By Marcus Uhe
Chief executive and founder of Bakhtar Community Organisation Bassir Qadiri has been nominated as a finalist for the Inclusive Volunteering Award as part of the 2021 Victorian Volunteering Awards.
The Inclusive Volunteering Award pays tribute to people who have made an exceptional contribution to the development of diverse, inclusive and accessible volunteering, and the reduction of socio-economic and cultural barriers to support opportunities for a broader range of community members.
Mr Qadiri was nominated for his advocacy and assistance in helping arrivals settle into Australia from Afghanistan in 2021 as part of Bakhtar, as well as working with the Department of Health and Human Services to educate the community on vaccine and pandemic safety through the Bakhtar Media Network and the Bakhtar Magazine.
As a volunteer, he helped Bakhtar provide 1000 families with food packages and assisted more than 2000 refugees who arrived from Afghanistan with interpreting services, counselling, care packages and providing temporary accommodation, including delivering 26,000 culturally appropriate meals to evacuees in temporary accommodation.
Bakhtar also supported over 500 community members with their visa applications.
Bakhtar is the first and only Afghan-Australian secular organisation and is not divided by religion or political beliefs, which is often a source of conflict in Afghanistan.
Mr Qadiri, who juggles his volunteering commitments with his work as a finance manager, and a Masters degree in Leadership at Deakin University, said he was not expecting the nomination.
“This is fantastic, not only for myself but for my team, for our more than 1000 members that we have at Bakhtar,” Mr Qadiri said.
“We’re all contributing to the community work.
“This is a huge honour to be recognised state-wide, and making it to the final is a huge step.
“This gives me more motivation to be involved in the community.”
Mr Qadiri and Bakhtar’s efforts were all the more significant in 2021 due to the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban in August.
Following United States’ President Joe Biden’s withdrawal of US Troops from Afghanistan, Taliban fighters went from city to city, capturing territories before reaching the capital, Kabul on 15 August, forcing President Ashraf Ghani to flee the country and seeing the government collapse, increasing the demand for visas and access to Australia.
Combined with the ongoing difficulties presented by Covid-19, which hindered helping newly-arrived Afghans assimilate and integrate into Australian culture, as well as sourcing clothes and supplies for care packages, Mr Qadiri said the community was stretched to its limits.
His mother was one of the people stuck in the conflict, still waiting on receiving a visa into Australia having applied in August and fleeing to nearby Pakistan instead.
“It was very challenging,” Mr Qadiri said.
“I remember on R U OK day, people were trying to send messages of ‘are you OK?’ and on behalf of the community we were saying, no, we are not really OK at this time. The community are concerned about their families who are stuck here at home, lockdowns and fear of Covid-19.
“We couldn’t buy quantities of 400 items of clothing from K-mart or Target because they didn’t have that much stock. We had to get each team member to go to different stores and buy clothes.
“The unity and solidarity that the community had during this period time, we worked together to help each other mentally, which was very important.”
The Bakhtar community organisation team supported over 500 community members with their visa applications to give some hope that their family will be safe.
The organisation was also recognised in the 2022 Holt Australia Day Awards presented by Anthony Byrne MP and Mr Qadiri was named Casey Citizen of the Year in 2020.
Narre Warren South MP Gary Maas congratulated Mr Qadiri on his nomination, saying it was fantastic to see his work recognised.
“Bassir Qadiri and the Bakhtar Community Organisation undertake integral work that brings our community together, supports the disadvantaged and celebrates our diversity,” Mr Maas said.
“The work of our volunteers should be celebrated and Bassir’s nomination represents all the hard work of all our local volunteer, charity and non-government organisations who have helped so many during the pandemic and beyond.
“I wish Bassir all the best on the night of the Volunteering Awards and whatever the outcome his work, and the work of all our volunteers, is very much appreciated.”
The Volunteering Awards are managed by Volunteering Victoria with the support of the State Government.and will be presented on Friday 25 March at Government House.
For more information on the awards head to volunteeringvictoria.org.au/events/volunteering-awards-2021/
To learn more about Bakhtar and their work, check out their website at bakhtar.org.au/about/
