For the second consecutive year, the Muslim Student Alliance (MSA) will host an iftar for Ramadan at Camosun. An iftar is a meal eaten by Muslims at sundown to break their fast during Ramadan; the event will take place at 7 pm on March 14, in the Sherri Bell Hall in the Wilna Thomas building at Lansdowne.
Leia Grace Elaine Unarce, a Muslim student and Camosun College Student Society sustainability director, restarted the MSA in 2024 after it had been inactive for a few years. She was also responsible for hosting last year’s iftar at Camosun, a somewhat improvised event that hosted less than 10 people.
“It was not that organized, because last year I was struggling to start with something. And when we had it last year, MSA was still not very established,” she says. “There were only nine of us. I remember when we had that… it was just like a potluck event. We break our fasting at the same time. I promised them that next year, this would change. We would make it into something big. We would ensure that a lot of students would be able to join us.”
Now, with the MSA fully established with many more members, Unarce plans a big event that will host as many as 60 people.
“The upcoming iftar is sponsored by the British Columbia Muslim Association. So the food, they will be providing all of it,” she says. “The MSA has coordinated with the Camosun College Student Society to book the event… and we’re preparing for 60 participants. Right now, around 30 are registered, so we still have a few weeks to fill it up.” (You can register by using the QR code available on Instagram at the MSA’s account or by emailing msaclub@camosunstudent.org.)
Unarce believes that it’s important for Muslims to break their fast in groups, so events like this in school are essential.
“Ramadan is 30 days, and every day, we’re having an iftar,” she says. “It could be in our own houses, but we believe that if it’s being shared with a lot of people, it is better for us. It is what Allah wants us to do, to be able to break our fasting with a lot of people. So it’s more beneficial for us than spending it alone in our houses.”
Since the MSA came back last year, the number of members has grown from 11 to over 40. However, Unarce is not yet content, and she says she wants to gain more members to foster a bigger Muslim community at Camosun.
“In the next few weeks, we’re going to have an information desk about Ramadan, and we hope to see more [people interested],” she says.
Last year, Unarce expressed her opinions to the college on the lack of praying space at the Interurban campus (at Lansdowne, the Prayer Room is on the third floor of Richmond House), and her concerns did not go unheard. Camosun created a Prayer Room at Interurban, and Unarce says the MSA feels grateful for the changes.
“I think there are drastic changes in the Interurban campus,” she says. “We were not expecting it because it was expensive. They made sure that [the praying room] was designed to accommodate the needs of Muslim students in terms of praying. There is a prayer mat, and then there’s the divider for men and women… we can really feel that support and accommodation from Camosun. Actually, we’re super grateful.”