Sunday, 8 May 2005

Newsletter 0028

This issue of CCN is kindly sponsored by

Nandos Underwood

Assalaamu-alaikum

All runners and walkers will be clearly identified by the colour of their race tags. If you have registered in a walking category you are NOT allowed to run at any time during the race. In addition to our roving video camera, remember who's watching over you at all times. However, if you are a runner, you may walk or run at any time.

2.5km runners and walkers will turn around at the FIRST turning point and water table.

The 5km runners and walkers will continue past this point and turn around at the SECOND turning point and water table.

St John's ambulance will be in attendance for the duration of the event should you need their assistance.

Marshals, decked in distinct flouro coloured vests, will be posted all along the route to help direct you   . Please obey their instructions and take care as there will also be many prams, wheelchairs, young children and seniors along the route.

But most importantly, enjoy the scenic route in the company of friends and family, and have a fantastic time!

See you at the start, InshaAllah!

Jalsa in Mackay

Our Man-on-the Mussallaah took the early morning flight from Brisbane to Mackay last Saturday and filed this report:

A strong Brisbane contingent made up the 300 people who were present at the Jalsa in Mackay last Saturday. The Brisbanites traveled up there by car, by bus and by plane. Several local dignitaries and politicians were in attendance.

The delight of the show was undoubtedly Anam Faroooq (16) who compered the Jalsa segment of the program with the quiet aplomb and confidence of a seasoned pro.  The pupils of the Madressa put on two plays, one of which related to Sheik Abdul Qadir Jilani, and then sang two songs to a very appreciative audience. 

The local Imam goes by the name of Hajji Barry Hassan and is part of a small community of third generation of Javanese descent who arrived in Australia in the late 1850's as indentured labourers to work on the cane fields (not unlike another group of migrants to a different continent). It is a credit to this generation of the community that they have succeeded in flying the flag of Islam despite inordinate pressures to assimilate with the local population.

The day ended with a Mashura that discussed and set out plans for the Madressahs in Northern Queensland. 

I left Mackay with a warm sense of well-being as a result of my encounters with a gentle, amiable and hospitable group of people who appeared to embody so much of the true pioneering spirit and uncompromising religious zeal. 

Trivia Night

THE Islamic Women's Association of Queensland Inc. is holding a Trivia Night on Friday 27 May at 6.30pm at the Logan Central Community Centre, Jacaranda Avenue, Logan Central. The cost per person is $10 and there is a maximum of 8 per table.

Contact Suraya on 0402 819 197 or 338 81494 to book your tables. All are welcome to attend. Light supper will be provided and there will be games and prizes throughout the night.

Top players and Leeds fans in emotional Radebe tribute

"If you were a South African in the crowd who saw the reception Lucas was given tonight and it didn't make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, then there's something wrong with you."

That's how Bafana Bafana coach Stuart Baxter described the emotional scenes at Leeds United's sold-out Elland Road ground during Lucas Radebe's testimonial match to mark his 10 years at the famous Yorkshire club. Some of the biggest names in world football lined up in a game to pay tribute to Diepkloof-born Radebe, who played 261 games for Leeds and is held in the highest regard in English and world football.
 

Known at Leeds as "The Chief" or the "Jewel in the Elland Road Crown", Radebe joined Leeds in 1994 and was made captain in 1998.

The testimonial is the first to be awarded to an African player at a major European club. Radebe has pledged to raise about R5-million for various English and South African charities during his testimonial year.

Baxter also praised Radebe as a "marvellous ambassador" for SA football. "Lucas has come to Leeds, done all the things European players have done and did it better. He's... a player South Africans should be proud of," said Baxter.

More details for Aussie's soccer starved fans.....
 

The Brisbane Futsal 5-a-side Indoor League starts at the end of May and will be held over 4 days over the next 4 months.

You can still get a team together and enter but the closing date is 20 May.

The entry fee is $200 for the season and there are many prizes and trophies up for grabs.

For more information contact Nafeez on 0424 737 000 or Idris on 0412 786 168

Gift of the Givers Praised For Sterling Work
South African  political struggle icon, humanitarian and academic Professor Fatima Meer graced the celebration of the eighth anniversary of the Gift of the Givers Careline at a function at the foundation's offices in Pietermaritzburg recently.

Started as a telephonic counselling service in 1997 by Zohra Sooliman, the project now provides face-to-face consultations with trained counsellors and HIV/Aids and life skills workshops for both pupils and teachers.

Meer commended the organization for the "beautiful and selfless" work it has carried out throughout the world, from providing relief to tsunami victims to humanitarian aid in countries like Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq.

She said it is important to realize that when giving, people must give a part of themselves to a person so as to make an everlasting change and impact in their lives. "It is not enough just to go and help people but we need to advise them and encourage them to help themselves and in the process, liberate themselves," she said.
 

She hailed the organization for its integrity, as donors can rest assured that their gifts will reach the intended destination "to help where help is most needed".
 

Zohra Sooliman played down Meer's praises, saying the organisation's contributions are nothing compared to what Meer has accomplished and continues to accomplish through her work. She said it would take most people at least three lifetimes to accomplish what she has.
 

Meer also sang the praises of director Imtiaaz Sooliman, Zohra's husband, as "a remarkable young man who chose to think about fellow human beings and their suffering".
 

Source: http://www.witness.co.za/content/2005_05/33511.htm

"Use It - Or Lose It" threat Facing ISSL

THE ISSL (Islamic Society of St Lucia) held a meeting on Friday 6 May to establish a committee to see how best to utilize the approximately $70 000 that the Society has collected over the years for the purposes of building a Masjid in St Lucia. As a result of being largely inactive the past two years, the Society, according to Riyad Rahimullah of the Muslim Students Association at the University of Queensland, is in danger of having the Government exercising its right to "repossess this dormant money and spend it themselves". While the need for a Masjid to serve the Muslims in the area, and particularly the students of the University who number some 700, appears to be growing, little has been done to bring the project to fruition. 
 

Presently, measures are being taken to reestablish ISSL and thus have the needs of Muslims in this part of Brisbane adequately catered for. In such a cause, all Muslim brothers and sisters, who meet the below eligibility criteria below are strongly encouraged to become members of ISSL.

• are permanent residents or citizens of Australia;

• are above 18 years of age;

• are not financial members of any other incorporated Islamic society,

• preferably are affiliated with St Lucia or it surrounding suburbs (e.g. present and past students of UQ, parents of a child studying in UQ or a primary or secondary school in this area, and residents, employees, or business owners of this area).

If you meet the above criteria, please email Amjid (muhammed@bigpond.net.au) as soon as possible, but preferably by Friday 20th May. Please be sure to include your name, contact number, and how you are affiliated with St Lucia or it's surrounding suburbs. Those who don't hold P.R. or citizenship status are still welcome to have a say in ISSL affairs, but should specify their lack of such status in their email. Please notify anyone you know who could be eligible members.
 

Tips for Migrants

We have been reproducing short extracts from a document on the subject over several weeks. CCN has received  a number of requests for the full guide to be made available which you can now download here.

The Ultimate Human Race: South Africa's Grueling Comrades Marathon

Last-minute entrants of the 2005 Comrades Marathon beat Tuesday's deadline by handing their forms to Jill Bath of the Comrades Association for the forthcoming marathon, to be run on June 16, from Pietermaritzburg to Durban.

The 2005 Comrades Marathon will be the 80th running of the world's oldest and greatest ultramarathon, attracting over 13 000 each year. Several members of our local ex-South African community have undertaken the challenging 89km course within the 12 hour time limit and many of them still have the scars to prove it. But they will always remember the festive occasion at the start, with the blaring music in the foreground and the incessant chattering of a thousand mynah birds in the background, punctuated by the "Chariots of Fire" theme and the Max Trimbourn cock-crow as six-o-clock draws near when a cannon shot and a big cheer signals the start for the flood of humanity that will surge forward.   

Our own Felicia recalls not missing a single Comrades when she lived in South Africa although her own efforts amounted to little more than enjoying a braai (BBQ) with friends and family at the bottom of Polly Shorts and cheering on the runners as they went past her home til, as she puts it, "I was hoarse in the throat".

What It Means To Be Souf Efrikan

It's a great country because:

Nothing is your fault, you can blame it all on apartheid.

A Word From This Week’s Sponsor

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