BRISBANE police sergeant's commitment to multiculturalism has led to him being named 2009 Queenslander of the Year.

Premier Anna Bligh presented the award to Sergeant Jim Bellos from the metropolitan south region.

She said Sgt Bellos policed a region with an increasing number of new residents who spoke more than 150 different languages and practised over 130 different faiths.

Sgt Bellos has established community consultative groups, multi-faith dinners, information sessions and a multicultural sporting program for 6000 youths.
 

In January Sgt Bellos was recognised in Lord Mayor Campbell Newman's Australia Day awards for his sport program, "For the Love of the Game".

Sgt Bellos said he developed the idea after noticing developing tensions between young people of different ethnicities.
 

The Courier Mail Editorial (June 10) had this to say about the award:

IF you were charged with policing an area of the city that contains 53 different ethnic groups, you might assume a lot of your work would be about defusing conflict.
But Metropolitan Region South Sergeant Jim Bellos saw the opposite on his beat.
He took the opportunity to promote harmony and common understanding among the diverse cultures that now call southeast Queensland home and ran with it.
His annual soccer tournament, dubbed the World Cup in the suburbs, has quickly become an institution, and the region's capacity for tolerance is the stronger for it.
He thoroughly deserves to be named Queenslander of the Year because he is the type of Queenslander many of us aspire to be.

Source

Ms Bligh says it is important to honour our top citizens in Queensland Week, particularly during the State's 150th year of independence.

"Queensland Week is a time to celebrate the State's 150 years of heritage, diversity and achievements," she said.

"Our 2009 Queenslanders of the Year embody the State's success."

The Premier says Sergeant Bellos works in region with an increasing number of new residents where the community speaks over 150 different languages and practises over 130 different faiths.

She says police-community relationships have improved through the establishment of community consultative groups, information sessions and multi-faith dinners.

"Most notably, Sergeant Bellos developed an award-winning sport program which has resulted in a marked decrease in youth crime," she said.

The program encourages interaction and improved understanding for more than 6,000 youths from diverse backgrounds.

Source

CCN congratulates Jim on winning this prestigious award and also for the work he has done building bridges with the Muslim communities of South East Queensland.

Good on yer' Jim!

 

Bashir Ebrahim (right) shows a new electronic mobility aid to a young client

Guide Dogs Queensland’s Rehabilitation Services Manager Bashir Ebrahim’s 18 years of service to Queensland’s blind and vision impaired community was recognised with an Order of Australia Medal on Monday, June 8.

Mr Ebrahim joined the Queen’s Birthday Honour Roll, for service to people with a vision impairment through advocacy roles.

“It’s a humbling and flattering experience to be recognised for the work that you love to do,” Mr Ebrahim said.

“Being able to use your skills and knowledge to teach and improve others lives delivers enormous rewards. And working with my highly skilled and compassionate team of instructors and staff, is an honour – so the OAM is an exciting extra.”

Mr Ebrahim began his career in Rehabilitation Services with Guide Dogs Victoria, before joining Guide Dogs Queensland in 1991. Initially based in Townsville, Mr Ebrahim has been instrumental in growing services to Queensland’s blind and vision impaired, in metropolitan, regional and rural communities.

As a result of his dedication and hard work, Mr Ebrahim became Manager of Rehabilitation Services in 2001, and has helped Guide Dogs Queensland become an internationally recognised leader in Rehabilitation Services, particularly Orientation and Mobility; and electronic travel aid training.

He is a member of the Queensland Vision Initiative; chairman of QLD’s Vision Impairment Agencies network; consults on a wide range of state, local and corporate projects and works with a number of vision impairment agencies on low vision clinics and workshops.

“It’s the work we do with our clients that is the real advocacy work. We improve lives through better mobility, skills and confidence and in doing so help to raise awareness and better inform the general community – it’s a true pleasure to be a part of,” Mr Ebrahim said.

Mr. Ebrahim was a keynote speaker at the Muslim Symposium and Expo held in Brisbane in October 31st 2007 where he talked of the work he was doing then in this area.

CCN congratulates Bashir on his well-deserved recognition.

NOTE: GDQ will be hosting an Open Day on Sunday, 5 July. For more information go here.

The latest issue of The Message Magazine has just been released on the theme of 'Relationships'. The issue deals with relationships with our self, family, community, technology, the past and much more.

You can download the issue at www.messagemagazine.com.au

You can also download all past issues of the magazine.
 

Nada Ibrahim (pictured left) is  currently conducting a large-scale PhD research project under the Griffith Islamic Research Unit that investigates Attitudes, Beliefs and Experiences of Marital Relationships and/or Conflict in the South East Queensland Muslim community, supervised by Prof Paul Mazerolle and Dr Mohamad Abdalla.

This research is about an important aspect of marriage in the Muslim community. Due to the lack of research on the marital needs of the Australian Muslim community, services and programs that are culturally and religiously-appropriate are largely absent. To address the issue, Nada would like to solicit your views and experiences to inform policies and programs that meet the needs of the Muslim community in South East Queensland.

The findings of this research will benefit a number of different service providers of our community - including social agencies, counsellors, educators, social workers and Imaams. It will also inform policies to ensure greater understanding of the needs of the Muslim community. Educational as well as training programs will be informed through the research findings that ensure the sanctity of marriages and maintains the structures of Muslim families.

Nada's work with the Muslim community in the past 8 years has highlighted the need to involve the Muslim community in generating workable solutions.

You can find out more about how you can help with this project here.

A taste of Muslim China from Shanghai and Beijing

 

The Xiao Tao Yuan Masjid or the Mosque of the Small Peach Garden (above) is a famous Mosque in Shanghai. During the "Cultural Revolution" many of the valuables in the Mosque were vandalized. Since the introduction of the "Open and Reform" policy of the government financial support has enabled the reconstructing and restoration the building.
Halal dining out in Beijing
The Nan Dou Ya Mosque (above) is one of the most famous mosques in Beijing.   A smile and directions to the facilities are given to visitors by very welcoming hosts. “Last year alone, we had more than 20,000 visitors who came here to pray while touring Beijing. The majority are Malaysians, with some Singaporeans and Indonesians,” Ibrahim the person in charge said.   Built in the Qing Dynasty (1796-1820), the mosque is known as Nan Dou Ya Qing Zhen Si to the locals, serving the Hui community in the area which now has a population of over 3,000 people or 800 households.   Like most of the mosques in Beijing, Nan Dou Ya mosque is a combination of traditional Chinese architecture and Islamic art – with a series of pavilions and courtyard buildings and Arabic characters and finishings. The courtyard is surrounded by the main prayer hall, a madrasah and offices and from here one can see modern high-rise apartments adjacent to the Mosque. A clean and busy kitchen is part of the complex as is a bookshop selling Islamic souveniers. From the exterior, passers-by see only the Chinese words written on the wall of the mosque introducing some halal food but visitors walking into the entrance area will see the five daily prayer times written in both Chinese and Arabic posted on the wall next to Ibrahim’s office.

Dear CCN Readers,

My name is Ziyaad Mahomed

I am in Year 11 at the Queensland Academy of Science, Maths and Technology in Toowong and am interested in the health sciences. I am doing the International Baccalaureate Diploma and as part of my diploma I want to raise funds for a special cause.

This is an appeal for used items, primarily books and toys of any sort, to be sold to raise funds for a home for handicapped children in Zimbabwe that is desperate for assistance.

During a recent trip to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second largest city, I went to Mpilo Hospital with my uncle, Mr. Moosa Hassan Esat. Within its grounds it has the St. Francis Home which was set up many years ago to care for the severe to profoundly mentally and physically handicapped children between the ages of 5-16 years. I was very touched by the plight of the children in St. Francis Home and really would like to make a difference to the quality of life of the children in the home.

The St. Francis Home Vision is to be the home from home choice of institution for the severely retarded child and ensuring achievement of the highest possible level of functioning and quality of life for its children

The St. Francis Home Mission Statement:

To provide individualised quality care to all children

To assist each child to attain maximum capability through training

To train children to acquire the skills for daily living

To maintain exciting skills and prevent regression

Conditions at the Home have reached crisis levels. Funding by Government has been steadily getting worse and as the business community has struggled  in Zimbabwe’s tough economic times it has not been able to help as much as it used to. The dedicated staff are struggling to achieve the mission goals. The children are in such great need of any decent food that they are just skin and bones. The only food they receive is 1 bowl of soup for breakfast (10am), and 1 bowl of soup for supper (4pm) when they are put to bed.

The conditions at the Home are at the point where sanitation is of huge concern to the nurses. The beds are small with 1 thin old worn blanket and some of the children are in bed the whole day. The risk of disease is high in such poor conditions. Some of these children are abandoned at the Home by their parents, the parents never to be seen again. For other parents this Home is the only place that they can turn to for help.

It is for their case that I wish to raise money, through the sale of books and toys donated by kind folk as yourselves. Towards this end I will have a stall at the Australian International Islamic College fete to be held on 17^th August 2009 to sell the donated items. InshaAllah, I hope to do the same at the Indian Bazaar and at EidFest later this year.

My uncle is on the board of St. Francis Home and the funds will be forwarded to him so that they can be put to best use. In return I will provide you with feedback on how this project progresses.

I can be contacted at zmaho5@eq.edu.au or phone me at home on 3273 2786 (if I am at school or out please leave a message with anyone who is home) so that I can arrange to collect your items.

May Allah reward you. JazakAllah.

Yours sincerely,

Ziyaad Mahomed

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