Refugee Support celebrates culture and success
On Friday 20 June the Station Foyer became a mass celebration of cultural and achievement. Refugee Support, MST’s specialist refugee and asylum seeker support service provider, hosted an event that celebrated the diversity of local refugees and their culture.
Held at their Station Foyer in Sheffield, attendees were treated to an array of culture and colour. Dance was one of the means unitised to create a common bond between different cultures and groups. Several of the male refugees gave a demonstration of traditional Kurdish dancing and were joined by fellow refugees and attendees. The celebration spilled over to the nearby building site were workers joined in the during their lunch break. The dancing continued with an impromptu display of traditional African dancing from service users from Eritrea.
The celebration continued with the highlight of the day, the cultural fashion show. Nine traditional outfits were showcased on the day from countries such as Eritrea, Cameroon, Burindi, Angola & Gambia. One model, 18 month old Miracle, wore traditional attire from Nigeria. It is hoped the images from the show will be used to create a 2009 cultural calendar to further celebrate cultural diversity of the refugees within the area.
The day also celebrated the training achievements and development of the service users. Awards presented included: food and hygiene, healthy eating and listening and comprehension. Amevi Nico Koussi and Jean-Paul Manegabe were also celebrated as they have recently secured employment and housing, signing their increased personal progression and independence.
The event was part of Refugee Week and gave people from the local community an opportunity to see and learn more about the history and culture of refugees. It is hoped the event will go towards building a stronger rapport between the varied cultures and sub communities within the city.
Barrington Brown, Community Initiatives Officer, says: ”We’re ecstatic about the event and the response from service users and the local community. He hoped to encourage positive and social interaction between the refugee and local communities and feel we done that; everyone really got involved had great fun. The builders joining us was testimony to how all sorts of barriers can be broken down and really added to the good atmosphere of the day. We were happy to see our former service users return to celebrate the event with us We’re also proud of Siyamend Omer, Sarafrax Salemi and Diary Said and others who will be moving on from accommodation base projects i.e. The Station Foyer and Brunswick Road Project. We are a family here and will be sad to see them leave but we are all proud of them.”
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