The Waterloo-Wellington Chapter was established in September of 2007. Our meetings are held every two months. We had our first meeting at the University Of Guelph Center with seven women. The second meeting was held in November of 2007 in Cambridge and seven people attended.

 

Two members attended the CCMW’s 25th Anniversary Conference in Toronto on October 26 to 28, 2007. They attended a Family Law Training Workshop and made connections with many other chapters.

 

On November 17th 2007, two members attended a Brampton chapter meeting.  We decided that our Waterloo-Wellington chapter would take part in the Brampton Chapter’s upcoming event honouring seniors in March 2008.

 

On Dec 22, 2007, we visited the Brantford mosque and connected with ladies at the mosque. We invited them to consider joining our Chapter in the future inshallah.

 

We have connected with or had meetings with Family Law Lawyers, the Women in Crisis Centre of Guelph, and the Kitchener-Waterloo Multicultural Centre. We agreed to have additional Family Law Information workshops in the near future.                

 

JANUARY TO DECEMBER 2008

• Two members of our chapter attended Media Training offered by CCMW on March 7th 2008

• Helped to organize the Brampton Chapter’s High Tea in recognition of Muslim seniors, held at the Noor Centre in Toronto, on March 14, 2008

• Managed a display table (books and pamphlets) at City Hall, Kitchener during the U.N. International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on March 2008

• Completed the Muslim and Canadian Family Law Project on May 2008

• Three Workshops were held:

I.     FOR MUSLIM WOMEN      March 30, 2008

II.    FOR PROFESSIONALS    April 16, 2008

III.   FOR SOCIAL WORKERS  May, 2008

• Completed Focus Group Project, May 2008

• Collected funds to aid a Muslim Woman in Kitchener-Waterloo who was in danger of losing her home, 2008   

• Attended part of a workshop entitled “Communities Working

• Together Against Hate Crimes” on June 21, 2008

• Participated in a Festival hosted by the Pakistan-Canada           

• Association in Kitchener-Waterloo on July 13, 2000. Presented a display table including CCMW posters, pamphlets and booklets

• Participated in an Interfaith Community event at the Cambridge Mosque during July of 2008

• Attended a meeting and Weekend Training Session at the Women In Crisis Centre in Guelph, Sept 24-25, 2008

• Participated in an International Bazaar at Noor Cultural Centre in Toronto, on Aug 24, 2008

• Symposium of Women and Faith. Held at the University of Toronto, Oct 26th 2008   

      

 JANUARY TO OCTOBER 2009

• Managed a display table (books and pamphlets) at the U.N. International Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimination on Friday, March 27th, 2009

• Managed a display table (pamphlets and booklets) and a henna table at the Waterloo Park during the Afro Festival on July 25th, 2009. See www.afrowomen.org/project.asp   and photos at http://www.ccmw.com/chapters/chap_waterloo_wellington.html

• Attended the “Women in Leadership” High Tea Fundraiser in Toronto on October 2009

The Waterloo-Wellington Chapter of the CCMW held their first "High Tea" on May 31st, 2009, at the Preston Memorial Auditorium in Cambridge, Ontario. We welcomed approximately 80 to 85 women to our function and were thrilled that executive members from the London and Brampton CCMW chapters were able to attend. The intent of the gathering was to provide a venue for women to take a break from their everyday routines in order to stay in touch with fellow Muslim women, as our rapidly expanding community welcomes more and more new faces.

Two long-time members of the Guelph Muslim Community, Dr. Nabeela Sheikh and Ms. Kathy Abdool, emceed the event, which included door prizes (5), prizes for volunteers (2), a silent auction, a cake competition and stalls that boasted beautiful clothing, jewelry, and henna application.

The afternoon began with a beautiful recitation of the Qur’an and its translation by Ms. Sarah Butt. The emcees suggested that our Chapter might aid in helping our greater Muslim community grow from a purely social one to a more highly functioning organism, one that could provide help, support, referrals, advice and mentoring to our young and not-so-young generations, in ways that could help individuals make better choices in their academic careers, professions, and personal lives.

A light supper—including paratha, channa, halwa, chicken, fresh strawberries, pineapple, and cakes—were then enjoyed by the attendees. Thanks to all the volunteers who helped with preparing or serving the delicious food.

Mrs. Falahat Sheikh, the President of the Waterloo-Wellington chapter, welcomed all the attendees and invited them to become members. She also reminded them that the money collected from the silent auction would be going to charity. In fact, that afternoon, we raised $300, which will be donated to the United Way.

Attendees were also encouraged to bring non-perishable goods, which were then delivered to the Guelph Food Bank by Mrs. Sheikh and Mrs. Frah Chaudhry. They reported that the Food Bank staff was extremely grateful for the food. Thanks to all those attendees who so generously donated.