This Australia Day marks my first year since I arrived in my new and lovely home, Australia, as a refugee from Pakistan. I would like to pay my gratitude to this beautiful country for it embraced me when my own countrymen disowned me. It gave me basic human rights that I could not enjoy in my country of birth. I am proud to call Australia my home. 
Being an Ahmadi Muslim, my faith requires me to be loyal to the country in which I reside and to serve it to the best of my abilities. I am making every effort to be a productive member of this society and serve this country and its kind people. This is the reason that I am already serving as the assistant national secretary for humanitarian services in the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Australia. I help organise different charity events during the year, including blood drives, Clean Up Australia Day, National Tree Day, feeding hungry etc.
I will be proudly attending the Australia Day celebrations at the Baitul Huda Mosque in Marsden Park. We will raise our Australian flag and sing the national anthem, play cricket and enjoy a good barbecue for lunch. I pray that this great country grows and prospers with its beauty of diversity.
Naveed Ahmed
St Marys, NSW