Winnie Czulinski –
They were a tiny fraction of the thousands fleeing their country after North American troops’ withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, and with the fall of capital city Kabul. Toronto news showed Afghan people just off a plane, at a hotel – frightened, disoriented, with nothing.
Two police constables, Mustafa Popalzai and Farzad Ghotbi, from 51 Division on Parliament Street, went to help. The refugees, especially the children, were alarmed. Then Popalzai spoke to them in their languages of Dari and Pashto. He and Ghotbi, and others, followed up with a truckload of donations.
Over twenty years before, both men had been among groups of refugees. Detective Constable Popalzai, from Kabul, Afghanistan and Peshawar, Pakistan, came with his family to Canada at age 14. PC (now Sergeant) Ghotbi had had a similar journey from Iran.
“It was very painful, déjà vu,” says Popalzai of watching televised scenes of desperate Afghans fleeing the Taliban and fighting for transport. One was a national youth team soccer player, trying to stow away on a military airplane.
“To see a child hanging onto a plane and falling to his death…that showed you the level of desperation of these people. It doesn’t matter who they are or where they’re from. Our main goal was just to help them, as much as we could.”
As for their other fear: “All my life (as a boy), I saw police officers involved in corruption, asking for bribes, beating up my father,” Popalzai said. After arriving in Canada in 2000, it took him ten years to feel comfortable about police. Now he wanted to change newcomers’ perceptions.
Popalzai and Ghotbi named their new initiative Project Hope, for the one thing anyone arrives in a new country with. It quickly became a driving force for the two busy constables and Toronto Police Service, connecting with resources such as Polycultural Immigrant and Community Services, and COSTI Immigrant Services.
Donations from Canadian Tire to Tim Horton’s were more than matched by an outpouring from the community, through social media such as @tps_projecthope, and Regent Park TV videos on YouTube.
Total donations delivered by officers and helpers to date (2021–25) total $1.5 million. As well as clothing/household goods and Christmas toys (often a child’s first), Project Hope offers information sessions, mentoring, and talks about citizens’ rights, safety, law and victimization.
With over 10,000 participants, the project has helped newcomers from around the globe, including from Afghanistan, Ukraine, Syria, Sudan, Tanzania, Somalia, Brazil, Colombia, Gaza, India, Myanmar, South Africa, Eritrea, Venezuela and Iran.
Moh Akbari, 24, fled Afghanistan with her family in 2022. Though it was painful to leave her friends, this artist/advocate has flourished in Toronto, and works with the community that welcomed her.
“I feel safe, seen and valued. (Project Hope) brings people together, creates a sense of belonging, and helps immigrants like me feel connected and supported in a new country.
“My biggest goal in life is to uplift and empower women, youth and immigrants.”
Project Hope volunteers are “all very different people, but all united,” says Popalzai, who has many awards for his local/global humanitarian work, and has a master’s degree in legal studies.
Samual Tadesse, a political-science student at Toronto Metropolitan University, is now an aspiring police officer. In his placement at 51 Division via the Youth In Policing Initiative (YIPI) and assisting with the Toronto Police Amateur Athletic Association (TPAAA) Athletic Games (held every July in Regent Park) he discovered the vision and story of Project Hope and the unwavering work they do.
“(It) restored my faith in humanity, which had been diminished because of the constant violence and division in the world,” says Tadesse, whose father was a police officer in Ethiopia. Project Hope allowed him to witness policing as more than tactics and training, to foster “a more human connection and understanding between law enforcement and civilians.”
In tandem with the project, Neighbourhood Community Officers such as Popalzai and Ghotbi have implemented and led many community programs for adults, seniors, kids, and youth, in diverse, densely-populated Regent Park. Project Hope “has been a champion for empowering newcomers,” including those who come with a distrust of police, says staff sergeant Michael De Zilva of TPS’s Community Partnerships & Engagement Unit. “Project Hope has been breaking these barriers for many years.”
The initiative remains anchored in 51 Division and continues to provide resources to newcomers across the Greater Toronto Area. Popalzai would like to take Project Hope nation-wide.
Asylum claimant/volunteer Khalid Noor from Afghanistan says, “It’s a cluster of wonderful people who have come together for nothing but building trust and hope of a better tomorrow.”
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Project Hope’s Christmas Drive: Over 1,500 newcomers received toys and essential items last holiday season.
This year: Brand-new toys/ brand-new winter clothing drop-off, Nov. 10 to Dec. 10, at 51 Division, 33 Division and 11 Division. @tps_projecthope
