Akhter Jahan Rahman
An Indian vocal music teacher, psychologist and musician, Akhter moved to Adelaide with her late husband and five-year-old son as refugees four decades ago.
Akhter is a member of Sing Australia, has her own musical band (Jazz Massala), teaches Indian music and organises musical soirees for Bangladeshis.
She is a keen member of Zonta, the Australian Labor Party, National Seniors Association and the South Australian Bangladeshi Community Organisation. She volunteers with Meals on Wheels and enjoys cooking, socialising, walking and pilates.
Akhter was one of the film-makers involved in the inaugural Good Lives on Film Project in 2014.
“Being a member of The Exchange has opened up a different world for me to the one I was used to when I was working full time,” she says. “It’s given me an avenue for meeting people who want to remain independent and who have positive lifestyles. I enjoy receiving information about different events and projects and getting involved.”
Anne Biggins
Anne was involved in the second Good Lives on Film Project in 2015 and has been a member of The Exchange since its inception.
Anne was left unable to work after surgery on a brain tumour, but says The Exchange has provided an avenue to helping her meet new people with similar interests and to try something new.
“I’ve always enjoyed art and I go regularly to the Art Gallery, but I had never imagined myself as somebody who could make a film,” she says. “Making the films was wonderful – I couldn’t wait for the days to come when we would meet. Everybody clicked and we had an absolute ball.”
Anne and four friends have formed an ongoing film-making group and meet once a month to watch a screening at The Mercury in Adelaide.
Ted Setnikar
Ted Setnikar says there is ‘no such thing’ as retirement. For him, the move away from full-time work is merely a transition from regimental hours and commitments to flexible hours and commitments.
Today Ted juggles voluntary work as a bus driver for the Hut Community Centre in Aldgate and as a cook in the kitchen at the Hutt Street Centre for homeless in Adelaide.
In 2014 he published a book about his harrowing childhood in Slovenia, The Lacemaker’s Son, and donates all proceeds of its sale to the Hutt Street Centre.
He is an active member of The Exchange and was guest speaker on a panel brought together by ACH Group at the Adelaide Festival of Ideas in 2016.
Ted was heavily involved in shaping ACH Group’s award-winning Free to Be Project, a commitment to delivering inclusive services for older Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) individuals, and was one of the first filmmakers in the inaugural Good Lives on Film project in 2015.
Ted lives in the Adelaide Hills with his partner and practices Soka Gakkai, a Japanese form of Buddhism which promotes peace and happiness.
