Harmony in Australia is like a patchwork quilt!

We celebrate Harmony Day this week on Tuesday 21st March. For Navitas AMEP students it's a very important time to celebrate Australia's cultural diversity. It's a time to share our culture and traditions and enjoy all the things that make us different. By sharing our culture we can learn from each other and by listening come to respect the pride others have in their traditions.
For Harmony Day we have an interview with one of our DL teachers, Sonia. Part 1 is here and part 2 on the Events tab above.

DL teacher Sonia

On the Events tab there are also questions, activities and the audio of this interview. First think about the heading "Harmony in Australia is like a patchwork quilt." A patchwork quilt is a blanket made from different pieces of colourful material. Why do you think Sonia says this?

Maree: Hi Sonia, can you tell us a little about your home country?
Sonia: Hi Maree, ah I'm from Bangladesh. It's a small country in South Asia with many mighty rivers and fertile soil. Now over the centuries many people from different lands have settled here and brought their cultures with them.

Maree: Ah that's interesting, so how do you think this influenced your culture and traditions today?
Mm I guess our cultural heritage was enriched by all these traditions, the language, food, music and festivals. It created a unique Bengali culture and identity and I think it's the reason why my culture promotes hospitality and respect for other traditions and cultural practices. In fact celebration is a big part of Bangladeshi culture. We celebrate the arrival of the new Year, the spring season, the harvesting season and being a secular society we also celebrate the two Eids, Pujas, Christmas..and you know, no celebration is without food, music and lots of colourful dresses.

Maree: Wow that's an amazing mix of cultures, it sounds really harmonious.
So this week is harmony week and Tuesday the 21st is Harmony Day. What does Harmony Day mean to you?
Sonia: To me harmony is central to my existence. It's about living peacefully in a society where everyone's cultural identity is respected. As you know in Australia people from different countries, religions and ethnic backgrounds all live together. Sometimes I think harmony in Australia is like a patchwork quilt with all the cultures making up the colourful patchwork pieces.

Maree: Oh that's beautiful! I love that analogy. I can just imagine the patchwork quilt. I'd love to make one. So what will you do this year on Harmony Day?
Sonia:Oh at my work in Distance Learning all the teachers will share a harmony day lunch. We'll bring some food from our cultures to share and I'm hoping to wear a traditional dress called 'salwar kamiz'. We'll celebrate our diversity and try to learn more about each other's cultures, maybe even share some recipes as well.

Maree: Oh that sounds great. I'm going to bring ingredients for Vietnamese rice paper rolls and all the teachers can make one.
Sonia: Oh that's good, it sounds really interesting, I'm really looking forward to it.

Thank you Sonia for sharing your culture and traditions.
For part 2 of the interview, audio, questions and activities click on the Events tab above.

• What do you think harmony is like? I think harmony is like a.....
• What is a big part of your culture?
• What does Harmony Day mean to you?

Click here Harmony Day events to go the Harmony Day website to find activities in your area.