We need more partnerships with multicultural groups

Theron Kramer

Ismaili? What is that, I asked, just after starting to work at the K-W Multicultural Centre in the early 1970s.

I soon learned as I got to know a number of Ismaili refugees who arrived in Waterloo Region from Uganda where, after being the entrepreneurs that had driven much of the economic development there for years, they had been ordered out of the country by Idi Amin.

Since that time, the K-W Ismaili community, part of the 15 million Ismaili Shia Muslims scattered throughout the world, has prospered here.

I had the privilege of participating in two important Waterloo Region events hosted by this very dedicated cultural and religious group over the past month.

The first was their celebration of Muhammad’s birthday. At Kitchener’s Delta Hotel, Ismaili families and their guests participated in a night of poetry, dance and music, as well as a very stimulating presentation by Prof. Amir Hussain on the opportunities and challenges for Canadian Muslims in the 21st century.

The following weekend at the School of Architecture in Cambridge, there was a travelling exhibit of the historic cities program, produced by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and co-sponsored by the University of Waterloo.

What an incredible learning experience the huge display gave us about the role that heritage conservation and restoration can play in the social and economic development of entire communities.

Throughout the Muslim world, from Mali to Egypt to Afghanistan, His Highness, the Aga Khan, spiritual head – or Imam – of the Ismaili community, has used the Aga Khan Trust for Culture not just to restore and rebuild major historic Islamic sites and buildings, but to create hundreds of local jobs, to train youth in ancient building skills and, in conjunction with other agencies in the Aga Khan Development Network, to develop ongoing economic and social structures.

The most interesting site for me was the one in Kabul, Afghanistan. As Canadians, we hear almost daily about the failures in Canada’s and other countries’ attempts to rebuild that shattered society. But here, the trust has successfully restored a historic mosque, along with other buildings and infrastructure in the surrounding neighbourhood, creating 50,000 workdays of employment for local residents.

As part of this experience, on Sunday afternoon, Rick Haldenby, Bruce Kuwabara and Janna Levitt, three architects well known locally, showed slides and talked about some of their innovative reuse of buildings in North America. It was very appropriate that both the panel discussion and the Aga Khan exhibit were held in the University of Waterloo’s School of Architecture, which itself is a great example of an innovative heritage building converted from factory to university.

We have much to learn from dialogue with one another about all aspects of the rich history, arts, cultural heritage and social and economic development approaches that our neighbours are involved in throughout the world. But too few of us are part of that dialogue.

We need more partnerships between multicultural groups and mainstream institutions and much more attention paid by our media to the variety of cultural activities happening throughout our communities.

There was scant coverage of the Aga Khan historic cities program here, despite the fact that the tour of this very stimulating exhibit is appearing in only four of Canada’s largest cities — and in Cambridge.

You can learn more about the Aga Khan Development Network and the work it does with partners like our own Canadian International Development Agency at www.akdn.org.

You can also support its work through the Aga Khan Foundation Canada by participating in the World Partnership Walk in Kitchener on Sunday, May 25 starting at the Victoria Park Gazebo at 11 a.m. Register or donate at: www.worldpartnershipwalk.com.

Theron Kramer of Kitchener has wide experience as a community volunteer.

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