The Public Services Association for the Integration of Migrants (SPDI) announced the date of its second annual charity Iftar on the occasion of the month of Ramadan next Sunday in downtown Montreal.

It announced that the invitation is open and free for everyone, as the association mentioned on its Facebook page, and it asks those interested in participating to register their names for purely logistical organizational reasons. The hall accommodates a maximum of 200 people, and 150 people participated in the first charity Iftar last year.

The founder of the association, Alia Shafie Mohammed, said that the need of newcomers for various services necessitated the launch of the association in Montreal, "at a time when there were no specialized associations to receive newcomers in the way I hoped," says Alia Mohammed. "Our association directs the first steps for the newcomer to Canada and helps him find housing and guarantees it to the landlord if necessary, modifies his certificate, and chooses his children's schools, social services, and available assistance such as health insurance and other services, as well as giving advice on various aspects of living in Canada.

She confirmed that starting from the second year of its establishment, the association dedicates its services solely to migrants of all Arab origins, after finding that other communities have many active institutions and associations at a good professional level.

She pointed out that other communities in Canada, such as the Indian and Chinese communities for example, have many specialized organizations and associations that frame their integration, which we lack in our Arab community circles.

The association has a shop that sells and buys ideas
"Take an idea and buy an idea," an initiative launched by the association out of keenness to preserve and revive the Arabic language and teach it to the younger generation. The director of the association, the Egyptian writer and journalist residing in Canada, Hossam Moqbel, invented a virtual shop that lends Arabic books and novels and this shop also seeks to find Arabic books requested by its customers.

He said, “We provide and deliver the Arabic book to its readers across Canada, and later in America [...] I put in the hands of the Canadian reader books by giants of Arabic literature such as Naguib Mahfouz, Anis Mansour, Ihsan Abdel Quddous, and others.”

He added that the “shop” was hosted in one of the pavilions of the first edition of the Arab Book Fair organized by the association last fall over two days. The shop was very well received and welcomed by the fair’s audience, especially children. The fair presented the latest literary publications of 25 Arab Canadian writers; these writers "were extremely happy with the responsiveness and interaction from the fair visitors," adds Hossam Moqbel.

Moqbel considers that culture is an inseparable part of the identity and characteristic carried by migrants. “Preserving this identity not only deepens ties with the mother country but also contributes to activating participation with the host country's culture and integrating into it.”

Alia Mohammed confirmed that the association provides a group of specialists and experts to serve newcomers to answer all their inquiries regarding immigration, work, housing, health, and other difficulties they may face in the initial stage of their arrival in Canada. To this end, the association organizes seminars and lectures and also reaches out to migrants virtually. This happened recently when immigration expert Dima Beirut responded via Zoom to questions posed by a number of new arrivals, with the government-certified expert dedicating time to each case individually.

The association’s president also indicated that individual financial capabilities do not yet allow them to rent a special place for the association, and communication is made to provide services through text messages, email, and social media. Under the association's umbrella are 25 volunteers with no financial gain, including Ms. Mohammed’s son and two of his friends who are non-Arabs.