Next week the Cariboo Chilcotin Partners for Literacy Society will be bringing the whole community together for a multicultural celebration on Tuesday, Nov. 20.
Hosted at the CCPL’s classroom at 118C North First Ave. at Village Square, the Community Cultural Celebration will provide an opportunity for residents of Williams Lake, new and old, a chance to share their culture and network. According to the event’s organizer and CCPL settlement services worker Maryna Muzyka this is all a part of the CCPL’s ongoing mission statement of promoting literacy through “awareness and understanding.”
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Muzyka regularly organizes conversation circles which are designed to help bring the community together and to help recent immigrants practice their English together.
This upcoming event is something of a larger more engaging version of these circles with a heavy focus on culture.
At the Community Cultural Celebration, Muzyka says that all are welcome to come out and that she encourages people to wear their cultural dress, make and bring cultural food and be ready to socialize with members both within and outside of their communities.
“We may have our different religions, our different languages, different coloured skin but we all belong to one human race and we believe that peoples of the Earth are all one family,” Muzyka said. “Cultural traditions are important because they transmit shared values, stories and goals from one generation to the next.”
For her, providing this opportunity for people to show and practice their culture side by side, in a party setting is incredibly important and a great honour.
She feels that it will better connect cultural community members within Williams Lake while offering the lakecity’s people as a whole an opportunity to broaden their knowledge of the world.
“Canada is all about diversity, we think that diversity is the art of thinking independently but together, within one country. In so many ways in Canada it is true that diversity is the air that we breathe,” Muzyka stated.
At the celebration, the CCPL will be providing refreshments and food, while still encouraging community members to bring their own cultural dishes, and offering people a chance to talk about their experiences in Canada. A childminder will be available to look after any young children while the rest of the group will do trivia, contests and, depending on the comfort levels of participants, presentations on their heritage and experiences.
‘Everybody is welcome whether you’re Canadian or you came from somewhere else, whether you have English skills or not it’s just a great way to socialize and find each other,” Muzyka said.
The event will go from 4 to 7 p.m.
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patrick.davies@wltribune.com
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