Students support diversity

By Lachlan Ellis

Students in Gordon have chipped in to support a cause empowering migrant women, complementing Harmony Week celebrations.

A range of ideas on how to celebrate Harmony Week was brainstormed by students at Gordon Primary School, with a dress up day on Friday 25 March emerging as the clear winner.

Proceeds from the day will be donated to Ballarat’s A Pot of Courage Café, which began in 2018 as a forum for migrant women to share stories and experiences, with the difficulty of gaining employment arising as a major issue.

Today, A Pot of Courage is a not-for-profit social enterprise that runs workshops, such as cooking classes and team building exercises, alongside regular café and catering operations.

Grade 6 teacher at Gordon Primary, Hollie Searl, explained how the dress up day ran, and how important the cause is.

“As Harmony Week is all about celebrating diversity and multiculturalism, we decided to ask the students to dress up in cultural clothing. We looked at the ‘did you know facts’ from the Harmony Week site, and used this as a platform to encourage students to find out their background, and celebrate different cultures within and outside of our community. We had students dress up from all over the world; Russia, Germany, Italy, Estonia, Ukraine, Mexico, USA, Indonesia, and the list goes on,” Ms Searl told the Moorabool News.

“To be honest, A Pot of Courage is a cause close to me, so I may have instigated that one. I have worked with Shiree Pilkington (the co-founder) in the past, and really love the way it came about – literally from a group of women celebrating their food and understanding that migrating to Australia, without the language, poses such a problem for many to live here safely and comfortably.”

To read the full story – Simply click on the following link

https://issuu.com/themooraboolnews/docs/mn_2022-04-05/13

in the 5 April 2022 edition
OR
pick up a paper around your town.