The Farah Jahan Khan Memorial and Garden
Each May, The Gatehouse® remembers Farah Khan. Farah was a 5-year-old girl whose dismembered body was found in Colonel Samuel Smith Park,
behind the grounds of The Gatehouse®. Farah Khan was murdered through an act of extreme child abuse.
As a grade two immigrant child to Canada living with her father and step mother, Farah had very little community in Canada to protect her.
The Gatehouse® provided the local community with a common meeting place where Farah's short life could be memorialized and the community could express its outrage and grief for this child.
The Gatehouse® hosted two memorial services to help the community mourn Farah's death in 1999. Her home and school are only blocks away from The Gatehouse® and so our neighbourhood was very affected by her death. We needed to find a way for people to come together and commemorate her life.
In the spring of 1999, volunteers, staff and community members planted Farah's Garden along the west side of The Gatehouse®. Every May, we replant the garden in her name as a symbol of hope for all abused children and to renew our commitment to work to end child abuse. Help us Renew, Replant, and Remember.