We appreciate Prime Minister Hon Scott Morrison’s Eid ul Adha 2021 good wishes to our community, especially during this current Covid-19 situation. We will all do our part in keeping Australia safe.
Kindest regards,
MWASA Management Committee
CHSP Seniors Tour the Parliament House!
Last week, our Seniors were given the opportunity to tour the Parliament House of South Australia!
They were led to view the colonial architecture while also learning about the roles, history, and work of the Parliament. Our seniors were greatly invested and asked a string of questions throughout the tour; hopefully, they did not overwhelm the tour guide too much!
Big thank you to Natalie Young, the Community Education Officer, for the informative tour as well as Parliament House for hosting us! Our seniors had a very good time!Community Annoucement from Australian National Imams Council
The Australian National Imams Council and the Australian Fatwa Council are conscious of keeping the Muslim community united, in particular during Islamic occasions and celebrations. It’s therefore, They would like to take this opportunity to make the following announcement:
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the custodians of the two sacred cities Makkah and Madinah, in which the rituals of Hajj including Tawaf, Sa’ai and standing at Arafat are performed, has announced that Sunday, 11th of July 2021 is the first of the Month of Thul Hijjah in the year 1442 after the Hijrah (Migration of the Prophet Peace Be Upon Him).
As a result, His Eminence the Grand Mufti of Australia Dr. Ibrahim Abu Mohamad announces that:
Monday, 19th of July 2021 will be the Day of Arafah (9th of Thul Hijjah) and Tuesday, 20th of July 2021 (10th of Thul Hijjah) Will be the Day of Eid Al-Adha for the Year 1442H – 2021
Cake Decorating with SETS Youth
Our holidays are going great and the cupcake decorating session we held last week was definitely the icing on the cake! 
We had an experienced baker, Sidhra Khalid from Mimi Tu, come in to teach some of our girls techniques to use when decorating cakes! Our Youth’s creativity really shone through in their cakes; it was almost a pity to eat them! 
We are really glad we got to have this activity for our Youths, not only to have fun but to also try and learn new skills that they could use in the future!
SETS Youth Girls Go Ice Skating!
What an ice way to kick off the holidays!
Our SETS Youth had a ball during their first time ice-skating, though there were a few slips and slides!
It was wonderful to see our girls engage in a fun, physical activity that many have not tried before. They had lots of fun trying to navigate on the ice with their friends; while there were lots of laughs, there were also bumps and bruises!
Keep your eyes out for more holiday activities! We look forward to seeing you at the next one! SETS Mums Start Innovating!
We held an introductory course for our SETS mums to help them move forward towards a future that they want; whether it be to start a business, improve their community or even build themselves professionally! 
Our partner from HOST International, Shahy Radwan, introduced the idea of creating an ‘Action Plan’, and explained the importance of being proactive. She also introduced the concept of ‘brainstorming’ ideas; a crucial stepping stone towards innovation and success.
We look forward to seeing what our SETS mums can do!
Refugee Week 2021
This Refugee Week, we acknowledge the valuable contributions of refugees and asylum seekers throughout all communities in Australia. We also embrace the multiculturalism present as well as the opportunity and benefits that it brings that has advanced us this far as a society.
In celebration of this week, MWASA took our ‘Learning English through Cooking’ program to Adelaide Central Market to introduce ‘A World of Flavours’. We, together with Red Cross, gathered some of our newly-arrived mums to come in for a live cooking demonstration of ethnic foods from Jordan, Sri Lanka and many more.
It was wonderful seeing our Muslim women in the spotlight and we would love to see more do the same; whether it be to find work or even extending a hand to make a new friend.
Big thank you to the participants, volunteers, guests, MWASA staff and the team from Red Cross for co-hosting this incredible event!
Another event we held during Refugee Week was for our favourite CHSP Seniors! Despite the tumultuous weather conditions, our seniors made the effort to spend their Thursday morning with us, celebrating the various circumstances that have brought them together.
In this celebration, we switched the roles around and had our seniors come up and present instead. We had a delightful performance of Br. Rafik Chanisheff playing the accordion, and Sr. Rouzihan Shadiq reciting verses of the Qur’an. It was truly amazing to unearth the talents of our seniors and we can’t help but want to share it! 
We also had one of our SETS clients, Linh, come in and tell the seniors a little bit about her journey to Australia, which she expresses through her art.
It is important that we acknowledge the hardships that refugees face throughout their journey to safety and peace. It is within our power to ensure that we, as one community, work to thrive, progress and build our lives together.
Let’s move forward unified!
Congratulations to our SETS Youth Leaders!
A big round of applause for our SETS girls who’ve just completed our 3-day Youth Leadership Workshop!
The workshop aimed to build the foundation for leadership in our SETS Youth; primarily focussing on self-reflection and confidence in communication. It was an excellent opportunity to help our youth not only as budding leaders but also as individuals, where they learned to channel a ‘growth mindset’ so that they can embrace challenges and accept criticism with ease.
The girls were very active participants so every workshop was a flurry of activity and discussions. They were very keen to learn new skills and how to tackle problems that they were unsure of. A big section of the training was dedicated to being conscious of yourself and others around; specifically how your thinking, actions, and method of communication effects how you are perceived by others.
At the end of the workshops, the many youths commented that “more [workshops] would be good because I think there is still a lot more to learn…”. MWASA is very glad to have provided the opportunity for our SETS Youth to grow and learn, and make new friends.
MWASA would be very keen to hold similar workshops for our youth in the future. Will you be joining us then?
CHSP Seniors play with Watercolours!
Who knew our seniors were such talented artists?
We held a fantastic art therapy session on June 3rd for our CHSP seniors, guided by art therapist, Victoria Lowery.
The seniors were evidently excited for their first art activity and worked hard to present “the Colours of their Heart”. They were keen to learn about watercolour and stenciling techniques that they would later use in their own works. The activity created a relaxed atmosphere that allowed the seniors to fully engage in their work. It was one of the few times where our seniors weren’t merrily chatting!
It was a wonderful opportunity for them to practice their creative side by expressing themselves through various colours, patterns and shapes; and the results were stunning! We expected no less from our seniors!
While the session was aimed to reduce stress and practice psychological wellbeing, it was most importantly an activity designed for our seniors to enjoy themselves. It was rewarding for us and the seniors to see the result of their work at the end.We are looking forward to seeing what other creative surprises seniors have to show!
Rostrevor College experiences Unity in Diversity
Last month our Cross-Cultural Educator, Flora, took students from Rostrevor College on a tour around Wandana Mosque as a part of our Unity in Diversity program.
She discussed the topic of Islam and Muslims, and answered questions regarding common misconceptions regarding them. Flora also conversed about fasting and the month of Ramadan, particularly on its importance and the difficulties associated with it.
It was an informative session that allowed the students to walk away more informed and with a better understanding of the importance of having Unity in Diversity.
Thank you to Wandana Mosque for hosting us and to Rostrevor College for attending!
If you are interested in arranging a Cross-Cultural Session for your school or workplace, contact admin@mwasa.org.au.
CHSP Eid Lunch
If we’re talking about celebrations, we can’t possibly leave out the Eid Lunch we held for our CHSP seniors! It was an incredibly joyous event seeing as the seniors had been too busy during Ramadan to see each other, so this lunch gathering had been an excellent opportunity for them to catch up with each other after a month of Ibadah.
We had an overwhelming number of seniors attend the lunch event, many of them excited for the chance to meet with friends and grab a delicious meal.
Seniors having lunch
Seniors having lunch
Seniors having lunch
Seniors having lunch
Despite the seemingly endless chatter, we managed to get the seniors to play some light games. ‘Bingo’ proved to be a crowd favourite as there were many laughs shared throughout the game. They also played a visual perceptual activity where they guessed the number of animals in a picture, which caused a lot of debate among the seniors.
Bingo winners!
Game winners!
Game winners!
Big thank you to Tangritah Uyghur Shish Kebabs Restaurant for hosting lunch, we couldn’t have held a lunch as big as this without your help!
Food enjoyed by our seniors
Thanks to Saray Kebab House Cafe and Restaurant for the amazing deserts; the seniors had enjoyed them very much!
Desserts provided for our seniors
Looking forward to the next event with our CHSP seniors!
Staff Eid Lunch
Last week had been full of celebrations; among them was our staff Eid luncheon, where our volunteers, staff members and committee members gathered to enjoy quality staff bonding time.
Staff enjoying their meal
It was a great opportunity not only for the staff to sit down and chat away from the workplace, but to meet with other members of staff they do not see regularly, as well as get aquianted with the new recruits. The table was filled with conversation of all sorts, and plenty of laughter was shared throughout the meal.
Staff enjoying their meal
Big thank you to Saray Kebab House Cafe and Restaurant for hosting the luncheon. The food was marvelous and it’s safe to say that we left no plate untouched!
Spread provided by Sarey Kebab House
The team is keen on seeing the rest of 2021 together and will continue to work hard to surpass our 2020 achievements.
Staff selfie
If you are interested in volunteering with us, visit our Volunteer Page or Contact Us on any of our available platforms. We look forward to hearing from you!
Welcome Insyirah!
Usrah Eid Morning Tea
We had a fantastic morning tea gathering in celebration of Eid with our Usrah study group on May 17th. After the weekly Tajweed classes, our members had came together to prepare a shared morning feast filled with amazing foods!
Usrah member during their weekly Tajweed classes
Our wonderful members had taken the liberty to meticulously prepare tea that it started to look more like feast fit for a king. We expected no less from our Usrah ladies!
Foods prepared by Usrah members
Foods prepared by Usrah members
It was definitely a great way to celebrate the beginning of Eid; with celebration, laughter and, of course, the abundance of food.
Usrah members enjoying the spread
Big thank you to our Usrah members for making this morning as amazing as it was!
Join us every Monday from 10am at the MWASA building for our Tajweed classes; the program is entirely run by our lovely sisters who are more than welcome to help you recite the Qur’an with confidence.
