Durdana Ansari: Changing face

Muslim journalist Durdana Ansari gets recognised for her services to Muslim Women’s Charity.

Journalist Durdana Ansari was spearheading a successful Muslim women’s charity project in obscurity until she was awarded OBE (Order of the British Empire), according to ruislip.uxbridgegazette.co.uk.an. OBE is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom to honour individuals with outstanding philanthropic achievements.

Ansari, of Queen’s Walk, South Ruislip, had absolutely no idea about the magnitude of her achievements and was surprised to know about her inclusion in the New Year Honours List for her services to Muslim women in the UK. The 51-year-old spent 22 years working as a producer for the BBC’s World Service, but decided to quit in 2006 to pioneer the Ethnic Minority Foundation’s (EMF) Muslim Women’s Project.

In the last six years with EMF, Ansari has helped thousands of Muslim women learn basic English and IT skills. “I was shocked because I could never imagine that something like this would happen,” Ansari told the Gazette. “I did a lot of work for Muslim women to get them a basic education. I think it has made a lot of difference in families and not just for individuals. There are communities that have been living here for 30 or 40 years but they need confidence.”

According to ruislip.uxbridgegazette.co.uk, centres have been established in Bolton, Bristol, Bradford, Leicester and London. Ansari said that because of government cuts, the project no longer had any of its own classrooms, but was able to use libraries as academic spaces instead. “It is a difficult time but I won’t stop, I am not retiring anytime soon,” she vowed.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 22^nd, 2012.