“I have been running community groups via social media for a few years now,” says Danish Naqash, the designer of the app.
The IT technician has been working in the information technology sector for several years and developed the app with another IT professional, Saoud Nazir.
“Most of the queries are from new migrants and include questions about halal food, mosques and if there are Islamic schools near their homes.”
“I thought of making an app to help people wherever they are in Australia and get the answers to queries whenever they want.”
“But in the last few months, the queries about COVID-19 and people looking for assistance have risen up, so we decided to add information about the community volunteers providing assistance during these difficult times.”
We want to help everyone in this difficult time by providing the best available information out there.
The app shows location of restaurants and grocery stores in Australia that halal foods. Source: Supplied
HOW DOES IT WORK?
“Once you open the app, it tracks your location and then identifies all the available options,” Danish told SBS Urdu.
He says the app works Australia wide, so if the app user is based in any suburb or town in the country, he or she can access the information in real-time.
The app has also helped many people who were looking for mosques after the cancellation of large gatherings in a praying area.
On the question of a user’s privacy, Danish said no personal information is taken by the app such as name or address rather the app only works based on the user's location.
On the 21st March 2020, for the first time in Australia’s history that mosques across the country were effectively closed that week for Friday prayers to help control the spread of COVID-19.
Initially, the government asked for the cancellation of religious gatherings of more than 500 people (that later reduced to 100 and now 2 people).
The mobile app has the option to locate volunteers in the local area. Source: Supplied
Danish says the ‘mosque location’ was one of the top queries of the app due to the uncertain situation at that time.
These are simple yet fundamental queries that people want answer to and the app just does that.
People in Australia must stay at least 1.5 metres away from others and gatherings are limited to two people unless you are with your family or household.
If you believe you may have contracted the virus, call your doctor (don’t visit) or contact the national Coronavirus Health Information Hotline on 1800 020 080.
If you are struggling to breathe or experiencing a medical emergency, call 000.
SBS is committed to informing Australia’s diverse communities about the latest COVID-19 developments. News and information is available in 63 languages at sbs.com.au/coronavirus
Find more news and information on Coronavirus from https://www.sbs.com.au/language/urdu/coronavirus-updates
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