Posts tagged Sydney

Bay Watching in a Burqini

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 31.03.2007 (WFS): As a child, Nevine Houri was petrified of water, a phobia developed after a near-drowning incident while growing up in the suburbs of western Sydney, far from the country’s beautiful beaches. Today, she is one of the three Muslim women who have seized the opportunity to join a small, all-women group of surf lifesavers in Australia.

These women were trained under Surf Life Saving Australia‘s (SLSA) $600,000 national programme – On the Same Wave – funded by the Australian government to directly bring Muslim and other culturally and linguistically diverse communities to the fore.

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Sydney Calling

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 01.09.2000 (The Pioneer Column): On the millennium eve, watching the `river of flame’ from across the Westminster Bridge in the slush and rain, we had thought the spectacular show of fireworks in Sydney had really given London a run for its money.

Months later as I write this basking under the bright Sydney skies overlooking the blue waters, the city is all dolled up to host the greatest sporting festival in the world, rolling out expensive red carpets and chilling champagne for its multitude of guests pouring in each day.

Hearts of past greats and future heroes burn with pride as they carry the Olympic Games torch, for most only once in their lifetime, through villages and cities of this vast continent country.

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