By Rachel Curry
Aranmore Catholic College recently joined hands with the local community to celebrate cultural diversity during Harmony Week.
The Harmony Week Twilight Evening was attended by about 300 people at the Leederville high school and offered an incredible variety of cuisine and entertainment from around the world.
Auxiliary Bishop Don Sproxton, who has worked with many members of the Sudanese community, was a special guest at the event and provided a blessing to the gathering and the food before it was served.
The State Member for Perth, Eleni Evangel MLA, and Mayor of the City of Vincent, John Carey, were also in attendance.
The event was certainly a feast for taste buds, with offerings including Sudanese cuisine, various Asian foods, traditional Maori Hangi, Middle Eastern falafel wraps, a traditional South African sausage sizzle, pizza and gelato.
Attendees were also spellbound by a number of vibrant multicultural dances and performances from across the globe.
These included West Papuan singers, a Burmese guitar and vocal duo, a Haka and Poi presentation from the Maori group, Manama Mai Tawhiti, traditional Chinese lion dancers from the Yaolin Association and Segaloya French dancers.
The evening began with a recitation of the Lord’s Prayer in different languages by College Chaplin, Father Elias Kilzi, who is of Syrian descent, and concluded with a traditional Irish blessing.
Aranmore Catholic College Deputy Principal Clare Kanakis said there was a beautiful spirit of “unity in diversity” on the night.
She described how the multicultural performances left many children “wide eyed” and pulled on the heart strings of the adults.
“One of the most beautiful items we had was a Maori singing group and they sang very beautiful traditional songs,” she recalled.
“Many people in the audience were in tears because there was so much beauty there. The performance finished with a Haka, which is a pretty special thing to see.”
Mrs Kanakis said the college held a whole school assembly for Harmony Week, alongside other events, but wanted to organise something extra that would get the wider community involved.
Therefore, as well as inviting students and their families to the Twilight Evening, they also sent invitations to local primary schools and did a letterbox drop throughout the surrounding suburbs.
“There can still be misconceptions about different cultural groups in the community so we like to represent the good things about cultural diversity,” she explained.
“Our school is extremely culturally diverse – certainly the most culturally diverse of all the Catholic schools – and sometimes people in the local community perceive that in particular ways, but we want to showcase it positively.”
Aranmore Catholic College has about 700 students, comprising more than 60 nationalities. For more information about the school, visit www.aranmore.wa.edu.au.