25 Mar 2019
Students at Telopea Park School wore clothing representing their cultural heritage in celebration of Harmony Day. (Photo supplied)
Last week, schools across the ACT took part in a range of activities to celebrate Harmony Day and the multiculturalism of our city.
Schools held special assemblies, multicultural feasts, traditional cultural displays and in-class activities to mark the occasion.
Telopea Park School’s Harmony Day celebrations were led by teacher Baba Alhadji. A dual citizen of Mali and Australia, Mr Alhadji said Telopea wanted to do Harmony Day a bit differently this year.
“Multiculturalism is very important,” Mr Alhadji said. “We should celebrate always multiculturalism and work to maintain it.”
“We have over 70 nationalities represented at Telopea and doing something concrete to represent that was a big aim this year. We invited our students to dress to their heritage, and they really took up the chance.”
Telopea organised a special assembly for the day, during which students walked in parade to show off their cultural dress. This parade was met with rousing applause from the students.
The parade was followed by cultural performances by students.
“Our students were very keen to participate – they were very keen to be involved,” Mr Alhadji said. “We gave them a bit of a lead on celebrating this and they ran with it.”
“We’ve also made an effort to recognise that Harmony Day falls on the UN’s International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and this year coincides with the Hindu Holi festival – so it is a special time.”
A former University of Canberra International Student Ambassador, Mr Alhadji said Australia was one of the most successful multicultural nations, but it was important to keep talking about it.
“We hope our future celebrations grow even bigger and better.”