Calgary man searching for group that helped him immigrate to Canada 3 decades ago
Ivo Ceko was a member of a military police unit that was guarding a hotel in a town in central Bosnia when he met a group of young Canadians and Americans in the summer of 1994.
His English wasn't very good back then, and they couldn't speak fluent Croatian – but they managed to exchange some sentences.
"We chat, we laugh," he recalled in a recent phone interview. "I didn’t expect anything from that (meeting)."
When a young woman in the group told Ceko that she was travelling home to Canada and asked if she could bring him anything back, he jokingly responded: "Get me a passport."
"'Really, you want to get out from here?'" he remembered her asking. "I say, 'who wouldn't?' It was a desperate situation."
Three weeks later, the man in his 30s received a brown envelope. Inside were blank Canadian immigration forms and a pair of socks. He filled out the paperwork, applied for a visa and arrived in Canada in March 1997.
Now, nearly three decades later, Ceko is looking to reconnect with the group to tell them how grateful he and his family are for what they did.
"I just want to find them and say thank you and, you know, hug them and maybe have a drink with them," Ceko said from Calgary.
Ceko doesn’t remember much about the five or six men and women who helped him, asides from that they were in their twenties and had a guitar.
He thinks they might have Croatian roots as they were visiting after Croatia announced its independence in 1991 – and during the brutal civil war that broke out within the former Yugoslavia in the years after – to see how things were going in their newly founded ancestral country.
They could have also been employees of charities affiliated with churches that were involved in delivering aid to the desperate population back then.
He said the members of the United Nations peacekeeping forces were in the town and at the hotel, but he doesn’t think the group was part of any military.
The news that he had received the forms travelled fast across Novi Travnik, a small town where everyone knew everyone. Soon, friends showed up, asking if they could make photocopies.
Ceko said he doesn't know how many people actually immigrated to Canada using the photocopies, but he is sure that a few – including one of his friends – did.
Until now, Ceko hasn't had time to think about reconnecting with those who helped him. He's spent the past 26 years raising two children, sending them off to university, and starting a flooring business.
He closed his business when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. His children are now grown and living on their own. As his 60th birthday closes in, he said it is the right time to start the search.
"I always have (finding them) on my mind, but I didn't have the time. Now I have time," he said.
Last week, with the help of his daughter, he wrote a post sharing his story on a Croatian-Canadian Facebook page.
So far, he hasn't uncovered any leads, but he hopes he will eventually get "lucky" enough to meet the group that changed his life.
"I am going to tell them the happy story," he said. "They probably forget about that, but I didn't."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Asking rent prices up 9.3% across Canada, Ontario sees only decline: report
A new report says the average asking rent for a home in Canada in April was up 9.3 per cent compared with a year ago, while a slight month-over-month increase was also recorded for the first time since January.
What is basic income, and how would it impact me?
Parliamentarians are considering a pair of bills aiming to lift people out of poverty through a basic income program, but some fear these types of systems could result in more taxes for Canadians who are already financially struggling.
'I may have some nightmares:' Man survives being bitten by 2 sharks in Bahamas
A man who was bitten by two sharks in the Bahamas said Thursday he's 'thankful that I'm here' while sharing his story of survival.
Magnitude 4.2 earthquake reported off Vancouver Island's west coast
A 4.2-magnitude earthquake was recorded west of Vancouver Island early Friday morning.
Mexico's president accuses press and volunteer searchers for missing people of 'necrophilia'
The administration of Mexico's president has accused the press and volunteer searchers who look for the bodies of missing people of 'necrophilia,' comments that drew criticism this week.
WATCH Expecting an interest rate cut in June? Don't bet on it after new jobs data
Canada's labour market rebounded in April, adding more than 90,000 jobs, a staggering number of new positions after four consecutive months of little change.
Out-of-control wildfire burning near Fort McMurray
As of 9 a.m. on Friday, the wildfire burning 28 kilometres southwest of the northeastern Alberta city was 25 hectares in size.
Prince William says wife Kate is 'doing well'
Prince William said on Friday his wife Kate was 'doing well' in a rare public comment about the Princess of Wales as she undergoes preventative chemotherapy for cancer.
'Irate male' assaulted Newfoundland officers with block of cheese, police say
Police in Newfoundland say patrol officers were assaulted Thursday by a "very irate male" wielding a block of cheese.