Happy Harmony Day!

What a cool holiday!  Australia celebrates a day called "Harmony Day" and it is all about friendship and embracing diversity.  It is such a fun idea.  One of the things I have loved most about the state school we attend is the diversity it has brought into all our lives. Brisbane itself is very diverse.  I can't believe how many different nationalities my kids have come to know.  They both have friends from so many walks of life.  They have friends that are muslim, hindu, buddhist and so many other religious beliefs.  It's great to see how all the students just blend together at Yeronga, yet still feel individual and proud of who they are.  I really love it.

 When they wear their uniforms many of the girls, have to wear long leggings and head wraps to cover themselves according to their religious customs and beliefs.  And at tea (lunch time), I'm always interested to hear my kids tell me what kinds of things their friends are bringing in their lunches.  It's like an international food fair everyday.  :) And yet, all holidays are recognized and respected.  No one is offended that there are Christmas songs sung, and that the word "Christmas" is used freely.  We also hear all about Kwanzaa and Hanukkah; it's fun to learn about holidays from all over the world.

 So each year our school celebrates Harmony Day with a big assembly and presentation of flags.  They have a flag from each country represented in the school's student body.  They ask a child of that nationality to carry "their country's flag" and place it in the stand.  They allow the students to wear their country's traditional dress instead of their school uniform for the assembly.  We wondered what that might be for America?  An NBA jersey maybe?  Well, ok, it's probably pretty much the same as the Aussie fashions :)
 

It was really quite touching having the country names called out and seeing the student carry their nation's banner across the stage.  Parker was asked to carry the flag for the U.S. and I have to say when he came across, I actually got quite emotional.  I was videoing and I tried to holler for the U.S. while everyone was clapping and cheering and my voice kind of stuck in my throat.  I was pretty choked up seeing him carry the stars and stripes.  It was a really neat assembly.  All the students clapped and cheered for each country.  And you will never believe how many nations were represented...56!  Isn't that crazy?  There are 56 different nationalities represented at our one primary school!  I was amazed and so impressed. I, once again for the millionth time this year, had a moment of such gratitude that my children are having this experience in Australia.

 I couldn't believe how many flags kept coming.  Some of the costumes were amazing.  There were countries and flags called out that I'd never even heard of and dresses and head wraps that added all kinds of splash to the stage.  There were many countries from Africa and the Middle East, that I knew I wouldn't be able to pronounce-- everything from Ghana to Sri Lanka and Malaysia to Yemen.  It was such an awesome site.  I had the chills through the whole thing.  Each grade was asked to present something for the Harmony assembly.  Parker's grade sang a song about nations coming together and people embracing new friendships.  It was really awesome.

The sixth grade did a sing along and dance along to the hit song "Happy" from Despicable Me 2.  It's such a popular song on the radio right now that all the kids clapped and sang along.  It was fun to see the sixth graders dancing the robot, then breakdancing, then highlighting some of the traditional cultural dances from the students in their grade.  Birdy's grade presented art projects they'd done from various places around the world.

All the students were asked to add a bit of orange to their uniforms.  Orange is the color of Harmony Day.

The year ones did a presentation about what makes people happy--"H is for hope..A is for acceptance...etc."  It was really cute.

 So, while still wearing their uniforms, they could add orange socks instead of the usual white for girls or grey for boys, or an orange hair tie, orange bracelet or an orange pin.  Syd's teacher gave all the students orange crepe paper to tie around as a head band.

 Here are Birdy with a couple of her friends in Year 3.  They had written on their headbands..."Together We All Belong!"

Oaks found the American flag after the assembly and was proud to wrap up in it.  I love those moments where you are truly proud of where you born and what makes you who you are.






I thought Harmony Day was such a neat celebration of diversity and Belonging Together!!!  Happy Harmony Day!