| General Non-Fiction posted May 10, 2022 |
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Join with me in ...
Celebrating diversity
by Wendy G
I was very young and shy when my grandmother hosted a Dutch family with two little girls. She looked after them in her home until they settled into their new land and found a home and work.
The children, Hannah and Ulla, had blue eyes and thick blond plaits. With my freckled face and short straight brown hair, I thought they were the epitome of beauty. This was my first experience of diversity.
I read books about children in England, and some who travelled to France or other countries. To me these children were exciting and exotic.
I studied French at school, and became a language teacher; I enjoyed learning about the French culture as much as my students did. I knew I would live there one day, and travel around Europe.
My opportunity arose, and I enjoyed two years in France, experiencing diverse friendships with people of all ages. I enjoyed the different ways of life, the food, music, dance and history, as well as the variety of architecture.
As I visited many regions, my pleasure and delight were never quenched, just aroused. I could not get enough of this magnificent, beautiful country and its diverse people, with immigrants from many nations. France was a melting pot of humanity.
During my travels, I experienced many of those special "moments frozen in time" when I almost gasped with disbelief. Here I was travelling the world!
Yes, this was me – seeing snow for the first time, skiing in the French Alps, hearing cowbells in Switzerland, exploring Austria only previously known from the Sound of Music. Yes – I was indeed in Venice, in Saint Marco's Square, dining by a canal watching gondolas glide by, listening to and watching a suave violinist playing nearby.
The diversity of people and experiences within Europe constantly filled me with a sense of wonder and delight. I learned much. Above all, I celebrated the diversity of humanity and its ways of life.
During my travels I was enriched not only by people and cultures, but by landscapes, sea-scapes, and cityscapes, and by the diversity within the world of nature, which enthralled me. Birds, sea creatures and animals I had only read about – I was able to appreciate these now at close quarters.
The diversity of people, places, flora and fauna – more than one life-time was needed to experience it all!
I assumed my travelling days were over when I settled into marriage and children. But no. We had the opportunity to live and work in Saudi Arabia for two years.
Here was diversity indeed. Desert landscapes, with oases and date palms, caves, sand dunes, blazing heat and mirages. And such a variety of cultures within this exotic land – ranging from Bedouin nomads with their camels, to impoverished workers, to royalty enjoying splendid palaces adorned with marble and gold.
There were camel races with young boys as jockeys, mosques and prayer calls five times a day, our weekly treat of tantalising yemeni chicken and rice cooked with cardamoms and cloves, from the roadside stalls. Then there were the souqs (markets) with incense, gold, foods imported from every country of the world. It was as if we were experiencing the world of Aladdin with his magic lamp.
The children attended an international school with eighty-four nationalities represented – what diversity to celebrate – and they did!
International Day saw a wealth of variety in dress, dance, foods, music, and customs. Our blue-eyed four-year-old son had straight silky snow-white hair; his best friend was a black African boy with fuzzy black curls. They would walk everywhere patting each other's hair – enjoying the difference. Our eldest daughter's best friend was the daughter of an Egyptian doctor – she taught our daughter some Arabic. The next daughter, aged six, had an American boyfriend. They held hands under the table when teacher Miss Pearl from Hawaii was not looking! Her other best friend was a Danish girl.
The children, now grown up, still often chat about the diversity of their experiences in this vastly different culture.
After returning to Australia it was not long before we entered a new and very different world. We undertook long-term fostering of a severely disabled boy.
So much to learn. We all, children included, learned to value and respect people for who they are, not for what they can do.
There is such a range of abilities within humanity, from those who are fully dependent right through to genius level. All are to be valued. Those who offered respite care were also extremely diverse, including several who were heavily tattooed, and had multiple piercings all over their bodies, and very colourful hair – long before these were fashionable. Without exception, all had hearts of gold.
Celebrating diversity? First let's aim for acceptance, respect and appreciation, valuing and caring for our world, the world of nature and animals, and the peoples of the whole world.
Let's learn to understand differences, whether they be in value systems, religion, politics, ways of dressing, foods, music, or any other mode of difference. I don't need to know or agree with the beliefs of others before I value them as individuals. It is not my role to judge; I have never walked in their shoes.
Let's think of differences in order to appreciate and celebrate them, not to reject those who are different. Otherwise, how do we learn? How do we grow? A narrow viewpoint leads to tunnel-vision, boredom, judgmental attitudes and hypocrisy.
Ultimately, I look forward to when there will be harmony amongst people of all nations, where they will be an infinite variety of creation's glories – and diversity will be fully manifested and celebrated.
I was very young and shy when my grandmother hosted a Dutch family with two little girls. She looked after them in her home until they settled into their new land and found a home and work.
The children, Hannah and Ulla, had blue eyes and thick blond plaits. With my freckled face and short straight brown hair, I thought they were the epitome of beauty. This was my first experience of diversity.
I read books about children in England, and some who travelled to France or other countries. To me these children were exciting and exotic.
I studied French at school, and became a language teacher; I enjoyed learning about the French culture as much as my students did. I knew I would live there one day, and travel around Europe.
My opportunity arose, and I enjoyed two years in France, experiencing diverse friendships with people of all ages. I enjoyed the different ways of life, the food, music, dance and history, as well as the variety of architecture.
As I visited many regions, my pleasure and delight were never quenched, just aroused. I could not get enough of this magnificent, beautiful country and its diverse people, with immigrants from many nations. France was a melting pot of humanity.
During my travels, I experienced many of those special "moments frozen in time" when I almost gasped with disbelief. Here I was travelling the world!
Yes, this was me – seeing snow for the first time, skiing in the French Alps, hearing cowbells in Switzerland, exploring Austria only previously known from the Sound of Music. Yes – I was indeed in Venice, in Saint Marco's Square, dining by a canal watching gondolas glide by, listening to and watching a suave violinist playing nearby.
The diversity of people and experiences within Europe constantly filled me with a sense of wonder and delight. I learned much. Above all, I celebrated the diversity of humanity and its ways of life.
During my travels I was enriched not only by people and cultures, but by landscapes, sea-scapes, and cityscapes, and by the diversity within the world of nature, which enthralled me. Birds, sea creatures and animals I had only read about – I was able to appreciate these now at close quarters.
The diversity of people, places, flora and fauna – more than one life-time was needed to experience it all!
I assumed my travelling days were over when I settled into marriage and children. But no. We had the opportunity to live and work in Saudi Arabia for two years.
Here was diversity indeed. Desert landscapes, with oases and date palms, caves, sand dunes, blazing heat and mirages. And such a variety of cultures within this exotic land – ranging from Bedouin nomads with their camels, to impoverished workers, to royalty enjoying splendid palaces adorned with marble and gold.
There were camel races with young boys as jockeys, mosques and prayer calls five times a day, our weekly treat of tantalising yemeni chicken and rice cooked with cardamoms and cloves, from the roadside stalls. Then there were the souqs (markets) with incense, gold, foods imported from every country of the world. It was as if we were experiencing the world of Aladdin with his magic lamp.
The children attended an international school with eighty-four nationalities represented – what diversity to celebrate – and they did!
International Day saw a wealth of variety in dress, dance, foods, music, and customs. Our blue-eyed four-year-old son had straight silky snow-white hair; his best friend was a black African boy with fuzzy black curls. They would walk everywhere patting each other's hair – enjoying the difference. Our eldest daughter's best friend was the daughter of an Egyptian doctor – she taught our daughter some Arabic. The next daughter, aged six, had an American boyfriend. They held hands under the table when teacher Miss Pearl from Hawaii was not looking! Her other best friend was a Danish girl.
The children, now grown up, still often chat about the diversity of their experiences in this vastly different culture.
After returning to Australia it was not long before we entered a new and very different world. We undertook long-term fostering of a severely disabled boy.
So much to learn. We all, children included, learned to value and respect people for who they are, not for what they can do.
There is such a range of abilities within humanity, from those who are fully dependent right through to genius level. All are to be valued. Those who offered respite care were also extremely diverse, including several who were heavily tattooed, and had multiple piercings all over their bodies, and very colourful hair – long before these were fashionable. Without exception, all had hearts of gold.
Celebrating diversity? First let's aim for acceptance, respect and appreciation, valuing and caring for our world, the world of nature and animals, and the peoples of the whole world.
Let's learn to understand differences, whether they be in value systems, religion, politics, ways of dressing, foods, music, or any other mode of difference. I don't need to know or agree with the beliefs of others before I value them as individuals. It is not my role to judge; I have never walked in their shoes.
Let's think of differences in order to appreciate and celebrate them, not to reject those who are different. Otherwise, how do we learn? How do we grow? A narrow viewpoint leads to tunnel-vision, boredom, judgmental attitudes and hypocrisy.
Ultimately, I look forward to when there will be harmony amongst people of all nations, where they will be an infinite variety of creation's glories – and diversity will be fully manifested and celebrated.
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#8 May 2022 |
(950 words)
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