5 Simple Ways to Celebrate Harmony Day

Hey, guess what? Harmony Day is coming up next week! This special day is celebrated in Australia on March 21 which is also the same date as “Eliminating Racial Discrimination Day” On this day, Australia acknowledges and respect the diverse cultures and backgrounds of the Australian people. Almost half of Australians were born overseas or at least has one parent who was.

Our Multicultural festival is held at the beginning of the year followed by local events initiated by respective embassies here in Canberra. It would be more meaningful and genuine if we embrace the different cultures not only on Harmony Day but in our day to day lives.

I’ve come up with 5 doable ways to reflect harmony days in our day to day lives. This post is for those who want to take a step further in embracing different cultures and further strengthen their sense of community.

Table of Contents

1. Start with who you work with or live nearby.

One effective thing in connecting with your workmates is through your boss or social justice officer, or someone who would bring the team together. Do regular catch-ups or set up a multicultural morning tea for everyone to bond and connect with.

If you happen to just stay most of the time at home, then you could start observing the people in your neighbourhood. There’s no harm in initiating the first hi or hello. They, your neighbours may just need to start a conversation going.

Suburbs here have occasional catch-ups or BBQ meetups where neighbours can meet together and chat about trending news and local updates. Check your mail for newsletters or group community about local gatherings.

2. Connect with people through food.

We share a common ground when food is the topic. Our workplace is very multicultural and more often my colleagues and I discuss food. On rough days, our lovely ladies would either put some home-baked banana muffins or empanadas for everyone to share.

With this thing ongoing thing, the ladies would start sharing recipes and their cultural backgrounds. I love talking about my native food recipes.

Someone then suggests if we can do this food sharing on a weekly basis. Everyone is excited and brainstorm food ideas of what they will cook for that week.

Having a chance to talk about things I love eases the homesickness and I feel a strong connection growing with these ladies by sharing a part of ourselves. At home, I love to watch the SBS Food Channel where I can learn more about world food recipes.

3. Connect with children.

Teaching children about diverse cultures in their formative years is the best time to do it. Children begin to be aware of differences and similarities of people of different backgrounds.

Simple experiences like stories, songs, games and craft relating to cultural diversity make a great impact among our little ones. Playing and learning go hand in hand at this period.

You can visit the site www.harmony.gov.au for more info. They have lesson plans for different ages. You can also help spread the word about Harmony Day.

4. Join a local group

A further step to getting to know your neighbours or teammates is organising or joining a local group. Schools are the best place to find and join local groups in your suburbs. It depends on your common interests. You can start a craft, sports, music, fitness or spiritual group.

If you have your own group, you can also your own FB, Instagram, Twitter and other social media channels and support your local groups.

If you have a blog or website and you think Cultural Competence matters to you, then you can visit harmony.gov.au for resources and social media kits to help you promote on your website.

5. Watch Foreign Films

There is joy and wonder watching Indian, French, Korean, Japanese and many more foreign films. The movies bring together the elements of Language, Music, Food and Places all unique to each country.

A Singaporean colleague and I both like to watch Studio Ghibli movies which are from Japan. We sometimes play the movie soundtrack as background music at work. Through the movies, we connect and at the same time appreciate Japanese culture.

“Once you understand and appreciate other people’s cultural backgrounds, then you can also connect with them more”
Anonymous

In summary, connecting with people in your local community, neighbourhood, school and workplace is a simple way to embrace and accept different ways of living. The rewards are boundless and you get to be a part of something purposeful and worthwhile. Let us do what we can to appreciate one another and to send a message to all that “Everyone Belongs”.