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Show of strength Sughra Haidari performed on stage as part of a SisterWorks celebration of refugees and asylum seekers at Springvale City Hall on Sunday 15 June. The event kicked off Refugee Week by showcasing the stories, music, art and food of newly-arrived communities. The theme continues with a documentary screening of Batoor: A Refugee Journey featuring photojournalist Barat Ali Batoor, an inspiring bike journey by asylum-seeker school founder Muzafar Ali and the opening of the HOME art exhibition this week. Details: greaterdandenong.vic.gov.au/refugee-week
(Gary Sissons: 483998)
Ride for schools A Hazara former refugee has embarked on an inspiring 4000-kilometre cycling journey to raise funds to school stricken refugees and Afghan women. Muzafar Ali has begun pedalling from Maleny, Queensland to Adelaide, South Australia, stopping on the way in Dandenong on World Refugee Day on Friday 20 June for a morning tea hosted by
Greater Dandenong mayor Jim Memeti. It is one of a series of brief stops for Muzafar’s team on their Ride for Education, including in several rural communities, to raise $250,000 to support eight schools, 130 teachers, and more than 2000 students across seven countries. The refugee-led schools are run by Cisarua Learning, a refugee-led organisation that Muzafar
co-founded while he was an asylum seeker with no rights to work or education in Indonesia in 2014. He, his wife, sister and sister-in-law became the first teacher volunteers. “When we started our first refugee school in Indonesia with just $200, we never imagined it would grow into what it is today. “This ride is about connecting with the com-
munities who have supported us along the way and raising awareness about the critical situation facing women’s education in Afghanistan.” Muzafar had worked as a as a UN political analyst in Afghanistan actively engaged in promotion of human rights among other critical works before fleeing threats from the Taliban in 2012. More on the story, turn to page 2
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