The communities of Campbell River and the Comox Valley are all invited to an open house event to learn more about their Muslim neighbours.

"With immigration and the number of Muslims increasing, and with everything that is happening in the world, and all the misunderstandings, what we wanted to do was have an open house," says Mustafa Abousaleh, the spokesperson for the event. "We will have some cultural food and international foods, and it will allow us to connect with the local community and neighbours in the area."

The open house will be at the Florence Filberg Centre (411 Anderton Ave.) in Courtenay on Aug. 31, with the doors open at 6:30 p.m. The event is hosted by the Olive Branch Revival Foundation (OBRF), which provides settlement and support services for refugees and immigrants in need. 

"Usually, what happens as more immigrants come in you find [that] there is a sense of misunderstanding," explains Abousaleh on why the open house is happening. "We actually noticed this immediately online when some of the volunteers put out the invitations in some of the (social media) groups... immediately hate messages were coming back. We were like, clearly there is a misunderstanding here."

Abousaleh, based in Victoria, said misunderstandings between religious and ethnic communities tend to happen when new immigrants are joining communities. He also mentioned that the bigger the community, the bigger the possibility of discrimination. 

"In a smaller community, it might be good to preemptively mitigate that."

There will be booths at the open house. Each one will introduce a different aspect, whether it be cultural, background on rituals and faith practices, introduction to different communities, and foods. From 7 p.m., there will be a couple of lectures. After the lectures conclude, audience members will have the chance to ask questions. There will also be children's activities available.