Article and photos by Suki Zhang (Festival Intern – Digital Content Creator)
Around 100 pupils from Richard Avenue Primary School (Sunderland) and Pelton Community Primary School (County Durham) were welcomed to Sunderland Bangladesh International Centre (SBIC) for a festive event to celebrate the richness of Bangladeshi culture, heritage, traditions and language.
SBIC Board Directors and community members introduced themselves to the children. Amir Ali, SBIC’s Partnership and Engagement Officer, gave an entertaining introduction to the event and the stimulating carousel of activities provided for children to explore and celebrate Bangladeshi culture and gain an understanding of the local Bangladeshi community.
Watch a short film about the event by playing the film opposite or by clicking here.
As well as being an opportunity to share and celebrate Bengali culture, heritage, language and traditions, the event was designed to promote togetherness, linguistic and cultural diversity, multilingualism and cultural competence. Children were split into groups and took part in a range of cultural and interactive experiences , including:
- learning about the Bangla language and its importance
- dressing up in traditional clothing and jewellery try traditional perfumes
- playing a range of traditional games from Bangladesh
- learning how to cook some traditional savoury items
- talking to Bangladeshi community representatives and Centre staff
- exploring the history of Bangladeshi people living in the UK
- trying some cultural sweets – with a goody bag for each child to take away
Learning how to play traditional games
Learning to cook a traditional treat
I think it’s good to have events like this, because it means that kids from different countries can learn about different languages and different cultures.
Eliza, Pupil
Finding out about perfumes, tea and traditional dress
I had a lot of fun learning about the Bangla language.
Sophia, Pupil
Learning about the Bangla language and the flag
Discussing identity, geography, culture and history
Syed Amir Ali. Partnership and Engagement Officer, SBIC
This event welcomes school children to the centre to find out about Bangladeshi culture, traditions, music, food and language. We provide the opportunity for children to ask questions in a safe environment, that they would otherwise not have the opportunity to ask.
They’ve learned a lot about our Bangladeshi culture. They have been able to explore Bangladeshi traditions and wear the jewellery and traditional clothing. They also had the fantastic opportunity to make a Bangladeshi traditional dessert.
Especially with children, we should start young. Not teach them, but get them to ask questions and find out about different cultures, for example, about children in China, in Bangladesh, in the Far East, South Africa, South America. The global world we live in today is very small . e need to find out if our children in school are on par with the other children. It’s only right that we educate children and give them the opportunity to find out about other cultures, religions and traditions as well.”
It’s been really, really eye opening for the children. We have children from different cultures and backgrounds at our school, so it’s been nice for them to engage in cultural diversity activities and this links in really well with PSHE in general. Britain is a diverse country and this event shows this and links in with our British values of tolerance as well. The pupils have had a brilliant day, especially dressing up. It’s been lovely to explore different scents, different clothes, different books, as well as learning some of the language as well.
Miss Bentham, Teacher
It’s really important to to learn about these cultural activities at a young age. It helps people to understand each other’s cultures, that everyone’s different, but everyone’s human and it breaks down barriers of hatred and racism.
Rehana Sultana, SBIC community member
Thank you to all the Directors and community members at Sunderland Bangladesh International Centre. They provided a really warm welcome to the schools and so many activities which helped share their language, culture and traditions. It was a hive of activity and excitement.
We are grateful to SBIC for hosting this event as part of the Festival and for welcoming schools to their wonderful centre and for the pupils and teachers for getting involved so enthusiastically. The event was filmed by B7 as one of our five Festival case study films and we will share that as soon as it is ready.
Declan Baharini, Festival Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer of International Newcastle
Further information and links
The Sunderland Bangladesh International Centre is a centre for culture, learning and diversity, a community hub and community anchor bringing diverse communities together to enable, empower and inspire to have a voice. Bringing social changes to our communities and cities. It provides a safe, secure, well managed, attractive and convenient meeting place for the BAME and the wider local community in Sunderland to meet and engage in our activities and services.
Sunderland Bangladesh International Centre provides a venue for social and cultural events, meetings, training, and is well used by a range of voluntary and public sector organisations as avenue for their activities. In addition, the centre runs a range of projects and services that meet local needs.
- You can find out more by visiting the SBIC website here
- You can follow SBIC on social media: facebook, youtube and X (twitter)
- Contact: Amir Ali – amir.ali@sb-international.org.uk
This event was part-funded by the North East Combined Authority
About the author
Five Festival interns from Northumbria and Newcastle Universities have been producing articles and digital content for the Festival this year. The Festival wants to provide opportunities for students to gain real-world experience to help them in their future careers.
Suki Zhang is studying at Newcastle University, doing a Masters in International Multimedia Journalism. She works as a broadcaster at Newcastle Universities radio study and writes for the student newspaper.