Harmony Day

Everyone Belongs!

Yes, everyone – man, woman and child – irrespective of skin color, cuisine, culture, music, language, traditional practices and beliefs belong to this world that we have built. Be it your Indian neighbor’s practice of applying a red mark on their forehead on special days or your Mexican friend’s tradition of observing the Day of the Dead, diversity pops up everywhere we turn. So this Harmony Day, celebrated on 21 March, we bring you tips and ideas on how to celebrate the diversity in your classroom, school, and neighborhood.

Harmony Day
This special day is a nod to the cultural diversity that abounds in Australia. It is celebrated all over the Land of Oz on 21 March each year. Harmony Day was first incorporated in 1999, and since then a wide variety of groups including sports organizations, community groups, local government, schools and businesses have staged more than 25, 000 Harmony Day events. The day also coincides with the United Nation’s International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Harmony Day is managed by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC). The purpose of this celebration is to give people the opportunity to celebrate the individuality of every Australian. This year, Everyone Belongs is the prominent message behind Harmony Day.
This day also encourages Australians to reflect on Australia’s historical roots, and give due recognition to the traditional owners of the country. The government is also making a strong effort to push the message of community participation, inclusiveness and respect. Towards this, DIAC often supports a wide range of community events and activities held to celebrate Harmony Day by providing free promotional products.

Preparations for Harmony Day
To prepare for Harmony Day, follow a few tips. The tips will not only help you gather required resources days ahead of the celebration, but also plan the participation of students and others.

1. Create a blog: A blog is a great way to start discussions, generate ideas and inform everyone about celebration plans. Blogs are free and easy to create. Starting a discussion to pick a theme will keep students engaged and anticipating.
2. Send out a newsletter: Use a newsletter to spread information about your efforts.
3. Plan a theme: A central idea is a great way to bring people together. As you prepare for Harmony Day, pick a theme that reflects something that is happening within your community or around the world.

Celebrating Harmony Day
These ideas will help you celebrate Harmony Day in a wholesome way that embraces cultural diversity in all its forms.
1. Highlight the color orange: Orange is used to mark this day so give out orange ribbons, encourage your students to wear orange colored clothing. During arts & crafts class use the color as the central theme. For eg: orange origami swans etc.
2. Dance and music performances: Get students to volunteer dance and music performances based on Australia’s diverse cultures.
3. Plant a tree or write an essay: Get your students together and plant a tree in your school yard or organize a harmony essay or painting competition for school children.
4. Fundraising: Consider arranging fund-raising drives to benefit your local community or global charities.
5. Sports events: Sports events are a fun way to foster unity in a classroom. Make up your own rules and give an old game a new twist.
6. Go volunteering: For Harmony Day volunteer at a local community center. Take pictures of your efforts and create a scrapbook to display in the classroom.
7. Host other schools: Hosting students from other schools is a great way to teach young and older children the values of building a community of goodwill.
8. Set up an Aboriginal Culture Experience: To help students better assimilate the indigenous culture invite a guest speaker. You can widen this to include a variety of cultures.
9. Organize a picnic or BBQ in your neighborhood: Meet new neighbor’s and hang out with them by setting up a community picnic or BBQ.
10. Tea at the workplace: Find out about the multicultural make-up of your workforce and plan a multicultural morning tea or lunch.

Harmony Day offers an unparalleled opportunity to teach young children about the value and importance of diversity. It helps them appreciate other cultures as well as the indigenous culture better as they grow older. We are celebrating Harmony Day and hope you are too!