Every Saturday, Anjuman-e-Saifee Melbourne, a Chapter of the Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community in Melbourne, run a school which is attended by local children to practice their religion, culture and language skills. One important part of the teachings that this community school is focussed on is social justice, and compassion to others who may be less fortunate – an important lesson in this day and age!

This teaching came into practice over a weekend in July, when members of our Sanctuary team visited the school and were presented with food and dry goods, by the school children. The children had held a fundraiser where they raised money to purchase rice, lentils and cooking oil.

Tuaha a member of the Anjuman-e-Saifee Chapter, who also worked within the Transformation team at Baptcare said “fundraisers like this bring our teachings into practice. To see the children, take ownership and even loading the donated goods into the van and listening to Peter talk about Sanctuary, was a delight”.

Presently Baptcare’s Sanctuary program presently has 134 residents, many with no income as they are not allowed to work or have not been able to find work, and who are not eligible for any government income support, so donations of food and food drives like the one the children ran are essential. Without this support, people go hungry and poor nutrition contributes to additional health challenges.

Donations, food and furniture are always needed as they go towards providing aid for Sanctuary's transitional accommodation and related support services. These services aid in empowering homeless people seeking asylum and enable them to move towards living an independent life within the Australian community. For more information on how you can assist, contact Cliff Barclay, Head of Housing and Homelessness via cbarclay@baptcare.org.au.