Razi Syed and Hafsa Ahmed moved to New Zealand on a cold winter's day of June, 2007 from Hyderabad, India after just 6 months of marriage. Both of them grew up, got their education and were employed there working in multinationals companies as was the norm in early 2000s.

Landing in freezing Christchurch was a shock for both of them coming from a very warm City of Pearls.

While Hafsa was enrolled at Lincoln University to pursue her childhood dream following her father's footsteps of doing a PhD, Razi was happy to work full time and support her.

The relaxed pace of this new life gave them space and a chance to reflect and think beyond the rat race of a corporate life.

Today, 15 years since first landing in New Zealand, both of them are well settled having made Christchurch their home. They believe that living in New Zealand has been a blessing. Being community driven and raised with the ethos of giving, the couple were looking to find avenues to get involved and implement some ideas they had about social cohesion.

in 2016, Razi and Hafsa set up Lady Khadija Charitable Trust to honour Lady Khadija – the wife of Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon him and his family). While Lady Khadija was an aristocrat in Arabia, she was driven by her value of compassion. Their Trust was founded with a vision of "Empowering communities through compassion."

They were fortunate to receive tremendous support from various local and central government organisations including Christchurch City council, the Ministry of Ethnic Communities, Canterbury Interfaith Society and many more

The Trust has enabled them to support the community in different aspects. They have been able to create opportunities for volunteering and set up specific projects for community inclusion such as Uniting Canterbury Women, Boxes of Love, Giving Seeds of Love, Together in Humanity, Open Table and Immigrant Journeys.

On 15 March 2019, a mass shooting occurred at two of the Christchurch Mosques targeting the followers of a particular religion. The horrific act of terrorism shocked the couple just as it shocked most of New Zealand. Razi and Hafsa started working on multiple projects to highlight social cohesion, integrate the diverse communities and help the Muslim community feel safe and belong. Here are some of the projects that the Trust has been a part of over the last six years.

 

Uniting Canterbury Women:                          

This inclusive event was for women of all races, cultures, religions, backgrounds and ages from across Canterbury with the purpose of opening of hearts and minds, and feelings of goodwill and connection which arose from the tragic terror attack of 15 March 2019.

 

Boxes of Love:                                                                                                  

Volunteers helped assemble 100 boxes of groceries donated generously by various community organisations. These were then delivered to families impacted by the 15 March 2019 mosque attack.

 

Giving Seeds of Love

The project aimed to build social cohesion and weave the fabric of an inclusive New Zealand through a series of workshops.

 

Together in Humanity

An interfaith dialogue event aimed at building bridges with people from various faith backgrounds.

 

Open Table

The objective of Open Table is to allow open discussion and break down the "visible" and "invisible" barriers to build bridges and weave the fabric of a cohesive society focusing on co-existence.

 

Immigrant Journeys

Aotearoa is an immigrant nation – from the first peoples to colonial settlement, we have crossed the oceans to call this place home. Immigrant Journeys reveals the rich diversity that our recent immigrants bring to Aotearoa New Zealand. Through their different skills, cultural backgrounds, and experiences they strengthen and add immense value to the country.

The project was funded by the Ministry of Ethnic Communities and Rata Foundation and was well received by the community. 

From 21 February to 6 March 2022, Immigrant Journeys was also showcased at the Canterbury Museum.

Hafsa says, the Trust still has many projects lined up including the next one which focuses on examining hate and its impact on society.

The Trust also wants to address Cyber hate which is relatively a new manace thriving on the popularity of social media poisoning communities.

 The Trust wants to capture the stories of individuals who have experienced online hate and how it has impacted their lives. The project will capture stories of individuals from different religion, gender and ethnicity which will be delivered as an observational style documentary with a blend of participatory and performative modes.

Razi and Hafsa also want wider migrant communities outside Christchurch to get involved and share any stories they have.

Razi says that all of Trust's projects are driven by collaboration. "We work with different individuals and organisations as we believe there is strength in collectively working to solve the problems we face as humanity. It is through our shared efforts that we can weave diversity and build a cohesive society."

For more information about the Trust and to get involved, please visit Lady Khadija Trust's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ladykhadijatrustnz and Immigrant Journeys Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ImmigrantJourneysNZ