BEMA ELECTIONS

The University of Birmingham Ethnic Minorities Association (BEMA) had its election on Friday 13th November and I can happily confirm that the following students were successful and will serve you on the BEMA Committee 2009-2010.

CHAIR Claudenia Williams

VICE CHAIR Senyo Aidam Weekes

TREASURER Anthony Opoku

GUILD COUNCILLORS (Reps)
Aishat Hassan-Oladele
Kayode Sulola

CAMPAIGNS OFFICER Rachel Twumasi

EVENTS OFFICERS
Mehret Efrem
Clare Chiramba

COMITTEE SUPPORT OFFICERS
Samir Sameja
Muchengeti Kehle
Tamanna Kabir
Charles Rotimi George

WEB OFFICER Tomiwa Oyedabajo

The new Committee will be in touch with you shortly and let you know what they intend to do this year and more importantly, to get to know you and investigate the issues that interest you and how they can help get these addressed.

****Why not pop down to their stall by the Spar in the Guild on Thursday 19th November 1-3pm and say hi?

INTER-FAITH WEEK

I've been also working on the Inter-Faith Week and we began festivities at our university a wee bit early on the 11th November with the Campus FaithHub-UK Tour 2009 involving the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, the Coexistence Trust and the Three Faiths Forum. So far, things have been going really well with various faith & cultural societies running stalls and all sorts of events all over the university. Join the Faith and Culture @ Guild of students facebook group for more details.
There will also be a footie tournament TODAY 17th Nov at 4-6pm at the Bournbrook pitches with about 10 different faith& cultural student groups and societies taking part. So why not grab those pom poms and come down for some super fun!!!

SHARING SANCTUARY

This is a relatively new initiative that am involved in and our vision is to present an opportunity for socializing and addressing the danger of isolation for students particularly internationals and those coming from conflict zones. It is steadily growing and students are more than welcome to pop by EVERY Tuesday 7pm-9pm in the Rosa Parks room in the Guild to chat and socialize around a billiard table, play table tennis and other games while enjoyin a warm cup of tea or coffee. Pure bliss!!! And am yet to properly lose a table tennis game, so if you think you could change that, come down then and have a go!

Hello beloved,

We've finally sorted out a couple of niggles with the lovely I.T people and I can now start blogging. Exciting times ahead! I will try to scribble a few things just to let you know what I’ve been up to as your happily elected officer. So here goes.....

FRESHERS’ WEEK Sept. ‘09

This was a fantastic time and had a stall set up for BEMA (University of Birmingham Ethnic Minorities Association) which I Co-Chair and got to meet a lot of new students and welcome them to what promises to be a fun-filled tenure at this lovely university.

I also took the opportunity to personally meet the Committee members of cultural societies and faith student groups to which most of the ethnic minority students (both home and internationals) would affiliate themselves.

My approach throughout the year, with the support of BEMA will be to work very closely with these committee members as a way to create a meaningful and relevant arena of dialogue to identify the issues, interests and concerns of their members and support them accordingly; and feed these to relevant university parties to be addressed. So it was important that I met and greeted them and got up to-date contact details.
I also attended a couple of ‘societies’ ‘meet and greets’ which was fun!

SHARING SANCTUARY

This is a new initiative of the Multi Faith Chaplaincy and University of Birmingham Student Life for students with refugee status or coming from a conflict zone and on which am working very closely with Fr.Nicholas as it gets off the ground. Is intended to present an opportunity for socializing and addressing the danger of isolation. Students can pop by EVERY Tuesday from 7pm-9pm in the Rosa Parks room in the Guild and chat and socialize around a billiard table, play table tennis or other board games while sipping a warm cup of tea or coffee. It’s a total chill out zone and there are no strings attached! Trust me..

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Black History Month seeks to promote knowledge of Black History and experience, to share information across communities on positive Black contributions to British society, and to heighten the awareness of Black people in their cultural heritage.
And I believe that by embracing our diverse student communities, we can play our part in educating, informing, celebrating and sharing the history of all our cultures. And am supporting our very own university’s African & Caribbean Society (ACS) that is preparing an appetising entertainment showcase dubbed ‘Our History’ on the 29th October from 7:30p.m hosted by the fantastic comedian Babatunde and featuring amazing performances and guest speakers. And ALL are welcome!

There’s also a BHM Event organised by West Midlands RBMSO Group and West Midlands Centre on Friday 23 October, 2009 from 9:30am -3:00 pm at the Banqueting Suite, Birmingham City Council, Victoria Square. This will feature delicious cultural food, a gospel choir, a school presentation, African head-dress, workshops, dances, Indian Mendhi and fantastic guest speakers. Should be a belly of laughs!

Coming soon....

INTER-FAITH WEEK

I am also planning for national Inter-Faith week in November with society stalls aplenty, society community volunteering, inter-societal football and all manner of events to celebrate our university’s religious and cultural diversity. So if your society hasn’t yet done so, get in touch and let’s have a truly heart-warming knees-up!!