Afghan Women Centre Newsletter December 2020 |
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Welcome to our last newsletter of 2020, this year has been a whirlwind filled with ups and downs as our centre is excited to see what next year brings for our community and our centre. Till then, we at the Afghan Women Centre are ending its year by doing what it does best: serving our members. Stay tuned as we update you on our final updates of 2020 |
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New additions to the team: We had the pleasure of welcoming our newest helper to the team , Salma Zin Abdin, who has joined the centre to help us with the creative side of our organization. With a background in Communication and sound design, we are excited to see what creativity she will surely be bringing to our centre. We also welcomed a new Communication agent / admin assistant, Anouk Palvadeau. She will be using her experience as researcher and communication agent to help us with our mission. Welcome Salma and Anouk! |
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| | Our community partners were very pleased with the Christmas dinner distributed to their homes & were eager to know more about it ! On the menu, Quabili Palaw (rice, carrots and raisins), Mantou the dumplings (meat and some onion), Bourani Banjan (eggplants, afghan yogurt and garlic). If you'd like to try those delicious meals, contact us for ordering we'll be happy to give you a taste of our fine cuisine ! | | |
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| | Having homemade meals prepared with care and safely delivered right in the comfort of our members and community partners' homes was our way of celebrating and wishing everyone happy holidays. Here is our volunteer Ismael and our English teacher Eleanor receiving the gift meals, she then enjoyed with her neighbour ! In these particular times, we're very happy to be a part of this sharing experience. | | |
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French class on the way: At the centre we not only celebrate small wins but recognize it as through small wins that people improve, at our French class our members hit a milestone as they are halfway through the course and are all able to fully introduce themselves and give all relevant information needed for identity identification. This is a huge achievement to our centre and our members as this essential in our Francophone city. Congratulations team! |
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New Year, brand new calendar: Here is the very first edition of our calendar ! Our colleague Salma helped us design it, and we’re very happy with the result. We also delivered a copy to our community partners as well as our Christmas dinner. If you are interested, we would love to send you our 2021 calendar, feel free to reach us by phone or by email | | |
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New advanced English classes: Our 12 week online English course, taught by our long time volunteer and PhD candidate, Clinton Parker, was wrapped up this month. He expertly helped our students establish a framework in English and by the end of the course, all of our students were able to carry on a conversation, write complete sentences and read. With this, we are launching a new advanced English course beginning in January. If you already have the basics of the language and would like to develop your skills in conversation and grammar, we invite you to join our centre for this course. These courses can help you enter the job market, gain autonomy and more importantly help you navigate daily life in Montreal ! So come to our centre and level up your skills ! |
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We are taking a break The Afghan Women’s Center would like to wish you a Happy Holiday. The holidays, regardless of religion, are a time of celebrating your loved ones and spending some quality time with your families. With this, we would like to announce that our centre is closing for three weeks from December 21st to the 11th of January for the holidays. Our services and activities will pick back up in the new year, including the launch of our level two English course. |
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Introducing Eleanor and Swati: Here to shake things up and give our members a new style of learning, is author, speaker and teacher, Eleanor Cowan. Equipped with training modules that are applicable to both children and adults, her unique teaching style is a welcomed addition for our seniors who love to spend time with their grandchildren. Eleanor also graciously brought along her valued teaching assistant, Swati, a doctor and occasional painter in India. Their first class was a success as it was filled with conversation, laughs and energy as our members are well on their way to master English! |
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Who is Anouk? Anouk Palvadeau is a graduate in British Literature and Civilisation at Nantes University in France and in journalism at the University of Montreal. She is an ardent supporter of women’s rights and was able to keep learning and researching on this topic during her internship at Elle Québec. She then got the chance to develop her engagement through her work with the community organisation Sula Batsu in Costa Rica. Working as a research and communication agent broadened her perspectives on intersectional feminism and deepened her knowledge on Latin American gender issues. With this, Anouk hopes to bring her positivity and passion to empower women to the Afghan Women Centre, helping them accomplish their mission. |
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Our special food delivery: Before going on holiday, we organized one last treat for our members and community partners. As the second wave of the pandemic persists in Montreal, restrictions have prevented us from celebrating Christmas in a gathering at our centre as we usually do. With this, the AWC was pleased to invite their community for a delightful dinner party and delivery food directly to our members in the comfort of their ow n home. This week, our dynamic catering team will be preparing delicious homemade meals that to send out to our partners and members to appreciate them for all their hard work with our organization this year! | | |
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Have you met Salma? Our dedicated new member was working on our 2021 Calendar that was distributed to our members and community partners. Salma is a precious addition since she has experience in communication and graphic design. Our team is growing and here to help you in the best possible way ! |
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Tips for partners: This month's tips are brought to you by our newest office helper, Salma, a social media connaisseuse with a background in building social media bases and engagement, today she tells you how you could improve your social media presence and actively engage with your followers. Would you keep talking to someone who wouldn’t return your messages? Probably NOT. Your followers wouldn’t want to continue following you if they don’t get anything in return which is why it’s so important to stay actively engaged with them. If you want to create a social media presence, then you need to create accounts that can become a community. For example, If someone comments on your post you need to either reply or at least like their comment. You can also answer questions in posts and show appreciation to your followers by thanking them or tagging them.
With this, engaging with your followers will not only increase your social media presence but also develop a real relationship between one another. So get replying and start building lasting friendships ! |
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Montreal Health Updates:
Following an announcement by our premier Francois Legault, Montreal will go on lockdown for the holiday season on 25th December as non-essential business will close down until at least January 11th. More details can be found in Quebec's government website. With this, the AWCM encourages you to be responsible during this season and practice social distancing. Happy Holidays!
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Be part of the mission: At the AWC we are looking for passionate and dedicated volunteers to join our team and help us with our mission. This is an unpaid position however a letter of recommendation and an honorarium can be given based on performance. By volunteering, you have a chance to contribute with your professional skills and in turn you will get first hand experience on how non profit organizations are run and learn by doing. Click here to find out more : |
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