IN honour of Harmony Day last week, Torquay Community House (TCH) dedicated this year\u2019s celebration to remembering the 50 innocent victims who lost their lives in a terror attack against the Muslim faith in Christchurch, New Zealand on March 15.<\/p>\n
As part of cultural diversity week, TCH hosted an international lunch on March 21 with a series of inclusive entertainment acts from belly dancer, Eugena, and African drumming and dance group \u201cWild Moves\u201d.<\/p>\n
In her opening speech welcoming guests to the event, TCH co-ordinator Laura Connor acknowledged the Christchurch victims and expressed her deep sadness for New Zealand.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s important for us to do as a community is to call out any hate speech,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve heard so many Muslims, who are such gentle souls, ask \u2018why don\u2019t they like us?\u2019, \u2018what is it about us that\u2019s so hard to accept?\u2019 This makes my heart ache.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to keep Australia a place that is open, welcoming and embraces cultural diversity. The good thing now is that there is a dialogue \u2013 we are talking about extremists and questioning their acts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shortly after, guests each lit a candle beneath a prayer from the Quran which read \u201cwe belong to God, and to God we shall return\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
IN honour of Harmony Day last week, Torquay Community House (TCH) dedicated this year\u2019s celebration to remembering the 50 innocent victims who lost their lives in a terror attack against the Muslim faith in Christchurch, New Zealand on March 15. As part of cultural diversity week, TCH hosted an international lunch on March 21 with […]<\/p>\n