The last three months have been hectic once again for Affinity. We have conducted two Women’s only events, namely the annual Women of Faith Dinner in Sydney, and the inaugural Women of Cultures Dinner in Wollongong.
Affinity co-hosted the 9th annual Abraham Conference once again with our partners and invited two very prominent international speakers from the USA. This event was the program that launched Affinity way back in early 2002. We have come a long way since and look forward to our 10th program next year.
The Affinity Lecture Series is becoming popular as well with packed audiences attending the last two lectures at our Centre. The SMH Executive Editor, Peter Kerr, speaking in May regarding media having the capacity to create social harmony through positive reporting and Prof Greg Barton from Monash University speaking in June about some Islamic Civil Society movements who are making a difference in the World.
A unique event was kicked off by Affinity during July, which we have aptly named the Cultural Cooking Classes. Ladies from many backgrounds, faith or no faith, got together at Edmund Rice College, and not only observed but tasted some of the exquisite dishes from Turkey. This program will continue every quarter, both in Sydney and Wollongong.
Affinity has been hosting a DFAT organised Indonesian Student Exchange program where we host Post-Graduate and graduate University students over a 4 day period, taking them to visit some of our interfaith partners as well as Muslim community Institutions. We hosted three such groups during the May to July period. These students are better for the experience and go back to Indonesia to try to create interfaith programs similar to Affinity’s. As there are 20 Million Christians in Indonesia, dialogue is very important in this Muslim majority neighbour of ours.
With Ramadan in August, Affinity is again continuing to be very busy hosting Iftar dinner’s at various institutions. Stay tuned for the special Ramadan Newsletter in September.
Mehmet Saral
President
