A family from one of Africa's most troubled and poorest nations will soon be reunited in Prince George after more than a decade apart, thanks to a groundswell of local donations.
Mamadou Tounkara hopes to see his wife and three sons this Friday for first time since he fled imprisonment and torture in his native Republic of Guinea.
After 11 years in Canada, Tounkara became a permanent resident, allowing him to bring his family - wife Fatoumata, son Amadou, 18, Marian, 16, and Abrahim, 11- to this country. He managed to scrape up the thousands of dollars needed to navigate Guinea's immigration process but needed $12,000 to pay for airplane tickets. An appeal to the residents and businesses of Prince George secured that amount, the tickets were booked Monday and Tounkara is set to welcome his family to the city Friday afternoon - which will include a meeting with Abrahim, who he has never met.
"Give them a big hug," is the response Tounkara gave when asked what the first thing he'd like to do with his family. "And cry."
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