Harmony Week

Last week, the College celebrated its cultural diversity with four days of activities designed to celebrate the nations and traditions represented in the school community.

Organised as part of National Harmony Week, the activities included cooking and craft demonstrations by parents from the South Sudanese community, guest speakers, art workshops and a day for students to come to school in cultural dress.

It was great to see students come together and be willing to share their culture and learn more about others in our school community. Colombia, Nigeria, Vietnam, India, Samoa, Tonga, and Chile were represented on the day.

Harmony Week celebrates Australia’s cultural diversity - it’s about inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone, attributes embedded in the College’s wellbeing program.

The week began with fun photos with our Harmony Day Selfie frame and a collaborative leaf painting project supported by parent Sandra Bala and our Social Justice team.

Cooking and craft demonstrations

Creating a traditional South Sudanese dish called Akop, CRC Melton parents Agaw Gatcair and Debora Dau cooked up a feast in the College’s food technology rooms during lunchtime last Wednesday with many students eager to learn more about ingredients such as red rice flour and try the tasty meat and vegetable dish. Agaw explained that Akop could be made with different types of meat and was a meal cooked regularly in her homeland.

Jewellery making, henna tattoos and handmade basket displays were also popular, with parent Mary Anwat encouraging students to create their own designs and sharing stories about the traditional baskets she was taught to make by her grandmother in Sudan to sift ground corn.

“In the dry season in January and February we make these woven baskets and then in the wet season we make others from palm leaves,” Mary said.

“We made jewellery from beads in the village. These are traditional skills we learnt and we are trying to teach our young people too."

Mashair Abdalla is a South Sudanese community leader and support worker for the Centre for Multicultural Youth who joined parents on Wednesday to share her culture with students. She said activities such those organised at the College last week helped bring people together.

Our parent volunteers were organised and supported in the kitchen and craft rooms by Social Justice Coordinator Trish Griffin, EAL Coordinator Maria Krajina, Community Liaison Officer Abraham Jongroor and Student Leadership Coordinator Nirasha Pandi.

Understanding harmony

Year 9 students explored the themes of harmony, inclusion and multiculturalism through various interactive activities presented by guest speakers Mr Frank Newah-Jarfoi and Mr Josh Hill from Melton Young Communities last Thursday.

Student Diana Taylor reflected on the experience.

“Today we had the opportunity to meet two men, one named Frank and the other Josh. These two wonderful people explained to us the meaning of harmony.

Something that Frank did that really stood out to me was when he split the room into three sections then clapped a rhythm that we copied. He gave different rhythms to each section but told us to clap them at the same time.

By doing this, Frank and Josh explained that harmony is about different people coming together and living peacefully with each other.

This is something that we as humans do all the time but we forget the significance of immersing ourselves in each other’s cultures and traditions. Thankfully Frank and Josh reminded us of the beauty of harmony.”

Inclusion and acceptance

Our senior students were called to be a voice for change by guest speaker Kano Ravalji who overcame racism and bullying to become an advocate of diversity and multiculturalism.

Kano migrated from India to Australia when he was 7 with his parents and sister. Leaving India with only a few hundred dollars seeking a better life, Kano said he watched his parents struggle with severe financial pressures.

“They had no choice – they had to make it work here because they could not afford to go back,” Kano said.

“When we arrived, I went to language school to learn English. I spent six months with migrants and refugees, none of whom spoke English. Even though we couldn’t speak the language we were united in this common goal. I think this is where my passion for working with multicultural communities started.”

Kano found school difficult and was often excluded because of how he looked. In Year 10, after being subjected to bullying, he decided to speak up, only to be told that he should ignore the behaviour and that it wasn’t racism.

“I didn’t know what to do so I decided not to say anything anymore. I was angry and anxious but something was also telling me that this wasn’t right,” Kano said.

“I started to do a lot of research online to try and overcome it. I realised I had to accept who I was. It wasn’t an easy journey but I decided that the bullying and racism was their problem and not mine.”

Kano is keen to inspire young people to become comfortable with themselves by sharing his experiences.

“Diversity is more than colour – it’s exploring different ways of thinking. Inclusion is an action – it’s what we are doing to make sure everyone is listened to and understood,” he said.

“People are complex and have many layers. I hope you can look at someone and not judge or assume things about them because of how they appear.”

Aside from public speaking, Kano also mentors Year 12 VCE students in leadership roles, has worked on multiple youth-led social media projects and promotes peace and positivity wherever he goes.

And judging from the reception he received from our students after his presentation, Kano is definitely hitting the mark.

Harmony Week house points

Here are the tally boards for house points earned by students during last week’s activities.