Chelby Marie Daigle is Muslim Link’s Editor in Chief and Coordinator. Under her direction, Muslim Link adopted its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Policy so that the website strives to reflect the complexity of Muslim communities in Canada. She knows that she fails to do justice to this complexity every day but she will continue to try to improve as she recognizes the frustration of being both marginalized in the mainstream and also marginalized in Muslim communities. As Coordinator, she works to build relationships with Muslim and mainstream organizations and manages the website's social media, event listings, and directories. She organizes regular Muslim Link gatherings. She also works closely with the Publisher to find ways to keep Muslim Link sustainable. Find her on Twitter @ChelbyDaigle
Somali Canadian Abdirizak Mohamud has been a foster parent with the Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa for over 10 years, during which time he has fostered over 15 children. The majority of these children have been from Muslim backgrounds. Muslim Link interviewed Abdirizak about his experience as a foster parent and why more Muslim foster parents are needed in Ottawa.
The City for All Women Initiative (CAWI), in partnership with the Coalition of Community Health and Resource Centres, the Ottawa Local Immigration Partnership (OLIP), and the Ottawa Coalition to End Violence against Women (OCTEVAW), are holding Ottawa Hijab Solidarity Day on Thursday, February 25th, from 4pm to 6pm at the City of Ottawa, Councillors’ Lounge, Second Floor.
Muslim Family Services of Ottawa (MFSO) was recently honoured for their work with the Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa (CAS). MFSO has partnered with CAS to address the needs of Muslim children in foster care in the city. Muslim Link interviewed Pakistani Canadian Shawana Shah, MFSO’s CAS Multicultural Liaison Worker, about MFSO’s work and what is needed to better support Muslim children who come into care.
The Awakening: Reviving the Spirit of Somali Youth Conference has grown into an annual event that celebrates the achievements of Somali Canadians while also providing a platform to discuss community challenges. The conference returns for its fifth year on Saturday, January 30th.
Serenity Islamic Mental Health Awareness was founded last year as a way to address the stigma and common myths associated with mental illness in Ottawa’s Muslim Communities. It is led by Berak Hussain, a practicing counsellor and graduate of the University of Ottawa’s Masters’ in Counselling Program, and a number of university students. At present they have organized a few presentations on mental health by qualified mental health service providers who come from Muslim and non-Muslim backgrounds.
Muslim Link interviewed Berak Hussain about the initiative.
Amal Fertility is a Mississauga-based support group for Muslim women struggling with infertility. The group offers monthly meetings and information sessions on topics such as adoption and foster care. Muslim Link connected with the group’s founders, Sarah Hussain and Fatima Shaikh, to explore the need to initiate more discussion on the realities of Muslim women struggling with infertility and childlessness in our communities. Hussain and Shaikh shared their individual journeys that brought them to forming the Amal Fertility Support Group and then responded to the rest of our questions collaboratively.
In early December, local imams, along with other faith leaders, attended a workshop at the South Nepean Muslim Community (SNMC) mosque exploring the intersection of mental illness and the law. The workshop was presented by Connecting Ottawa as part of The Spirit of the Law, a provincial project run by Interfaith Initiatives for Civic Engagement (IICE) and funded by the Law Foundation of Ontario. The project aims to work with faith communities to ensure that people living with mental illness who come in to conflict with the law can receive support by ensuring that faith communities and legal professionals are taking a holistic approach to their care.
The Keep Them Warm - Holiday Initiative was started by Jenan Dayfallah, a student at Carleton University. Her many encounters with people concerned about homelessness in our community inspired her to take to social media and create the project. Asking for anyone who wanted to make a difference to join her, the response was outstanding and a group of 15 came together to form Keep Them Warm.
A group of University of Ottawa students created
to raise awareness about the recent terrorist attacks in Mali and Nigeria. Muslim Link interviewed them about why they felt it was important to bring more attention to the reality of terrorism in West Africa. We spoke with the video’s producer Virgille Koffi, and with Halima Moumouni, Aissatou Bah, and Abdoulaye Sow who appear in the video.
After working for three years as a reporter with CBC Ottawa, Pakistani-Canadian Kamil Karamali has returned to his hometown of Vancouver. Muslim Link interviewed Kamil about his career and what advice he has for aspiring journalists.
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