IbnRushdCenter, Ottawa

March 9, 2021

IbnRushd Fundraiser

Assalam alaikoum, Welcome everyone to our first 2021 Ibn Rushd fundraising campaign. It makes me happy and proud to address our common project, an initiative of many years has become an institution that has seen more than one generation come to life. Last year was full of challenges and adversities. Even though we are far from each other, and the centre couldn't gather us, we are proud to see that our network and community is even more active and united through our shared values of solidarity and compassion. Ibn Rushd centre is proud to have welcomed and accompanied so many members accros the years in a space located in Nepean, on Merivale Road, for the multiple activities organized to accommodate everyone. Unfortunately the lockdown and the sanitary state of emergency forced us to cancel many occasions to gather. However, we took the initiative to plan the after Covid. While the authorities are working on a solution to the sanitary crisis, we are preparing our return to more of normal life. This led us to a series of renovations and construction work, a first of their kind in the centre. Spaces have been renovated, modified and optimized to better welcome you once we can. In the absence of Omra, we had to review some of our initiatives, against our will, the Ibn Rushd project as you have known is being rethought, a work under construction, bigger and better than ever. Therefore, in 2021 we will be digitizing our exchanges and our platform. While the global situation doesn't allow you to come to the centre physically, our goal is to bring Ibn Rushd to you. We are planning to better our capacity through the new revolutionary numeric tools allowing us to maintain our precious human bond, being able to see each other, despite the circumstances. We want to give you a voice as we are planning to produce a series of audio visual content throughout the year and cover as many subjects as possible in order to exchange and debate together as we used to, only this time virtually. We are also considering new ways to support families in our community by inaugurating two new specialized academies, thought to allow our younger members to fully develop their potential. An art centre would allow us to welcome the aspiring artists and professional aesthetes so our community would give our poets a new voice and more visibility. A sportive academy will also see the day, offering our athletes a chance to spend their energy just like we allowed our intellectuals to think. Our fundraising campaign is starting shortly and we need your support to complete our projects which have already been started. To our members I would like to thank you and salute you dearly, we will surely be reunited shortly. To those discovering the centre, thank you for your attention, welcome to you, hoping to count you in as part of our community soon.