Unsettling displays and disturbing presentations at the Gardens of Hope exhibition hosted at Nofta Hall on Saturday, October 4, brought home the atrocities people are subjected to in global conflict areas where civil wars, insurgencies, ethnic violence, and interstate disputes have created humanitarian crises.

The exhibition was the combined effort of several Islamic humanitarian organisations, including the Africa Muslim Agency (AMA) and Colours of Hope.

Event organiser, Fathima Seedat, explained that the Gardens of Hope exhibition was meant to remind like-minded individuals of the suffering that exists in the world and to highlight the vast need for humanitarian aid that exists.

“When we see some of the things that have been going on (in war-torn areas) for some time, it makes us feel restless. We feel we need to do something to ease the suffering …But as we go about our daily lives and get caught up in our daily routine, we tend to forget and we become complacent. This is why we decided to host the Gardens of Hope exhibition. We decided to meet once a month, to remind each other, to create awareness and to enliven the humanitarian spark in our hearts,” said Seedat.

“When we were organising this event, we decided that we can’t limit it to just creating awareness for Palestine and Gaza when the whole world is bleeding, so we created these powerful displays that expose the suffering in conflict areas throughout the world.”

Among the speakers at the event was writer, former diplomat, and international relations analyst, Zeenat Adams, who spoke about the humanitarian crisis in Sudan, where 25-million people are experiencing extreme hunger and 12.4-million people have been displaced from their homes.

Highlighting challenges International projects co-ordinator for Colours of Hope, Sa’uda Ismail, spoke about the human rights abuses against Uyghurs, a Turkic Muslim minority in Xinjiang, where there have been reports of mass arbitrary arrests and detention, torture, mass surveillance, cultural and religious persecution, family separation, forced labour, sexual violence, and violations of reproductive rights.

Fatima Zahra Fayet, a member of Protect the Rohingya, a South Africa-based awareness organisation working with international Rohingya groups and activists, spoke about the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya people displaced from their homes in Myanmar who have been forced to take refuge in camps in Bangladesh.

Maseeha Saloojee, a South African educator and humanitarian living in Syria, highlighted the challenges faced by the Syrian people as they strive to return the country to normalcy.

Seedat urged guests at the exhibition to instil in their children compassion and awareness of the suffering in the world …To raise children with the drive to make the world a better place.

ALSO READ: UPDATE: Reeaz Moola to return home after detention by Israeli forces

The news provided to you in this link has been investigated and compiled by the editorial staff of the Newcastle Advertiser, a sold newspaper distributed in the Newcastle area. Please follow us on Youtube and feel free to like, comment, and subscribe. For more local news, visit our webpage, follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and follow us on our WhatsApp Channel