AS part of one of the first Pakistani families to come to Bendigo, Dr Aisha Neelam has seen first hand how the city has developed in the last few decades.
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"We've seen this place grow quite significantly since the time we moved here, and it's certainly become more multicultural than it once was," she said.
"We've never, bar a couple of incidents, ever experienced any instances of racism or been made to feel like we don't belong."
Since arriving in Bendigo, she has worked as a GP at the doctor's clinic in Marong and works with Headspace at Bendigo Community Health.
Dr Neelam attended a lunch at the Chinese Dragon Museum on Thursday with members of Bendigo's many other multicultural communities.
She also visited the site of the proposed Bendigo mosque afterwards, a project she said the community desperately needed, as she watched their Ramadan events grow bigger and bigger every year.
"There's been a lot of propaganda surrounding this, and I guess the message we're trying to get out there is that space for us means that we can carry on our Islamic values, our cultural and traditional values," Dr Neelam said.
"What we're lacking is that place where we can all come together to celebrate who we are.
"It's the same as having a community centre, it just means it's a dedicated place we can use when we want to instead of beginning the hunt for a community centre every time Ramadan approaches."
Good friend Conchita Ollivier was nine months pregnant when she came to Bendigo from the United States 10 years ago.
She also said the city had been welcoming for her and her family.
"We have friends in all areas of town, we're very much involved in our Muslim community, the school community and the broader community," she said.
Secretary of the East African Community Castlemaine Chan Nyok said while new arrivals from South Sudan and Uganda faced many challenges in central Victoria, there was always support available.
