Step magazine
Ahmed Binavi is the president of the Kurdistani Diaspora Centre here in Calgary, Canada and also a board member of the Kurdistan Federation of Canada has been nominated by the Canadian Conservatives members of Parliament for the King Charles III’s Coronation Medal in 2024. Mr. Binavi is a well-known Kurdish Canadian for his activism and willingness to help on a day to day basis, serving not only his Kurdish community but any community in need. He, like thousands of other Kurds is a survivor from fleeing Anfal in 1988, where he became a refugee in Eastern Turkey, then arriving to Canada as an immigrant in 1994. He always believed that from his first day in Canada, his first duty was to serve his Kurdish community. In 1996, Mr. Binavi began a Kurdish school where he taught the Kurdish language and culture to more than 70 students, followed by publishing a Kurdish magazine. For the last 31 years, Mr. Binavi has been very active in a variety of ways in his community. In this time frame, he helped establish several Kurdish Communities in an effort to preserve and serve his community, but with increased division and resources many of them have fallen through. These limitations however, have never stopped him from his determination to his community. Mr. Binavî works hard to keep his community united, whether it is a celebration, demonstration, or lending a helping hand. He brings forward the Kurdish voice to Canadian members of parliament, and supports them in each way that he can, and ensures their exposure to the Kurdish community by allowing them to partake in all events. When the Kurdish community was a fairly new community in Canada, specifically in the 1990’s, Mr. Binavi spent a majority of his time helping the community through taking them to doctor’s appointments, translating, helping with funerals, weddings and anything else that he could help with. In the last 20 years, Mr. Binavi has opened and operated his one janitorial and car detailing company. A majority of immigrants and refugees from Kurdistan that arrive here have little to no work experience or knowledge of the English language, but he is always willing to give a helping hand and provide them with a job to ensure that they have a starting point of their life in Canada. Mr. Binavi has made it his promise to continue serving his community, and says that he will help all future newcomers to the best of his ability and ensure that he keeps his Kurdish Community standing strong and always holding onto their roots.
