Since her early arrival to New Zealand in 1997, Sr. Hoda El Walili saw the gasping need of the Muslim community in Auckland for the Arabic language to be taught and studied to their young infants.

Enriched with years of experience in dealing with delayed learning and development through the upbringing of her own daughter who was diagnosed with Down's Syndrome, Sr. Hoda formed a dream of establishing a platform to share her knowledge and energy with others.

As her daughter grew Sr. Hoda's dream also grew along and in 2005 she established Marhaba Play Centre (a non-profit organisation) in Pakuranga to serve and improve the education and learning of the Arabic language and Islamic fundamentals to the kids of the Muslim community.

Marhaba's open and warm policy soon attracted many parents and university students who joined the group as volunteers and devoted many hours of their time to the playgroup.

In its search for instructional material for the learning centre, Marhaba soon discovered the woeful state of the available Arabic and Islamic educational resources, particularly in the West. Attempts to use different curriculums from places such as the UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia were not very fruitful because they were designed for a different target audience (e.g. curriculums designed for Arabic mother tongue speakers, lack of English instructions, regional study topics that don't relate to the Western child, etc).

In 2009, Marhaba was able to source comprehensive Islamic educational programs written in the USA and designed with a remarkable fusion of Islamic and Western learning, making them an excellent choice for Marhaba's kids here in New Zealand. This along with years of other resource gathering (educational toys, puzzles, multimedia, etc) has made Marhaba the most experienced provider of quality Arabic and Islamic childcare services in New Zealand that is servicing numerous families every year.