The Last Monday was formed in 2015 by a very small number of early batch of students who came to Canada on a Student permit.
After the initial struggle of learning to navigate in this foreign land, we started finding ways to support ourselves.
Slowly we realized the void, as our friends had to move to different cities looking for a job.
We wanted to get together every month and enjoy that togetherness again.
Unlike other students who live with their families here in Canada, we international students have UNIQUE challenges.
We feel lonely at times,
we miss that favorite dish our moms make,
we miss the small fights we have with our siblings,
we miss the advice we thought was harsh when our father was around,
we miss playing soccer in the rain with friends,
we miss that favorite corner in our masjid where we loved to do sajdah
In this foreign land, everything is new to us,
from taking a TTC ride to using the public laundry,
from finding the right classroom to finishing those assignments,
from wearing the proper winter clothing to adjusting the clock for daylight savings,
from getting a SIN number to submitting the taxes…
We are the most hardworking group of youth in Canada. Al Hamdu Lillah, from a mere handful of students, today we are THREE HUNDRED plus strong.
If you don’t see all the 300 members from us in a program, it’s because we are busy trying to meet our ends.
We are the chefs who make your favorite cheese in a pizza joint…
A cook at your corner shawarma shop…
Your Uber driver, who drive you safe around the city…
A delivery boy who delivers your favorite dinner at your home…
We clean the malls you stroll,
we clear the snow in your walkways…
We are the security guy in your condos and businesses…
We work more and sleep less…
After all this – Yes, we find time to study, we study hard that we make our parents proud.
Only days that we are relatively free are Mondays.
And, thus we chose to meet on the last Monday of every month.
We got the name The Last Monday for this group from here.
ONLY A STUDENT WILL TRULY UNDERSTAND THE UNIQUE STRUGGLE OF ANOTHER STUDENT.
That’s why we decided to take this group to the next level. We are a group of energetic students who want to do something for the community.
Today, we are an official independent body of Muslim Malayalee students who landed in Canada on Student permit. We govern ourselves under Canadian law and order.
We try to help new students
by picking them from the airport,
help them find accommodation,
giving them support on all the legal aspects of initial settling,
giving them guidance in studies, work permits and permanent residency. We also help each other in finding the part-time job.
We ensure that newcomers feel home as we make them part of a bigger family of students.
We also conduct workshops and guidance sessions in areas of
health and fitness,
career guidance,
financial and credit management,
spiritual uplifting etc.
We also prepare ourselves to cater to any tragedies.
We have many events planned for the coming days… that include conducting sports and recreational programs as well.
The last career guidance session The Last Monday conducted was a huge success where we extended the benefit to the wider community.
Our primary focus will remain on providing assistance to international Muslim Malayalee students. But we’ll always look for the opportunity to extend the benefit to the rest of the community.
Finally, we truly understand that we are the future.
We are the natural choice to take over the leadership of this community and continue all the good work that is carried out today.
Most importantly we want to do it all correctly. We want to ensure that our foundation is strong, and we stick to the basics of our deenul Islam.
Before we conclude,
I would like to congratulate each and every Malayalee Muslims students here, THAT WE ARE THE BIGGEST MUSLIM MALAYALEE STUDENT COMMUNITY IN THE ENTIRE NORTH AMERICA TODAY. Take a bow, be very proud. Al Hamdu Lillah.
Please share your contacts and be in touch. And stay tuned to The Last Monday group – we’ll be publishing our next exciting event.
Requesting you all to pray that Allah strengthens our bonding and help us do more and more for the community.
as-Salam Alaikum