept on the wheelbarrow at night.

The Terrorist Attack

The Hazara vegetable sellers, including Ali Reza, were threatened to death by terrorist groups (the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Sahaba). One day on August 22, 2014, Ali Reza and other Hazaras were busy, buying vegetables in Hazarganji, and terrorists gunned down his friends in the car in where the Hazara vegetable sellers were putting their things.

“Fortunately, I was still in the shop for buying vegetables. I was terrified and stayed there for several hours until a police officer stepped in and brought me out.”

This violent, unprovoked attack left Hazaras killed and wounded. After surviving that horrible attack, Ali Reza no longer felt safe living in Quetta.

“That attack left me in shock and affected me greatly which was out of my tolerance. I was not sure whether I would live another day there.”

A New Kind of Prisoner in Indonesia

Ali Reza fled Pakistan to seek asylum in a peaceful land, but this is not the life he found. He arranged for a human smuggler with the help of his friend and arrived in Indonesia after a dangerous journey on October 2, 2014.

With no right to work or way to support himself, Ali Reza lived on the side road of the immigration office for forty days then he was sent to Balikpapan Detention Centre on December 15, 2014 where he and other refugees were treated like prisoners. Despite living an overcrowded and bleak environment, he started learning new skills such as calligraphy, photoshop, Adobe Premiere, Adobe Illustrator, After Effects, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Lightroom and the English language.

On June 26, 2018, Ali Reza was freed from the detention centre and was transferred to a community house in Jakarta City. There, he has been teaching his refugee fellows the English language, and he has been a volunteer computer teacher in CWS (Church World Service) since early 2019; He teaches Photo Editing and Graphic Designing.

A New Start in Canada

Ali Reza is well-liked among his fellow refugees. Contributing to his community is important to him, and he looks forward to the day he can contribute to Canada. Since his childhood, Ali Reza has been dreaming of designing and animation but he didn’t have the opportunities. However, he started learning the basics of these programs with the help of his friend and tutorials found on Youtube. As he practiced a lot, he has become an expert in the field of designing and animation.

“I am looking for a chance to sharpen my skills and share my knowledge with others.”

An Opportunity

As a UNHCR refugee, Ali Reza is eligible for Canada’s private sponsorship program. He already has friends rooting for him to succeed, and they will donate the funds needed to support his first year in Canada.

There is a way for him to live a life with freedom in a country where he can learn more about his dream job (Designing and Animation) and help others. All he needs is to be sponsored by a group of five Canadian friends. To help support Ali Reza as a sponsor, please contact Stephen Watt on Facebook.

You can also reach out to Ali Reza on Facebook.

Reach out and discover how wonderful it is to privately sponsor a good person to start a new life – with your help – in Canada!

Thank you for your support. And help spread the word by sharing this post!