On the 19th August, surrounded by jungle murals and African drums, Jungle Braai restaurant in East London was transformed into a heaving hub for creating a change, as it hosted an intimate dinner with Restless Beings.

During the month of Ramadan, supporters, activists and friends gathered to support the charity in their quest to raise awareness and fundraise for their two ongoing projects; ‘Bangladeshi Street Children’ and ‘The Persecution of Three Communities’. Our gracious supporters and donors included our kind sponsors, Victor Stone and many new faces from as far as Birmingham, Bedford and Bath, who came to not only learn about, but support and help promote the Restless Beings cause.

Before the fast was broken at sunset an introduction to Restless Beings was given by both Mabrur Ahmed and Rahima Begum, the two Co-founders of the organisation. This was shortly followed by a documentary that presented the success of the first RB project, launched in 2008 with ‘The Big 10 Challenge’. It depicted the harrowing experiences of the street children, filmed during Mabrur’s experience, on his last journey to the rehab centre in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It certainly stirred emotions, as clips of the children’s self harm was shown, one of the many consequences of taking a drug called ‘dandy’. However, the positive effects of the Restless Beings rehab centre was certainly clear, as the results of strong support, optimism and dedication for change proved to have remarkable effects on the Bangladeshi children. One guest, moved by the video, commented: ‘Its great to see where the donations you have made go to, and how it is used in such a positive manner, creating a tangible difference’. Indeed RB focuses on making permanent, consistent and egalitarian change.

The video then showed our next project, ‘The Persecution of Three Communities’. This project consists of the issues of Uighur Women’s Rights in Krygyzstan, the persecuted Rohingya people in Burma and Bangladesh and the marginalised Roma Gypsy community in Eastern Europe. It concerns, in different ways, the restoration of basic human rights, which are greatly lacking for such communities as they live in stateless conditions.

However hope was the lasting sentiment. A hope that with the support of effort of those who feel restless, change can be made. The success of the rehab centre is testimony to such. Whilst dining on sumptuous South African cuisine, guests were able to network in order to share resources as well as find out more about the Restless Beings team and their work.

The evening was an amazing and humbling success, raising around £3,000! From ticket sales, to donations and stretch pledges, a great sense of community was achieved in order to help other, less fortunate communities. Further, many guests also expressed pledges to raise funds individually or amongst friends in order to help the cause too, by way of dinner parties and cake sales.

In the mean time Restless Beings would like to announce their next event, an iftar in aid of the Pakistan flooding, raising money for DEC Appeal. With flood waters affecting a fifth of the country, and stretching for more than 600 miles, lives and homes have been shattered and we appeal to you to dig deep and give generously during this time of need. The event will be taking place at Jungle Braai again and more information can be found on the Restless Beings website.

If you would like to volunteer, fundraise for or donate to Restless Beings and become an active member of change, please get in (link: http://www.restlessbeings.org/contact text: contact) for more information.

Why Attend?

Speakers

Networking and Discussions