This is Durdana Ansari, a producer at BBC who runs a Muslim charity in the UK (now for everyone regardless of religion or gender). She was recently awarded the OBE (Most Excellence Order of British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth. Proud to be an Ansari, Muslim and a Pakistani!
Journalist Durdana Ansari was spearheading a successful Muslim womens 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 Queens 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 BBCs World Service, but decided to quit in 2006 to pioneer the Ethnic Minority Foundations (EMF) Muslim Womens 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 wont stop, I am not retiring anytime soon, she vowed.
