HERE'S a story that shows you really can depend on the kindness of strangers. This week, The Canberra Times ran a story on Afghan refugee and Dickson College student Mohammad Mohammadi, pictured. The Year 12 student, 18, who had fled religious persecution, won a $350 scholarship for showing great determination in his studies. A woman who read the yarn walked in off the street bearing a card for Mohammad with $200 slipped inside to put towards a laptop. Dickson College principal Beth Mitchell said yesterday that when the card was taken to the boy's classroom, everyone thought it would contain only good wishes. When he opened it and found four crisp $50 notes inside, the class went silent. Mohammad was ''speechless, amazed and grateful that someone he doesn't know would care so much about him''. It transpired the gesture was timely. The students had been studying random acts of kindness, and here was a compelling demonstration of just that. Mitchell described the mystery woman as a little older and beautifully dressed. School staff asked her for her name so they could thank her but she declined, as she only wanted to offer Mohammad money for his laptop along with her best wishes. The student lives in a share house with six other people. He pays about $200 a fortnight for rent, which leaves him surviving on about $180 a fortnight. Cheap beans and vegetables fill him up and he spends what he has left on mobile phone bills so he can call his mother once a week. ''It would have taken him ages to save up for a laptop,'' Mitchell said. ''We've been trying to figure out ways to raise money for him. Now, with the grant he received last week, he has $550 to put towards it.'' Mohammad wants to express his gratitude for his anonymous donor. ''This will make such a big difference in his life.''
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Darwin bombings
HEADING up north to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Darwin bombings will be Canberrans and former long-time Northern Territorians Ella Stack and Pat Davies. Stack is a former Lord Mayor of Darwin and Davies a former Mayor of Katherine and Deputy Lord Mayor of Darwin. They are both looking forward to meeting old friends at the Frontline Ball on Saturday and joining others on Sunday to remember those who lost their lives in the bombings and those who fought so hard to keep Australia safe. As in other years, they will experience the sorrowful wail of the air raid siren as it sounds out at the time of the original raid in 1942. Both women think it's a great pity that more Australians are not aware of the full extent of the many bombing raids on the Top End during WWII.
Carnival atmosphere
GO and join the fun folk of Crace for their weekend festival. The Crace carnival, planned for Saturday, will be complete with rides, a free barbecue, fairy floss and snow cones. From 4.30pm, there'll be a super slide, pirate ship, jumping castle and mechanical teacups, plus clowns, balloon modelling and roving entertainment. The day will finish up with a screening of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides at the Crace outdoor cinema. BYO rug to sit on. All food and fun can be enjoyed for free and all are welcome. A gold coin donation will support the Canberra Hospital's Newborn Intensive Care Foundation.
Enlighten yourself
FANCY some fun with paint and protective suits? Like raving with headphones in your ears? Would you prefer to take in some local music acts, muse about the night sky with Michael Leunig or mellow out with Clare Bowditch? If you're into any of the above, you're bound to be looking forward to the festivities of Enlighten, which is to feature 35 free and ticketed events as part of the Canberra Festival on the evenings of March 2, 3, 9 and 10. The Parliamentary Triangle will be a hub of entertainment. Acts to perform in Canberra include Lanie Lane, Eagle and the Worm, Anthony Pappa, the Puta Madre Brothers and Hypnagog. Local acts such as Los Capitanes, Owen Campbell, the Ellis Collective, the Brass Knuckles Band and Fun Machine are also to appear on the West Side Stage, which will be at the Enlighten Entertainment Precinct in the Parliamentary Triangle. You can admire the exteriors of five national attractions, all lit up with projections. Other highlights include Pollock Pong, a variation on ping-pong involving the aforementioned paint and protective gear; a silent disco; chuckling about Aussie politics with comedians at the Museum of Australian Democracy; Aussie DJ Tom Piper's thoughts on technology's impact on music at Questacon; and Bowditch and the Clouds' performance at the National Museum.
