Winnipeg Free Press Benon Tumusiime had only a few months of pandemic-free life in Winnipeg after arriving as a refugee from Uganda in November 2019. Benon Tumusiime had only a few months of pandemic-free life in Winnipeg after arriving as a refugee from Uganda in November 2019. He’d already started to hear news about COVID-19, but he was skeptical the virus would affect his life. MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Karin Gordon, the executive director of Hospitality House Refugee Ministry, with (from left): Kelly Uwintwari, Abdoulhi Muhammad and Benon Tumusiime. Newcomers to Manitoba and their support groups have encountered increasing difficulties due to COVID-19.