“My full name is Kulwinder (pictured in the middle) but I’ve always been called Aki. At 15 I asked my mum what it was about. She told me what happened when I was born. She said people started calling me Aki because it meant ‘fed up’ and it was to signal to the universe that our family were ‘fed up of girls’ and wanted a boy next. I was devastated. My dad refused to come and see my mum and I when I was born. After being persuaded by close relatives my dad came and collected us from hospital. Some family members told my dad to leave my mum as she had two daughters. As you can imagine this was very hard for my mum as well as her parents. However 4 years later my brother came along and then my youngest brother. Everyone was celebrating and my mum felt relieved. Back in 1977 my parents got married and their first child was my beautiful sister. Although disappointed, it was ok as she was their first born. However 10 months later, I came along. Which was a completely different story. My dad wasn’t happy, my grandmother in particular was not best pleased. However my maternal grandparents were over the moon my mum was their only daughter out of 7 children. I guess one daughter was okay but two was one too many. I was overwhelmed and upset when my mum told me this and kept trying to imagine what it was like for my mum back then. I went through a phase where I wanted to distance myself from everything to do with my culture. It’s difficult to explain. I thought “I don’t like this mentality and I want to do something to help people and in particular help children.” So I decided from a very early age that I wanted to be a police officer. I joined the police about 10 years ago at 28 and now work as a Child Protection Detective. Inevitably I have dealt with and still deal with the Asian community and unfortunately there are still people out there that want boys! I’ve been able to connect with these women and share my experience with them. Which I hope helped them feel a little better about themselves. A few years ago, I met a lady in her late 60s, who suffered domestic abuse for 40 years. She only managed to call the police a couple of times but due to language barrier and Male officers turning up she couldn’t report anything. But one evening, I attended the address, I could see the look of relief on her face and she told me that she had been assaulted in Punjabi. I then sat down with her, for a while and she told me everything she’d
9th March 2018 8.5 been through. She cried and I felt upset for her. But she said that your mum must be proud of you... I felt an amazing sense of achievement. I’m often told by our community you shouldn’t be doing that, it’s not a job for women! I’ve seen and pretty much dealt with anything nasty our society can imagine. Being a female, from an Asian background hasn’t put me off, stopped me or ever hindered me in this line of work. In fact It’s made me stronger and I’m proud of who I am and what I’ve become.” - Kully “Aki” Klair This year’s theme for International Women’s Day is #pressforprogress. At the Pink Ladoo Project, we want to press for every girl to be celebrated. It’s not enough to just celebrate the first, families must celebrate every girl equally. That’s our idea of progress. At the Pink Ladoo Project we set out to create a new tradition that empowers women and girls and raises their value from birth. For us, it's not just a Pink Ladoo but the symbol of a protest against south Asian gender biased traditions and norms. By distributing Pink Ladoo to celebrate your daughters' births you are making a stand, you are letting the community know you want better than the status quo and you are helping open the conversation on gender equality in their homes. The Pink Ladoo Project is a pro bono not for profit initiative. We do not sell Pink Ladoo and we do not receive any funds from the sale of any Pink Ladoo. We encourage all sweet shops to make them available to their customers as soon as possible. The success of our campaign depends on the number of people we reach so tweet tag share discuss. Spread the word. Instagram: @pinkladoo www.pinkladoo.org Want to get involved? The success of our campaign depends on the number of people we reach so like, tag, share, comment and discuss. Spread the word. #Pinkladoo https://www.facebook.com/NourDV/posts/2147 634991930283
Think education is expensive? Try ignorance!
Charity Collections: Adverts, adverts and more adverts.
URGENT APPEAL
Courses, Lectures and Workshops
We humbly request you to give donation / or QardhHasana for the house of Allah. We need your help, support and contributions to make urgent repayments requests Qardh-Hasana for: Darul Jannah Community Centre 243 Plaistow Rd London E15 3EU A total £ 64,000 is very urgently needed before 8th of March 2018 We also have another £96,000 urgent request end of March 2018 Currently we are running a madrasah alhumdulillah just over 50 children. Adult classes are taking throughout the week May Allah (swt) make it easy for us, shower his blessing and mercy upon guide us to righteous path & grant reward for our good deeds. Aameen
18 March at 10:00–11:30
Please make du'aas for success
Capital Gate, New North Road, Ilford, IG6 3ES
To make donation or give qardh hasana please contact 07786 261109
Every 20 minutes another child comes into care needing a foster family. Due to the shortage of Muslim Foster carers, most children need to be placed outside of their faith group. Muslim Foster Network works with the local community, carers, national fostering agencies and local authorities to improve the chances of successful placements.
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Please join us on Sunday 18th March at 10 am to discuss how The Muslim Foster Network can support you to become a foster carer, earn upto £400 per week per child, and learn how you can support us!
Unders 16's 6-A-Side (8-12 teams) £30 per team 10:30am-1pm
Limited spaces. Register now to book your place!
HMC BBQ Stall plud exquisite trophies
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/muslim-fostercarers-needed-in-east-london-tickets44017679063
£10 entry singles | £20 for doubles
Reap the rewards
Worker of Deen in Support of UWT Ghouta Appeal presents 1) Sunnah Cupping treatment for brothers Only in Edmonton Area until Ramadan Upto 8 cups plus massage 1 hour slot £40 2) Saturday 24th March 5 & 6 A Side football tournament at Beckton Power League
Age 16 plus 5-A-Side £40 per team (20-24 teams) 1pm-4:30pm 3) Sunday 25th March Fifa 18 tournament at UWT Office 11:30am-7:30pm Prizes include trophies, fifa 18 game plus fifa 18 football jersey 4) Snowdon Trek to Wales Saturday 31st March leaving 6am return by midnight
Charity Collections: The Date Project Dates for Ramadan Raising money for various countries Only £10.00 www.thedateproject.com
£35 per person plus optional fundraising Beautiful day trip to experience the wonders of Allahs creation and admire nature Contact: 07903388875
Think education is expensive? Try ignorance!