Keilor Downs resident and Sunshine Mosque vice president Osman Kemal, 63, talks to Yasemin Talat about life in Brimbank
How long have you been living in Brimbank?
I’ve been a resident of Brimbank since arriving in Australia in 1974. I first lived with my uncle in Sunshine. When I married, I moved to Keilor Downs where I’ve been living for about 35 years.
Why do you like Brimbank so much?
I’m very used to living here now – it’s my home. And I like that it’s close to the city.
What is one of your first memories of moving to Brimbank?
I moved here from northern Cyprus with the help of my uncle.
I remember when I first arrived I was very surprised to see the homes were made from wood. In Cyprus, all the homes were made from stone. I was so curious to know why they used wood here instead.
I remember being told it was to protect the homes in case of an earthquake. I will never forget my amazement.
What do you do for work?
I was a taxi driver for many years and now I am a chauffeur.
What do you do in your spare time?
I volunteer my time to help the Cyprus Turkish Islamic Community, also known as Sunshine Mosque. I like to help the mosque and community as much as I can. I was recently elected as vice president of the committee and look forward to working even closer with the whole community.
I also love my garden and really enjoy gardening. When I get time to myself, I love to spend it in my garden.
What do you do as part of your volunteer role with Sunshine Mosque?
Together with a dedicated committee we work to assist our community and help our mosque grow. We are all very passionate about helping where we can.
I also help direct funerals, so I often get called when someone in our community passes away. I pick up their body and bring it to the morgue we have here. I usually go with our imam and pay our condolences to the family, too. Then I help arrange the funeral.
What do you like about volunteering at the mosque?
When I was younger, I used to see my late father go to the mosque. This has stayed with me through my life and is something I have also passed on to my children.
It’s very special to me to come to the mosque and be a part of the community.
What are the goals for the future of Sunshine Mosque?
We have lots of projects. We built this mosque over the last 20 years and we want to continue to build it up. It’s one of the biggest in Australia.
We want it to be a place for both the young and the old. Especially the youth. We have many social activities for the youth and have plans of building sports facilities for them to use in the future.
Our mosque is open to everyone. It doesn’t matter what your religious background is – we don’t discriminate here. We love and respect everyone and we gladly welcome everyone.
For more, visit www.facebook.com/SunshineMosque
