Muslims Meals Project @ Old Bazaar Market

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The Muslim Women’s Association of SA (MWASA) supported Multicultural Aged Care (MAC) in the launch of the Muslim (Seniors) Meals Project last week at the Old Bazaar Market, Hollywood Plaza.
 
MWASA – along with other community service providers such as Uniting Communities, ARAS (Aged Rights Advocacy Service) and Catalyst Foundation – had a stall at the expo to share information with the public on our respective services and activities.  
 
About 20 of our CHSP seniors participated in the event. After the launch, they visited the information booth and then were treated to lunch. The seniors thoroughly enjoyed the day as they were able to eat lunch and socialize with their peers in a relaxed and comfortable ambience. 
 

Farewell, June!

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Many of you will know June’s lovely face, she’s been the CHSP (Community Home Support Program) Coordinator at MWASA for the last 3 and a half years. The time has come for June to move on to a new adventure and so the occasion was marked in the best way we know how: with some yummy food at a Farewell Lunch.  

June has enjoyed working on the CHSP and being able to help diverse people from different cultures, and has enjoyed all the learning journeys and getting to know Adelaide through the destinations that the CHSP has visited.

June’s favourite events have been the Eid gatherings! They are an opportunity to get to know many members. She has also enjoyed the annual staff lunches and getting to know other team members on a personal level.

June has enjoyed her time at MWASA and values what she has learned about culture and Australian ways of working.

June hopes that MWASA will continue to prosper and help more Muslim women and be inclusive.

Vice Chairperson Dora Abbas thanked June for her good work and expressed appreciation for June’s initiatives.

Dora reiterated that we will still see June helping in the local Muslim community, we are all still contributing to the same South Australian Muslim and broader communities.

… farewell, June!

SETS Is A Picnic For The Girls

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A picnic was organised for the SETS youths to have some fun during the school holidays, giving them the opportunity to participate in different activities and meet new girls from other backgrounds. 

The day involved various dynamic outdoor games and activities which fostered friendship, collaboration, teamwork and developed leadership skills. Fourteen youths attended. 

A discussion was had about programs throughout the new year. The girls were happy with the idea of ‘Social Saturdays’ where they get to meet more often and plan activities, and learn in the process.

In future the one thing we encourage participants to do is to be one time so that the program is not delayed. 

Feedback from the participants:

“We wanted to have some fun and not be stuck at home”
“Coming here gave us break from house chores”
“We liked the races, games and enjoyed shared food”
“It was fun to socialise and meet new people”

 

Youthful Recipes of Life Update

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Last week the second “Recipes of Life” session – organised with Dulwich Centre as a series for youths – was held. The idea is to provide a platform for the young girls to express any family issues they face after coming to Australia.

The focus of this session was a discussion around ways young girls can address issues when dealing with parents and provide tips. These tips will later be put together as a resource that will be helpful for other parents and young girls in similar situation.

The recipe was named “Fixing the Family”.

The session provided participants space to discuss and share issues that concern them. Most had similar issues but different ways to find solutions. It was based on many factors such as culture, family values and more. It will be interesting to see how all this unfolds when we discuss this recipe from the girls at the next session with mums.

Feedback

“The session was helpful”

“We were able to express and comment”

“Never thought before things that we discussed and expressed today”

“Discussed things that we never spoke before outside in a group”

Top 10 Most Popular MWASA Posts from 2019

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The Muslim Women’s Association of SA has continued growing a diverse and supportive online audience throughout 2019.

The Facebook page now has over 1.2K Likes!

The email subscription option for service providers has been well received and new friends are regularly subscribing through our website.

This is terrific as the internet is the fastest and easiest way for us to share information about our programs and upcoming events!

We were able to see which of our posts were most popular in 2019 – meaning which of our posts you have engaged with the most by viewing, clicking and reacting. 

Scroll down to see our number 1 most popular post of 2019, and along the way remember what a wonderful year 2019 was…

See this post

 

See this post

 

See this post

 

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See this post

 

See this post

 

See this post

 

See this post

 

See this post

 

See this post

 

Thankyou for your clicks and comments in 2019 and we hope to stay connected in 2020!

 

 

NEW Info Board at MWASA

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Communication is crucial in every context.

Here at MWASA, we continually try to communicate in the best way: with each other, with our members and with the community. This means trying new ways of communication and seeing if the new way is effective, clear and inclusive. 

Sharing information online is a great way to reach a lot of people with no paper waste. Some of our members, however, don’t have regular and reliable access to technology, or struggle with the cyber skills needed to navigate the online world, or find it easier to read in languages other than English.

As a complementary method of communication, we will be updating the new Info Board located in the foyer in the same way that we post online: flyers, photos, milestones and information regarding daily operations. It has already become a mingling and talking point for the ladies coming in for classes. Look for it next time you’re in the office. 

As a bonus, look for the spectacular aerial photo of Wilpena Pound, which is around 5 hours north of Adelaide in the Flinders Ranges. As a complete coincidence but as further evidence of the successful multicultural nature of our organisation, one of our members is from the Adnyamathanha tribe – the first nation people of the Flinders Ranges region. 

Also located in the foyer, surrounding the Info Board, is a wide variety of information from community service providers and from the Australian Government. Although most booklets are in English, there are some available in different languages. There is information available on parenting, health issues effecting women, local events and attractions and more – and it is all free to take. 

Please take note of our opening hours: 9:30am to 3:30pm Monday to Friday, with the exception of this coming end of year period where we will be closing from Tuesday 24th December and re-opening on Monday 6th January 2020. If coming in to inquire about a specific program, please call our office beforehand on 08 8212 0800, just to make sure that the program coordinator will be free for you. Thankyou. 

 

Goolwa is the place to Go!

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The Wallaroo Trip planned for Thursday 21st of November was changed to Goolwa, due to the catastrophic bushfire conditions on the Yorke Peninsula the day before. Though disappointed, the seniors understood the situation and were glad that the picnic trip was not cancelled.

Twenty-three seniors went on this trip.

Our first stop over was at Strathalbyn. The River Angas Walkway at this country town was beautiful in spring, with flowers blooming in the rose garden and ducks swimming in the river. The seniors enjoyed strolling along the walkway and visited the antique shops in High Street.

Next, we went to Hindmarsh Island, the Southern Hemisphere’s largest freshwater marina development. We crossed over to the island using the bridge that is connected from Goolwa. The driver took us to Sugars Beach where you can see the mouth of the Murray River – where the river
meets the sea. He gave a brief description about the Murray River which weaves its way through three states – NSW (Yarrawonga), Victoria and South Australia (Goolwa). What a great learning journey.

Subsequently, we arrived at Goolwa Wharf around 1pm. However, due to the unexpected cold and windy weather, the seniors decided to have their picnic lunch in the park instead. They had lunch under a big shelter overseeing the riverfront at Richard Ballard Park. The seniors enjoyed
eating their lunch in the company of their friends. Some even engaged in games and activities while others preferred to explore the town centre. The social interactions indeed had livened up their mood after not being able to go to Wallaroo.

We departed from Goolwa around 2:30pm. The bus driver took a different route back home and passed by Middleton and Port Elliot. It was indeed a scenic and spectacular drive as he took us near the seaside. The sea was beautiful, and we might have spotted two whales in the sea! It was the
highlight of the day.

 

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EOY MWASA Team Lunch

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Last week a number of the MWASA Team – including volunteers, staff members and management committee members – gathered to enjoy each others company and some yummy food. 
 
One distinct difference between being a part of a Not for Profit Team as opposed to private commercial enterprise is that not all team members regularly see each other. Some of the tutors only come in to teach their students and go again until next week. Some of the Management Committee work full time and contribute entirely from passion after hours. Some team members are university students and their contributions are especially appreciated during exam times. 
 
It takes special women to make up a dynamic team such as this. The conversation around the tables was fascinating, colourful, multicultural, at times very funny and other times a heavier reflection on academic or unpleasant things. Each woman is an overflowing vessel of life experience and knowledge.
Another of the collective virtues of our team members is the willingness to help women in the community, the very thing that brought us all together. 
 
Not least, we must sing the praises of Pondok Daun on Currie Street. Lunch was ordered and delivered with no fuss. Pondok Daun is an Indonesian restaurant which consistently produces the highest quality meals, from nourishing soups to hearty kway teow to crunchy wontons with the very zingy chilli sauce. 
 
The team looks forward to 2020, to matching every achievement of 2019 and far surpassing it inshaAllah. 
 
If you would like to volunteer with MWASA in 2020, or know someone who would, please go to our Volunteer Page and submit your details.
 

SETS Citizenship Session Specific to Syrians

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Recently MWASA hosted a Citizenship Session under the SETS (Settlement Engagement and Transition Support) program, specifically for Syrian clients. The presenter had requested for it to be Syrians only, due to visa differences in clients from Syria and Afghanistan.

The presenter was Okke Velzeboer, from the Department of Home Affairs. Okke is the South Australian Community Liaison Officer in the Citizenship and Multicultural Programs Division. 

The session covered the rights, responsibilities and privileges of being an Australian citizen. Okke also went through the eligibility criteria, application process, documents required, interview and citizenship test and application processing duration.

The ladies enjoyed the session and had lots of questions to ask from the presenter. The session was fun and also very informative and useful as the ladies will soon be eligible to apply for citizenship.

Commemorating 125 years since Suffrage with The Hon Irene Pnevmatikos MLC

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Muslim Women’s Association of SA was invited by the Hon Irene Pnevmatikos MLC (Member of the Legislative Council) to tour Parliament House last week, to commemorate the 125th anniversary of women’s suffrage in South Australia.

It was truly a wonderful experience for the women coming from diverse cultural backgrounds. For some it was their first time visiting Parliament House, which is a whole experience from arriving at the front steps through to leaving enriched with historical and political knowledge.

The afternoon was full of learning and discovery.

Thank you, Irene, for hosting us!

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Multicultural Community Event hosted by the Hon Jing Lee MLC

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Jing Lee’s Multicultural Community Event was a very well attended and successful celebration at the Norwood Town Hall, accompanied by delightful cultural performances.

Amid the big crowd of multicultural community representatives, the Hon Jing Lee was – as always – a warm and welcoming host!

When Premier Marshall took to the stage, he highly commended Jing Lee on her outstanding achievement as the Assistant Minister to the Premier and this was greeted with loud applause.

There were 10 Liberal MPs (Members of Parliament) present at this year’s annual occasion. 

AMRC 2019 AGM

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It was truly a privilege to be part of the AMRC (Australian Migrant Resource Centre) AGM (Annual General Meeting) last week.

AMRC have done a great job with the youth. They are all groomed to be future leaders in South Australia as well as in their respective communities.

Well done AMRC!