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JeeranSocial Club
عربي

Our work

Beyond our own families

Initiatives we have run and groups we have started or supported.

Initiatives we ran

  • Palestine Screenings Series

    2023 to 2024

    Six screenings of Tantura, Alon Schwarz’s Israeli documentary about the 1948 events in the Palestinian village of Tantura, under a screening licence we bought from its distributor, Journeyman Pictures: two at Library at The Dock in Docklands, one at the Djerring Flemington Hub, where a survivor from Tantura shared his family's story, one at the Drum Theatre in Dandenong, and two private screenings. Together they raised funds for Médecins Sans Frontières' Gaza Hospitals Appeal.

  • Syrian freedom celebrations

    2024 and 2025

    A sold-out evening at Studley Park Boathouse in December 2024, and a family celebration in Doncaster East in December 2025.

Groups we support

  • Australian Syrian Alliance logo

    Australian Syrian Alliance

    Founded 2025

    The club initiated the Australian Alliance for New Syria in January 2025. It became the Australian Syrian Alliance.

    Visit syrian.au
  • Sol Choir Melbourne logo

    Sol Choir Melbourne

    Sol Choir grew out of our own community: families who love to sing and wanted a place to do it together. Jeeran supports the choir by booking the hall for its weekly rehearsals, so the music never has to stop.

    Visit Instagram

Arabic culture

Growing up with Arabic

Our children are growing up Australian. These programs help them grow up with Arabic too: reading it, hearing it and celebrating its traditions at home.

  • Ramadan 2023

    Jeeran Arabic Reading Challenge

    Our first Arabic Reading Challenge invited children aged 5 to 17 to read in Arabic at their own level. It was about building confidence and a love of reading, not about competing.

    Each child picked a level, from one book for beginners to five books for proficient readers. We shared a suggested reading list with digital copies, and children could choose their own books too. For every book, they recorded a short video in Arabic: what the book was about, the characters, their favourite part and whether they would recommend it.

    Every child who finished received a certificate at our Family Iftar on 1 April 2023 and went into a prize draw. We plan to run the challenge again.

    children finished
    21
    Arabic books read
    60
    reading levels
    4
    Flyer for the 2023 Jeeran Arabic Reading Challenge, in Arabic, with two children reading
    The 2023 flyer

  • Ramadan 2023, 2024 and 2025

    Ramadan Home Decoration Contest

    Every Ramadan from 2023 to 2025, families decorated their homes with lanterns, lights, crescents and centrepieces and sent us a collage of photos. The community voted online, and the winners were announced at our Family Iftar.

    Every family received a certificate of participation, and the top three won gift cards. In 2025 the prizes were $100, $50 and $30.

    SBS Arabic featured the contest, and one of its winners, in March 2024.

    families in 2023
    18
    families in 2024
    16
    families in 2025
    10
    Listen on SBS Arabic
    Poster for the Ramadan Home Decoration Contest 2025, with photos of decorated rooms
    Our contest poster, 2025 edition

  • May 2024 to early 2025

    Arabic Storytime for children under five

    We worked with Whitehorse Manningham Libraries to bring free Arabic Storytime to Manningham for nine months: stories and rhymes in Arabic for children under five, on health and wellbeing themes. No booking was needed.

    We suggested venues, helped find the storyteller through our community, hosted sessions at the Heimat Centre in Doncaster East and donated a collection of Arabic children's books to the library.

    months of free sessions
    9

    The first sessions, Term 2 2024

    • Heimat Centre, Doncaster East: Tuesday 7 May and Tuesday 4 June, 12 to 12:45 pm
    • Pines Library, Doncaster East: Thursday 16 May and Thursday 20 June, 2:30 to 3:15 pm

Connecting with our politicians

Ryan Smith MP visits Jeeran

18 November 2022, Doncaster Senior Citizens Centre

A week before the 2022 Victorian state election, Ryan Smith, the Liberal Member for Warrandyte, joined our monthly meetup to share his program with our community. At the time he was Shadow Minister for Planning and Heritage and Shadow Minister for Suburban Recovery.

Our members asked him about education, healthcare and support for multicultural communities, the issues that matter most to our families.

See it in our events
Group photo of Jeeran members standing around the tables at the Doncaster Senior Citizens Centre with Ryan Smith MP in the centre holding a certificate, November 2022.
Jeeran members with Ryan Smith MP
  • Ryan Smith MP speaking to Jeeran families at the Doncaster Senior Citizens Centre in November 2022, with the caption Special Guest: Ryan Smith.
  • Ryan Smith MP standing and speaking to Jeeran members seated at tables in the Doncaster Senior Citizens Centre, November 2022.

Come and meet us

Jeeran is a friendly community of families, run by volunteers. If you speak Arabic, love our food and enjoy family gatherings, talk to us and come along to an event to see if we’re a good fit.

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