Living in Harmony
Adelaide students ‘Living in Harmony’
Throughout 2008 ARA ran the ‘Living in Harmony’ project, an initiative designed to foster friendship and understanding between primary school students from refugee backgrounds and those from schools with less ethnic diversity.
Cowandilla, Clarendon, St John Bosco and St Andrew’s schools are participating in several activities, including an exchange day between the schools and a dialogue day, where students will share their experiences and values. On April 3rd a Harmony Day celebration/project launch was held at Cowandilla Primary School, with both Lieutenant-Governor Hieu Van Le and the Minister Assisting the Minister for Multicultural Affairs Carmel Zollo speaking to the children before a fantastic performance by Indigenous artist Matthew Johnson. After enjoying some Afghan jalabi and Sudanese donuts, the students got to know each other through games and designing a poster based on harmony.
The participants have very much embraced the project, for example independently swapping email addresses on Harmony Day, a sign that meaningful relationships have already been formed. A DVD of the project is being produced to be released with a teaching manual at the end of the year, with the hope that other schools may choose to embrace the initiative in the future. The project is proudly supported by the Australian Government’s Living in Harmony programme. For more information, visit www.harmony.gov.au
Living in Harmony - Media Release 12.5.08
THE HARMONY PROJECT
As part of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship’s Living in Harmony Programme, ARA has been working with four Adelaide primary schools throughout 2008. “The Harmony Project” has allowed students from different cultural backgrounds to better understand what it means to be a refugee, to appreciate multicultural Australia and to debate what it means to be Australian.
Highlights have included a Harmony Day celebration with Lieutenant-Governor Hieu Van Le, a student exchange and dialogue sessions concerning the concept of Australian values and their importance in the community.
Project participants will meet for the last time to celebrate their achievements and to enjoy fun activities such as African drumming and henna tattoos.
We are currently in the final stages of producing a DVD and teaching manual about the project for widespread use in South Australian schools, with the hope that the program will be expanded in the future. A project launch will also be held towards the end of the year.
For more information on the Living in Harmony programme, visit www.harmony.gov.au
