november
Chsp seniors take a walk along torrens river
To enjoy the last of the Spring weather, we took our CHSP seniors out for a walk along the River Torrens! It was a gorgeous morning to be out and about while enjoying the warm weather and wonderful scenery.
As usual, our seniors were excited to capture pictures of their walk and the things they spotted! Of course, we ended the trip with a short picnic break with light refreshments and lots of chatter under the blue skies!
october
chsp visit to gorge wildlife park
We’re always up for new sights and adventures with the CHSP Seniors!
Visiting the Gorge Wildlife Park with the seniors was a wonderful experience, and the warm Spring weather played a huge part! We spent a lot of time interacting with the native animals and even got to pet the wallabies and koalas! We’ve got the pictures to prove it too!
The day ended on a high note with a picnic under the shade of the gazebo surrounded by nature and animals. Seeing the seniors in high spirits was incredibly gratifying, so we can’t wait till our next adventure together!
sewing with afghani sets ladies
We held another sewing workshop last month for our SETS ladies! We taught our ladies how to use electric sewing machines as they have only had experience using hand-operated machines before. This time, we made learnt how to make face masks and used the leftover fabric to make pillowcases!
The workshop was conducted by professional dressmaker, Mahboba Behmani, who did a wonderful job of inspiring our ladies to practice and improve their alteration skills! We look forward to sewing you at the next one!
september
sets ladies practice conversational english
The 2-day Conversational English workshop held at the Salisbury Hub provided a space for practicing everyday English. Our ladies gathered and opened up about topics about their day to day lives, sharing their wishes and concerns. The sessions were headed by our English tutor, Peta Abdalla, who led conversations. We hope that we were able to encourage confidence and greater community connection within our attendees.
MWASA is looking forward to holding more workshops that would provide means for more women to connect and thrive!
ORAL HEALTH SETS WITH LADIES
We love to see smiles on your faces!
In collaboration with Adelaide Dental School, MWASA held an informative session for our SETS ladies on oral health. We had dentistry students come in to teach participants about their children’s oral health! Our guest students had advised and given tips (as well as goodie bags) to keep their smile perfect.
Thank you to the students from Adelaide Dental School for your efforts in educating our ladies. It was enjoyable and they learnt a lot!
FOUNDATION SKILLS STUDENTS TAKE A TRIP TO THE CEDARS
A trip to the Art Gallery inspired our English students to visit family home of artists Nora and Hans Heyson, The Cedars in Hahndorf!
It was lovely day for a drive through the Adelaide Hills, the excellent weather and warm sunshine made the perfect trip for visiting too! Once there, our students had an amazing time touring the art studio, gardens and family home. This experience connected us all to this talented family and gave our students the opportunity to practice their English! They had no qualms about asking the tour guide some questions and talking about the artwork on display.
We hope to be able to provide more opportunities for more of our students in the future!
FOUNDATION SKILLS STUDENTS VISIT THE SA MUSEUM
Last month, we took our class of Foundation Skills English students to the Art Gallery of South Australia! We had a look at the art on display by Nora Heyson and her father, Hans Heyson, both famous Australia painters. The students were very excited to be able to see paintings close up as we had been talking about both painters during class.
It was a relaxing break from English classes as the students were able to spend some quiet time admiring the artworks!
The visit has inspired us to visit the painters’ family home in Hahndorf, so we planned for a visit for the next class outing.
Sets PARENTING TALK WITH HASSAN NOORI
MWASA held a Parenting Q&A Session recently hosted by Imam Hassan Noori for our newly arrived Afghani women. It was a constructive session where the ladies were able to share their parenting challenges in a new environment and integrating into Australian society.
Thank you to Imam Hassan Noori for helping our ladies navigate through their parenting dilemmas!
CHSP SENIORS GO MINI GOLFING AT WEST BEACH!
Earlier this month, we took our seniors to the West Beach Mini-Golf course to enjoy a day outside under the warm sunshine. It was an exciting for our seniors who were eager to return to the golf course after the fun time they and last year! This time, seniors enjoyed a friendly competition among themselves. They had spent an equal amount of time posing and snapping pictures with amusing statues!
We spent time after to have a nice lurch to catch-up with friends and catch some rest after the tough competition! We’re excited to hold more events for our Muslim seniors in the future.
CERVICAL CANCER SCREENING TALK WITH SA HEALTH
Cervical cancer is among the most common cancer among women. The risk of a woman being diagnosed with this cancer by the age of 85 is 1 in 162. MWASA held an informative talk on cervical cancer for all women ages 40 and above earlier this month. Our ladies learnt how to recognize early signs of cervical cancer and what measures to take to keep themselves as healthy as possible.
Thank you to Jacqueline from SA Health for coming in for the informative talk; our ladies were definitely very grateful.
chsp sa museum visit & good social cafe
Earlier this month, we took our CHSP seniors to a trip to visit the South Australian Museum! The warm springtime weather was perfect for the seniors to take a leisure stroll to the museum from Victoria Square.
It was an exciting tour for the seniors, and a quite a shock for some who had never visited the SA Museum before! We managed to explore all the exhibitions available, except for the Ancient Egypt gallery which some of our seniors found too scary! Our seniors were particularly amazed by the real life exhibits and were so very eager to learn more about them. We also treated the seniors to lunch the Good Social Café afterwards. The delicious food and the charming atmosphere of the café was perfect for catching up or just relaxing after a morning of walking. Can’t wait for the next outing with our seniors!
GAMES DAY WITH CHSP SENIORS!
sewing and hemming workshop with vita alnaimat
It was amazing sewing with our ladies!
We held a hemming and alteration workshop last week where we taught our ladies the best and easiest way to hem their clothes! So long pants or skirt that gets caught won’t make you trip! The workshop was conducted by fashion designer and professional dressmaker Vita Alnaimat, who did a wonderful job of inspiring our ladies to practice and improve their alteration skills! One of our ladies was determined to buy her own sewing machine at the end of the session. We look forward to sewing you at the next one!
maintaining wellbeing with breast cancer screening
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in Australia and the second most common cancer to cause death in women.
MWASA held an informative talk on breast cancer for all women ages 40 and above on the 12th of August. Our ladies learnt how to recognize early signs of breast cancer and what measures to take to keep themselves as healthy as possible.
It is important that breast cancer is detected at early stage, even before it can be felt. This greatly improves the treatment options and health outcomes for the individual. Making the effort to exercise daily and making regular appointments with your GP is a good measure to take to spot the signs of breast cancer early.
Thank you to Marita Aldride from Breast Screening SA for coming in for the informative talk; our ladies were definitely very grateful.
Visit BreastScreen SA to find out more about cancer symptoms and screening
august
sets parenting 101 with sheikh riad
Covid-19 restrictions didn’t stop us from holding programs for our ladies!
We held a Zoom webinar for our SETS mums about raising children in Australia. While there are many challenges that parents face in raising children when they come to Australia, it is important to remember that children are also facing challenges of their own. He stressed on the importance of keeping communicative channels open between you and your child and how that was the first step to having a comfortable and happy home environment for everyone!
Another important point he mentioned was that the responsibility of raising a child is not solely on the shoulders of the mother, but also the father; it is essential to keep consistent communication between spouses. It takes a village to raise a child; as the saying goes.
It was an incredibly informative talk and our mums were very keen on having a continuation session.
Thank you to Sheikh Riad from the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils for hosting the webinar! Thanks to the Islamic Society of South Australia also for helping us organize this webinar. We look forward to holding a face-to-face session for our ladies in the future!
july
sets youth decorate candles for eid al-adha
We wrapped up our holiday events with a blast! Prior to Adelaide’s 7-day lockdown in July, we held a candle decorating session with our SETS Youth.
The youths were very happy to learn how home decorating can be cost-effective and super easy. It was amazing seeing our youths’ personal designs, and maybe some of you would’ve caught a glimpse of them during Eid al-Adha celebrations!
chsp seniors tour the parliament
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!
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 are really glad we got to have this activity for our youths, not only to have fun but also to try and learn new skills that they could use in the future.
sets youth girls go ice skating
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!
june
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
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.
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.
chsp seniors play with watercolours
Who knew our seniors were such talented artist?
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!
may
chsp eid al fitr 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.
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. 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!
Thanks to Saray Kebab House Cafe and Restaurant for the amazing deserts; the seniors had enjoyed them very much! 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. 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 acquaintance with the new recruits. The table was filled with conversation of all sorts, and plenty of laughter was shared throughout the 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! The team is keen on seeing the rest of 2021 together and will continue to work hard to surpass our 2020 achievements.
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
welcome weam
april
chsp fig harvesting day out
Despite the uneven terrain, many seniors were determined to spend as much of their time as possible under the sun and enjoying the thrill of harvesting their own figs. Unfortunately, because of this, the seniors found themselves too worn out to proceed to the Nauryz Celebration at the University of Adelaide, so chose to spend more time at the Estate and basking in the sun and eat their fruits.
MWASA is keen to hold a similar event in the near future so that more of our seniors can experience the other gems of Adelaide while having a good time.
sets youth indoor soccer tournament
What a kick-off!
Our SETS Youth enjoyed the Saturday morning of April 10th participating in an energizing indoor soccer tournament; the perfect gathering before the start of the month of Ramadan.
Despite some not having played the sport before, the support from the other more experienced girls was definitely an encouragement. It gave our SETS Youth the opportunity to interact with others in their community as well as participate in something new. To see the collective team effort put into the games was amazing.
The post-game treat of pizza was definitely a good note to end the day for everyone, especially for the winning team that brought home a bag of prizes from their successful game! During the down-time, many suggested other possible social sport they would like to participate in; it is safe to say that MWASA will definitely be holding another social sport event for our SETS Youth in the near future!
welcome moga khodrati
MWASA would like to introduce Moga Khodrati to the team. Moga is our account manager who oversees all administrative and finance affairs. She is also in charge of IT within MWASA. Moga holds over 15 years of working experience in several areas. However, mostly specializing in administration and finance. She spent 6 years in corporate banking and 10 years in a non-profit organization. The skills she holds have greatly benefitted the team.
Her goal as an accounts manager is to learn and further develop he rskill sets so that she can build herself as working individual and of course, contribute and add value to MWASA.
welcome suneeti lock
MWASA would like to introduce Suneeti Lock from our tutor team.
Suneeti is our EAL (English as an Additional Language) tutor who teaches English foundation skills to our refugees. Suneeti holds over 25 years of teaching experience in three countries, India, the United States and Australia. Her extensive experience she says, allows her greater insight into her students’ learning and she effectively uses this to ensure that they are receiving the best learning experience she can offer.
Her goal as a tutor is to help her students gain confidence in themselves by empowering them. She plans to do this by helping understand the world around them and most importantly, themselves.