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Please help me buy back my childhood home

Through a no fault of my own, I lost my childhood home. It was in the family for 47 years. I now have a chance to get it back. Will you help me?

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Please help me buy back my childhood home

Please help me buy back my childhood home

Please help me buy back my childhood home

Please help me buy back my childhood home

Please help me buy back my childhood home

Through a no fault of my own, I lost my childhood home. It was in the family for 47 years. I now have a chance to get it back. Will you help me?

Through a no fault of my own, I lost my childhood home. It was in the family for 47 years. I now have a chance to get it back. Will you help me?

Through a no fault of my own, I lost my childhood home. It was in the family for 47 years. I now have a chance to get it back. Will you help me?

Through a no fault of my own, I lost my childhood home. It was in the family for 47 years. I now have a chance to get it back. Will you help me?

sivle1973
sivle1973
sivle1973
sivle1973
1 Campaign |
Port Coquitlam, Canada
$380 USD 4 backers
0% of $450,000 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal
Choose your Perk

A Few Introductory Words

Hi, my name is Daniel. I stand before you with many reservations and uncertainties concerning seeking help on a public forum. However, I feel that it is the only action left to take, having exhausted all of my normal avenues. I am desperate. I need your help.

Please take the time to read my story and watch the short three minute video. It [the video] represents a time period between 1973 and 1982, my first 9 years spent at my childhood home, a place where I was born and raised.

The Beginning

The story begins in Europe, Poland, way back in 1956. This was the year that the house was built, a big all brick building, its walls adorned with large green vine leaves, a house which stood on a fairly large plot of land, with a beautiful garden and trees of all kinds.. [The house was located in the suburbs, about 20 km from the capital city of Poland, Warsaw]. This was also the exact year that a young married couple moved in, my Grandmother and Grandfather. They have two teenage sons by then, one of which will turn out to be my own Father but that’s still years away... As a point of interest, the house was actually built by my then Grandmother’s rich Uncle, who not only raised my Grandmother, since she was a child but was also her sole Guardian. The house was a gift. My Grandmother never forgot and fiercely protected her new home. Fast forward to 1973. I am born.

My Grandmother was the sole owner of her house from 1956 to about 1976. By that time period, my Grandmother makes my Father and Mother the co-owners, meaning that half of the estate belongs to my Grandmother and half to my parents. It is of importance to note here that my Grandmother purposely did not make her other Son, who was by then my Uncle, a co-owner, because he had bad debts, made poor decisions and could not be trusted. She feared risking her home if my Uncle was specified in the deed. My Grandmother needed to know that the house was in good hands and that it would remain in the family long after she passed. That is why she made my parents the only co-owners of the estate, outside of herself, to protect its future. As such, this also assured that her other Son, my Uncle, would continue to have a home for the duration of his life... [This section becomes critical later on. I will return to it..].   

No Turning Back

I left Poland, with my Mom, in 1982, during what was called “stan wojenny” or a type of Martial Law. This was when the then communist government drastically restricted normal life by introducing martial law in an attempt to crush political opposition. (Poland was under communist rule beginning right after the second world war, up until 1989). It was a very difficult time for our entire family. So when my Mom received a 2 year contract position, as a principal physiotherapist, in Africa, at the end of 1981, at one of the largest hospitals in Nigeria, we all were very happy. Up until the very last moment, when we left Poland, we were all under police observation. There was no turning back.

[I was told years later by my Mom, that my Grandmother had said to her, just before my Mom and I left the country, that “I have a feeling that I will never see you again...”.]

My Mom and I lived in Nigeria for two years. She received a contract extension but we had to leave due to an escalating civil war there. In fact, it became so dangerous that many of our friends there carried automatic machine guns under their car seats. We left Nigeria in 1984.

We always planned to return to Poland, when the situation there changed but this was not to be. My Mom’s brother, a medical doctor, who was to remain in Poland for the duration of his life, up until his tragic death from Cancer in the mid 90's and who put himself on the line as a “guarantor” to my Mom’s return, convinced her that we should not come back. He told my Mother that there was a good chance that we would never again leave Poland if we would return. In this way, our plans changed and, through a brief stop in France, we made our way to Canada, where we currently reside. This time my Father joined us. This was in 1985. It remained unchanged, however, our thoughts of one day returning to our family home in Poland...

The Betrayal

Enter 1993. My Grandmother dies of a stroke at her home in Poland. She outlived my Grandfather, who had passed away 13 years before. After she died, her part of the ownership, which was half, automatically went to her two sons [my Father and Uncle], as equal beneficiaries to the estate.   

1998. My Father goes to Poland for a few months and, inexplicably, officially gives away his part of the ownership of the family home to the sole beneficiary that was to be his older brother. This apparently occurred after extreme pressure from his cousins. My Uncle now was the sole owner of the family home and lot of land that it stood on. My Father did this under total secrecy and never told us anything about it. I found out in 2003. This was the year that my Father’s brother, my Uncle, sold my family home, without ever letting us know. I was furious at my own Father and Uncle for such a betrayal. When anger subsided, it turned into tears and disbelief.. Nothing could be done.

Last I heard, after my Uncle sold the family home, he had already spent the majority of the money on cars, women and vacations. He currently sub-exists in a tiny room adjacent to a stable for horses, lives off charity and what’s left of the money. This is what my Grandmother feared. It came to pass because of my Father’s shortsightedness and sheer stupidity. Where was I, his only son, in the decision making process? Is that moral and just? My Grandmother had the foresight to never give any part of ownership to my Uncle and for good reason. It was my own Father who undid all of this. Now his brother owned 100%. It ended when my Uncle sold my childhood home. Again, where is the morality in all of this, not to mention good sense?

Since then, years have passed.. The thought, unbearable, that I would never see my childhood home again, that it was in some stranger’s hands, a place I considered “sacred”... I often followed real estate classified ads, searching if my home back in Poland was up for sale. There was no indication that it would be. It was merely a dream, something to hold on to, I guess...

A New Hope

Then, in 2013, a few months ago, to my complete amazement, I found that the house was up for sale! I quickly verified that the agent’s ad was still active and that the house was still available. I knew I had to act fast. I feared someone else would buy it. I was scared of losing out on perhaps the only opportunity I had or would have for the foreseeable future. But how would I do it? I did not have enough money. I had some money saved up but it was just not enough, maybe for a down payment but not much else. It’s not like I could get a mortgage back in Poland. I was 9 when I left. That was out and so was any kind of bank loan in Canada. It was simply not an option. I would not have qualified for the amount I needed nor would I afford the payments. I also had little in the way of assets. I tried to find other ways to come up with more money but my attempts were of limited use. I was fast running out of options. Time was not on my side. I was doomed. Despite it all, I felt that if I don’t do anything about it, I will likely lose out on buying back my childhood home, maybe forever. Then a friend suggested Indiegogo...  

The Reality

The house costs the equivalent of about $450,000. I have spoken with the agent, explained the situation and also asked him to forward my story to the seller. I basically asked if it would be possible to take the house off the market for about a month, month and a half, if I put down a deposit, with the full intention of coming up with the money within that time period. The answer was yes. The seller agreed to give me until the end of December...

How You Can Help

Please click the big pink button at the top or bottom of this page that says "Contribute Now." When you do, you'll be able to enter the amount you'd like to contribute. You can donate with PayPal or a credit card.

Please consider making a donation if you were touched by my story in any way, shape or form. Naturally, any amount you can contribute is a blessing. You will make a difference, I can promise you. Tell your friends, family, spread the word, is all I can ask. I have exhausted all of my options and ways to come up with more money. I need to defer to you in that regard.

It is so important that you tell as many people about my campaign as possible. In fact, the whole success depends on it.

Please give as much as you can, as often as you can and, again, please spread the word. Hopefully, it will snowball from there. Please help me buy back my childhood home. You are my last chance. Please help me get as close as possible to my goal. I am counting on your generosity. Thank you and God Bless.

What You Will Receive

All contributors will receive updates and my undying gratitude. In addition, if the campaign is a success, Your name (but only with your expressed permission), along with the names of other contributors, will be prominently displayed on a large dedication plaque, which will be located at the entrance of my home, representing you as one of the people who had made it possible to buy back my childhood home. Your name will be permanently displayed and your generosity immortalized for generations to come. My home will be your home. I will take photographs, including the engraved plaque and send these to you. If this is something which interests you, please let me know. This is, of course, optional but it is something I wish to offer as a gift to You.

A Few Additional Words

I value my family's privacy. Therefore, for obvious reasons, I chose not to provide any identifying specific information, such as my last name and the names of the above mentioned people, on this public forum. I hope you understand. Thank you once again for taking the time to read my story.

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