Harmony 2006

By Leonie-Ruth Acland
Chaplaincy coordinator of the Spiritual Meeting Place

Chaplaincy co-ordinator Leonie-Ruth Acland

14 March 2005: Tuesday 21 March is the United Nations Day for the Elimination of Racial Prejudice and is acknowledged and celebrated in Australia as Harmony Day. The date itself is a cameo of harmony as it falls on the Autumn Equinox, which is a festival associated with equilibrium, and coincides with Bahá'í and Persian New Year and Michaelmas.

At the University of Canberra Tuesday 21 March will be marked by the official launch of the 2006 Harmony Week celebrations.

Talk of harmony is in stark contrast to recent events in places such as Cronulla, Bondi and Dubbo, events which have been costly and shameful to us as a nation.

Tolerance

The desperate need for tolerance in our communities is now more than ever an irrefutable Australian reality. At a time when discord in daily life for a growing number of Australians is painfully and in many cases dangerously obvious, there is the challenge for us all to urgently work towards social harmony.

At 12.30 on 21 March there will be the opportunity for UC staff, students and community representatives to publicly denounce racial and religious violence.

The theme we have chosen for Harmony 2006 at UC is 'Many flowers, one garden'. The UC gardeners are doing a unique floral display in the planter boxes leading from the concourse down to building 8 (Library).

Children from both Kirinari Early Childcare Centre and Wiradjuri Pre-school and Childcare Centre will be making flowers to decorate the stage for the launch. These flowers will then be presented to guests as they leave the refectory and will be planted in a temporary symbolic garden. We are asking that people give their flower to someone else to plant as a symbol of unity.

Spring seeds

This symbolic act will be reinforced by the presentation of a gift of spring seeds which participants will be encouraged to take home and plant as a further symbol of the hope for harmony which we have for our society.

All participants are invited to sign our Harmony Visitors Book and then enjoy the rest of the celebration socialising on the concourse where there are a number of activities and refreshments to enjoy. There will be events and displays each day for the rest of the week 21-24 March. For details see our website         

The Awards event on Friday is an opportunity to acknowledge the outstanding contribution to the goals and values of harmony which staff and students as well as external visitors to the University community have made during the past year. I invite you to make the time to join with the community to celebrate one or more of our Harmony events this year at UC.

Harmony Week Program:

Tuesday 21 March
Official Launch
12.30pm, Refectory

Wednesday 22                Multicultural Concert   12.30pm, Refectory               

Thursday 23
"How Green is my Campus?"
11.30am, UCU Theatre     

Friday 24                 Harmony Awards  
10.30am, Library Foyer  

Links:

Harmony and Faith Project

Contact:

Leonie-Ruth Acland
Ph: 6201 2166

Previous columns:

'Our future begins with solidarity' - it's not just a slogan

Step into another's shoes

No strings attached for Leonie-Ruth Acland

In High Spirits 2005 (Harmony Project)

Shades of Saskatchewan on campus

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Last Updated on August 1, 2005