Over a hundred spiritual health care workers gathered in an Ottawa hotel last month to explore their role in creating ”˜sacred' and responsive spaces.

Far removed from sterile hospital corridors, bustling with professionals going about methodically with their day to day tasks, members of the Canadian Association for Spiritual Care (CASC) attended workshops and speeches about their special roles in environments often fixated solely on physical pain and physical healing.

A visionary group of Canadian Somali youth has been providing their peers with inspiration and guidance as part of the Somali Canadian Youth Mentorship Program. It's a program that aims to connect young people with successful professionals and university students in Ottawa. Ifrah Hassan spoke with the Muslim Link's Amira Elghawaby about the initiative.  

A local public health researcher wants to hear from minority women, including Muslims, who have used maternal care services at the Ottawa Hospital.

With colleagues from the University of Ottawa, Dr. Sylvia Reitmanova has begun a survey titled “Diversity-inclusive maternal healthcare services” which aims to capture the experiences of women who have had any experiences with the Ottawa Hospital during pregnancy and birth. This includes General, Civic and Riverside campuses.

Wire service ”“  n. A news-gathering organization that distributes syndicated copy electronically, as by teletype or the Internet, usually to subscribers.

Also known as a wire agency.

About a decade ago, Hadeel Al-Shalchi, 32, was writing articles about Ottawa's Muslim community in these very pages. She also hosted a weekly show on Carleton University's student radio station, CKCU, and was a regular guest on CBC Radio, commenting on the latest developments in her homeland.

Obviously, journalism was in her blood, though at the time she was pursuing an engineering degree because her father thought it was a more reliable choice.

Perhaps. But thankfully Ms. Al-Shalchi decided to follow her dreams. After obtaining a Master in Journalism from Carleton University, the then 25-year-old Ms. Al-Shalchi made her way to the Middle East, where her family is originally from, to break into journalism on familiar soil. That decision would change her life and bring her to the front lines of the Arab Spring, including the latest violent uprising in Syria.

Ms. Al-Shalchi, who is now covering the Middle East for the wire agency Reuters, was in Ottawa recently and shared her experiences with a packed room of journalism students, family, friends and members of the wider public. Here are some of her reflections on covering the historic Arab Spring uprisings:

When was the last time you heard about a potential hate crime or incident targeting Ottawa's Muslim community?

Think now, it wasn't long ago.

In high school, Ayan Ismail would get constant questions about why she wasn't eating or drinking during the month of Ramadan. The questions persisted right through university.

“I wanted to answer them,” she explained in an interview, “but I also wanted to do something.”

University students and recent graduates of Egyptian heritage successfully teamed up with local community organizations and individuals last month to raise over sixty thousand dollars for micro financing and education projects in Egypt.

Heba Eid, one of the July 28 fundraising dinner's energetic organizers, wrote in an email interview that the team of young people was originally just hoping to be able to raise forty thousand dollars to kick start an ambitious program that would help finance 25 projects in a Cairo slum.

A start-up company called Radiant Design has recently come up with a nifty application to help new drivers learn the rules of the road. It's just one more offering from the start up that's got an impressive roster of clients including Carleton University, SPG Group, World Skills and ielp.

Shamima Khan, its Studio Director, talked with the Muslim Link's Amira Elghawaby, about the company's new product.

With Ramadan fresh in our minds, let's think back to that moment when the sun sets, and it's time to decide what delectable item will enter our eager mouths first. Many people opt for dates, simply because that's what the Prophet Muhammad, may peace be upon him, used to do. But what if there was a chocolate bar right in front of you, ready for the taking? What would you really want to choose?