A screen capture from a promotional video by Kamar Burke to promote a Harmony Moment of Silence at UBCO this week.
Image Credit: YouTube
November 16, 2015 - 4:30 PM
KELOWNA – Students and faculty at UBC Okanagan will hold a Harmony Moment of Silence Wednesday to show support for the tragedies that happened around the world over the last few weeks.
UBCO student Ryan Kaila organized the event that he says is not just for the victims of last weeks’ attacks in Paris.
“It’s also about spreading awareness for some of the things that didn’t get as much attention," he says.
The memorial starts at noon, Nov. 18, and includes a moment of silence, guest speakers from at least five cultural clubs on campus and a fingerprint wall.
“We’re going to ask everybody to place two fingerprints together in the shape of a heart,” Kaila says. “It’s to symbolize we all come from different backgrounds but it’s really important for us to come together when something like this happens.”
Students and faculty at UBCO have been making serious efforts to bridge the culture gap in Kelowna. The first ever Harmony Banquet brought together all the cultural clubs on campus in early October as a way to celebrate diversity. And later that same month, a recent graduate organized a forum on campus to address some of the misconceptions about Islam he feels are still a problem in Kelowna.
Wednesday’s moment of silence is not only for students either. Everyone is welcome to attend and hear speakers from the Muslim Student Association, the African Carribbean Student Association, the Arab Student Association, the Asian Student Association and the European Student Association.
“We can’t cover everything but we’re trying to do our best to make sure some of the stuff that’s not getting covered gets some awareness,” Kaila says.
Those attending the event are asked to wear black as a show of support and mourning for victims of violence around the world.
Harmony executives involved in the event include Peter Teng, Mandy Wan, Kevin Kuo, Romey Jaswal, Murad Alnashef, Mattia Licastro, Adnan Bhat and Korede Afolabi.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw at aproskiw@infonews.ca or call 250-718-0428. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2015