On December 19, 2011, our daughter was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. On December 24, 2011, she was admitted to Princess Margaret Hospital to begin her first round of aggressive chemotherapy. She is now home and prepares for the next round of treatment. For a long term cure, we are looking for a bone marrow match in order to have a transplant. It has certainly been a whirlwind of a month – never did we expect to receive this news, life is certainly not what we expect. Our daughter is battling hard against this formidable disease, but she is staying positive. As mentioned, for a long term cure, she will need to get a bone marrow transplant and while our other daughter is not a match for her, with your help, we are confident that we’ll find one. We would love all of your help to spread the word and get as many people as possible registered to become a bone marrow/stem cell donor. In most countries, getting tested requires just a cheek swab. If you are a match for someone then you will need to donate your marrow. This procedure differs from country to country, but checking out www.onematch.ca in Canada, www.marrow.org in the United States and www.bmdw.org elsewhere will give you all the info you need. Donating your bone marrow/stem cells will not lessen your quality of life or your lifespan in any way, but could save her life or the life of another person with a blood cancer. If you want to help, please visit the websites and register today. Thanks so much in advance for all your love, support, prayers and for registering to become donors!!

Mohsin & Rucksana Virjee

Employment Ontario Job Fair **NEW**

An upcoming job fair to be held on Wednesday Feb. 15, 2012 between 9.30am and 1.00pm at the Western Fair Carousal Room.

Zainabiya Child Sponsorship **NEW**

Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world. Zainabiya Child Sponsorship in partnership with the World Federation and Nasimco wants to help change that. Please consider donating only $20/month to help to enrich a child's mind and heart about the love of the Ahlul Bayt. Click here for more details.

House for Rent **NEW**

A 2-floor nice and clean house in a nice, quiet, and safe area. The main floor includes 3 bedrooms, a living room, a dining room, a full bathroom, and a kitchen with five appliances including fridge, stove, washer, dryer, and dishwasher. The downstairs floor includes 2 bedrooms, a living room with fire place that works with electricity and gas, a white and big kitchen with again five appliances including fridge, stove, washer, dryer and dishwasher. The house has central vacuum, and new air conditioning, a big and fenced nice backyard, and a drive way for at least 2 cars to park. It is close to bus stop in the rout of bus no. 10 (to UWO) and bus no. 9 to downtown. Click here and here for some pictures. The rent amount is $850 utilities for upstairs, $700 utilities for downstairs, or preferably $1400 utilities for the whole house. It is available immediately. Please contact Sayed Mourtaza Mousavi at 226-926-6105 or by email at smousav3@uwo.ca

Nasimco Community Appeal **NEW**

Greetings!

NASIMCO is appealing to the community on behalf of a sister from our Jamaat in Toronto suffering from Acute Myeloid Leukemia - a cancer of the blood. She has begun treatment but to cure the disease long term, she will need a bone marrow transplant. A search has been initiated for a suitable bone marrow donor. The best chance of finding a matching donor is from within our own ethnic group.

Although people of any gender aged between 17 and 50 can donate, the best pool to find a suitable donor for the long-term success of the transplants is ethnic male donors between the ages of 17 and 35 years.

How can you help?
Consider becoming a bone marrow donor and register NOW
Encourage family, friends & contacts to become a donor by sharing this message - especially with young males ages 17-35, through email, social media, or any means
Give blood, whether or not you decide or are unable to become a bone marrow donor, patients need large quantities of blood during their treatment
Pray for a suitable donor match and the successful treatment of this sister and all others stricken by this and other blood diseases - Ameen
In Canada, for more information and to register, visit: www.onematch.ca
In the USA, for more information and to register, visit: www.samarinfo.org

Please inform the NASIMCO Secretariat if you decide to become a bone marrow donor so we can connect you with the family.

Thank you

As we watch the massacre unfolding in Bahrain for the past few weeks, we cannot stop asking ourselves, "How can we help, being so far away from Bahrain?" The following useful article will help one to stay informed and also list the actions one can take to help the oppressed and unarmed people in Bahrain, who are only asking for their rights to freely and peacefully demonstrate http://www.islamicinsights.com/news/international-news/six-ways-to-help-the-people-of-bahrain.html.

Furthermore, you can be proactive and continue sending e-mails to your local MP, expressing your condemnation about the dire situation in Bahrain. Take a moment and find your local MP on this website and let's spend few minutes to help our brothers and sisters in Bahrain!
http://webinfo.parl.gc.ca/MembersOfParliament/MainMPsCompleteList.aspx?TimePeriod=Current&Language=E.

For a Sermon of Sayyid Mohammad Rizvi Regarding Bahrain situation. Please see the link http://islamicentre.org/ regarding the hypocrisy of the west towards Muslims - specifically on the issue of Bahrain and how silent the governments of the Americans and Europeans are.

In answer to those who inquired about the happenings of Bahrain, please find the attached appeal from civilians therein.

While singularly our actions may seem small, any action from any one of us collectively amounts to a great deal of change. In answer to the questions of some of you, I have contacted my small network of humanitarian activists to find out if there is any tangible projects/relief efforts that we can partake in. I have not yet heard of any solid projects (for those interested, let me know so I can keep you in the loop; including those who already talked to me please so I can make a full list).

If any of you is connected to or aware of any such efforts please circulate the information to everyone.

I am not a humanitarian expert, but in answer to the second request of what can be done in the meantime, here are my 2-cents inshaAllah:

1. Prayers. Do not underestimate the power of your prayer to those in need. If there are any ultimately effective outreach mechanisms, prayer is certainly the 1st on the list.

2. Write to your local MPP/politicians. Especially in this time of elections, it is important that your voices be heard by your local leaders. They are seeking your vote, so take advantage of this time window and share your requests and demands of them as your governmental representatives.

3. Write to your local papers. Again, do not underestimate the impact a small article to the editor that may take you 20 minutes to write in raising awareness of the injustice taking place.

4. Demonstrations. In time of crisis, while the world is unaware of (or lending a deaf ear to) what goes on in Bahrain, one cannot be silent. And if partaking in a protest is all you can do, every voice counts.

5. Outreach to all your networks (esp. those in media and government). Basic principle in theory: the more people know about the crisis, the higher the likelihood of prompt help... no brainer.

Put yourself in the shoes of someone whose son had just been murdered for no reason other than basic human rights, sister brutally beaten by a thug off the street, uncle detained for the soul reason of medically treating a casualty protester and mother brutally punished for breaking into tears at the sight of bloodshed of young men like her own children.

Having said that, one cannot ignore other worthy causes serving others in need around the world. Whatever you are helping out in, may God bless you in continuing to do so. But, do not forget to be the voice of the voiceless in Bahrain alongside.

As you do all this, please remember that this is an integral part of our faith and preparation for the ultimate call for justice and peace worldwide that we are all awaiting.
Feel free to share the above document with all.