Our number one priority is to raise an educated generation

This is true for businesses as well. A lot of vacant lands and buildings were turned into businesses. So many jobs have been created and so much economic contribution has been done to the city. And we are proud to call ourselves Daytonians.

On November 14, 2014, in commemoration of our deportation day, we built a mosque on Valley Street. We purchased a vacant funeral home and did so much work to it. The entire community united to build that gorgeous place. We now offer weekend school to about 160 children and almost any service a religious organization can provide.

Honestly, we do not have any specific goals for 2022 — our goals are long-term. Our number one priority is to raise an educated generation, and we are pursuing every avenue to get to that goal. We want to get our kids into prestigious colleges in the country and keep our kids away from the streets.

One of the best ways to get into a good college is through sports. This country has an amazing systemic connection between sports and educational entities. We are currently focusing on our kids that are in elementary schools. Last year, we built a wrestling gym in the upper level of our school across the mosque. We have about 80 registered athletes. We want to prepare them to win the high school state wrestling championships in Ohio. If we get state champions, or place multiple times, elite colleges will send scholarships to have these kids wrestle for them and study there. That is our goal: To get our kids into elite colleges through sports, in this case wrestling, because that’s what we know best.

Once they’re in those colleges, we want them to get their diploma, come back and serve their community to help raise more educated kids. That will benefit themselves, their families, their community, their city and this great country.

We are using every day to get closer to this long-term goal of raising an educated, healthy, and peaceful generation.

Eldar Muradov is the president of Osman Gazi Mosque.