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Multicultural events

UOW Community Leaders Iftar Dinner

Since 2013, UOW has hosted an annual Iftar dinner, collaborating initially with Affinity Intercultural Foundation (AIF) and then uniting with Amity College from 2017.

Iftar is the meal eaten after sunset during Sawm, the fasting that occurs during the holy month of Ramadan. Iftar meals are also a symbol of friendship, understanding and social harmony. The event brings together education, faith and community leaders from diverse cultural and religious backgrounds. Through the simple act of sharing a meal, attendees learn from one another and strengthen connections and friendships.

View photos from the 2019 event.

Sharing stories, celebrating diversity

Providing a platform to bring together community leaders from all backgrounds, cultures and religions, along with a number of teachers, principals and lecturers. The evening offers an opportunity to celebrate diversity and promote social harmony in our community.

00:00
[Music]
00:23
so we've got people from different walks
00:25
of life from different religions coming
00:27
together and sharing a Ramadan iftar
00:30
dinner and that from my perspective is
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what the social perspective of Ramadan
00:34
is so these types of events are
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extremely important and in promoting
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understanding mutual respect social
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harmony and you'd appreciate that in
00:45
these trouble times around the world
00:47
these types of things are exactly what
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we need we need more peace we need more
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harmony we need more understanding we
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need more compassion and we need to be
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together
00:59
to share and make a place where we can
01:02
leave as one food helps us break down
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many barriers when language becomes an
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issue food becomes a good supplement so
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I ask you as you sit around your tables
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tonight look to the table next to you
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shake her hands introduce yourself
01:21
talk to someone you don't know here make
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a difference in someone else's life get
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to understand walk in someone else's
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shoes but most of all when you leave
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here today take the opportunity to look
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out to create a new path where we can
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all work walk and learn together in
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harmony on behalf of my elders I welcome
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you here tonight and say you're long
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gone a younger uncle and wouldn't go
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welcome I call you all friends
01:57
[Music]
02:11
we need a serious shift in perspectives
02:14
in order to overcome the challenges of
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inclusivity we need to start with
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witnessing the witnessing of the
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greatness that is Australia and all we
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have been endowed with we cannot let
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campaigns of fee led by enemies of peace
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and some of our politicians overshadow
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our lives and make us lose sight of the
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blessings that we have this is not an
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easy task but an essential one
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you know if we all go home and tell our
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family our friends about what IFTA is
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what it means what what a celebration of
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bringing all of these different people
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together who have so much in common
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because we're all human beings wanting
03:02
the same thing for our family and
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friends
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[Music]
03:10
the challenge I sent myself after nights
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like tonight and I admit that I probably
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rarely but sadly don't always I'll say
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don't always meet my own challenge is to
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make sure when I go back to work
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tomorrow but also when I'm at home
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tomorrow night with my family sharing
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some of the things that I've learned
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tonight so that we take it beyond this
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group of people to the others that we
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work with so I'll set myself that
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challenge but I'll also set that to you
03:30
[Music]
04:06
you
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[Music]