Refugee Portal Podcast

An open discussion with Voices of Muslim Women founder Aisha Amijee on the role of women in society, faith, and empowerment.

Trevor Millar is a social-entrepreneur and owner of Liberty Root Therapy Ltd., a business dedicated to healing and transformation using the anti-addictive plant medicine ibogaine and other psychedelic compounds. Trevor currently serves as Chair of Board for the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) Canada and is a former Executive Director of the Global Ibogaine Therapy Alliance.

Featured in the award-winning documentary about using magic mushrooms and Iboga to heal addiction, anxiety and depression called DOSED, he is also a founding member of the Canadian Psychedelic Association.

In this episode we speak with Hiba. She left her hometown of Daraa at 11 years old due to the Civil War in Syria. She then journeyed to a refugee camp in Jordan before spending 3 years in the country. After that she left for Canada and her new life. Hear her story.

Tony McAleer found an outlet for his teenage rage in the street violence of the skinhead scene. He then grew deeply involved in the White Aryan Resistance (WAR), rising through the ranks to become a leader, and embraced technology and the budding internet to bring white nationalist propaganda into the digital age. After fifteen years in the movement, it was the outpouring of love he felt at the birth of his children that inspired him to start questioning his hateful beliefs. Thus began the spiritual journey of personal transformation that enabled him to disengage from the highest levels of the white power movement. We interview Tony about his experience, as well as what he views as the path forward for those who are consumed with hate, as well as those who bear the brunt of it.

In this episode we speak with Nabil Ali, the Director of Programs for IDRF. The International Development and Relief Foundation (IDRF) is a Canadian non-profit organization dedicated to linking Canadian and Muslim communities with overseas development projects, both humanitarian emergency assistance and long term development projects in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and the Americas, based on Islamic principles of human dignity, self-reliance, and social justice. Since 1984, IDRF has been supporting those affected by wars and natural disasters; aiding regions of our worlds affected by grave poverty, injustice, illiteracy, and preventable diseases; and securing long-term sustainability for disadvantaged people around the world.

In this episode of the Refugee Portal Podcast, we speak with Shaza from Syria. Shaza is a 21 year old refugee who was born in Homs, Syria and is currently living in Vancouver. We speak with her about her story in leaving Syria as a teenager, going to Lebanon as a Refugee, before arriving in Canada. Shaza shares her story of experiencing the war, her struggles and losses, as well as her courage and hope. She talks with us about how helping others ultimately helped give her peace and purpose, and how faith kept her strong.

In this episode, we speak with Rabbi Philip Bregman of Hillel House UBC and the Rabbi Emeritus of Temple Sholom in Vancouver. We discuss the work Jewish humanitarians and aid agencies are doing for refugees both in Vancouver and around the world.