This morning we returned to Elmgrove Primary School to record a radio program for Homely Planet . We met with the community group who meet at the school every Wednesday morning, the purpose of the program was to create an opportunity for the group to learn a little bit more about life in a different country. The program was facilitated by Zora Molyneaux of Connecting Cultures, and on the panel we had Skye Bompas (South Africa), Yueping Fang (China), and Vincente Ziritt (Venezuela).
The morning got off to a great start, the usual hospitality had been provided (coffee, cake, buns !!!). Yeuping played a 'traditional piece' of music on his chinese violin (Ehru) followed by a rousing rendition of Tell Me Ma!!!!! This eased us in to the debate. Skye, Yueping and Vincente enlightened us about life back home in their native land. They explained how they came to be living in Belfast and how they have found living here. All three felt very comfortable living in Belfast, they felt welcome (the people are very friendly) and, surprisingly, very safe. In fact they felt the streets of Belfast were much safer than the streets of their homelands. One explaination for this was that the standard of living here was higher than back home. They each described stories of violence linked to poverty (muggings, murder , etc;). Lack of social benefits in S. Africa creates many problems. The questions started to come thick and fast. Topics such as employment, social welfare, religion, education all were discussed. Some myths were answered and I think it is fair to say that everyone left with a better understanding of life in these particular countries. It was also significant that all three speakers stated that they had no plans to return to their homeland within the near future, they felt that life here had more to offer!!!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment