Celebrating our Culture

Celebrating Our Culture

proudly Owning Who We Are

Syrian

abdul's lived experience

Hello,

My name is Abdul and I am going to tell you about my very special background. I am a Syrian child that lives in the UK with a very special background. Firstly, I was born in Syria and then I left it when I was only two months old. I left Syria because of the war that was happening and the bombing that was demolishing houses and killing people.

After me and my family left Syria, we went to Qatar because there was peace and there wasn't any war and bombing there. We stayed there for nearly 3 years where I went this school. I luckily didn't have any difficulties to talk with others since in Qatar people speak the same language as my family which is the language called Arabic. I then visited Saudi Arabia for like a month and went to Mecca.

I then went to Turkey and lived there for like 2 and a half years there. Some of my relatives like of my cousins, aunties and uncles were there with us and still live there today. Me and my family visited are relatives in the summer holidays in 2022 and 2023 for a month each year.

Finally after that big adventure of going to lots of countries, we were thinking of going to America but then my parents decided to come to the the UK in 2015 because my parents wanted me to have the best education so I can achieve in my life and get a good job and career since it was better than the Arab countries like Qatar or Saudi because them countries with had a bad government and bad schools. Also if you were not Saudi or from Qatar they would be racist to you. Then on 2017 my brother was born in the UK. I went to primary school and then came into The Blue Coat School and then I joined this incredible project near the end of Year 7 and now I'm in Year 8 in 2023/24.

Food, music, cultural habits

The food as a Syrian is really nice such as Kibbeh, moajanat, kibbeh, shawarma and kabsah and mendy. Kabsah and mendy are Saudi Arabian and Yemenis but Syrians also eat it a lot because it's basically also Syrian. The instrument ‘oud’ is made by Syrians which is still used today. Most Syrians are Muslims. But some Syrians are Christians or other religions.

proud to be
british pakistani

Hi I'm Eesa,

Myself I see my nationality as British Pakistani. This is probably because I was born in and bred in England however traditionally my family is from Pakistan. I was born in England and so was my mum and my grandad (my mums dad) moved here when he was around 7-8 years old and he has lived here ever since. My grandma has also lived here ever since she got married to my grandad.

However my dad was born in Pakistan and he is the only one from his family to come and live in England so the rest of his family still live in Pakistan. Also my grandparents from both sides were born in Pakistan.

Also all my family and me are muslim and we follow the rules and traditions of Islam. This means that along with my culture, Islam helps me in my daily life. For example if I was ever in a bad situation or if I needed help in my daily life to make sure I am alright, both my culture of being a British Pakistani and being a muslim helps me in that. In Islam, we are taught to believe in the power and the strength of Allah (God), so whenever I am in a difficult situation I can just have my faith in Allah and believe that he can help me.

These are some key aspects of my culture.

Food: food in my culture is very close to me. Things such as Biryani and roti salaan. Things such as this are very important to me and my family due to the fact that we live in England but our Pakistani culture still shines through. This makes me happy as I feel different to the people around me.

Music: Music in my culture is very different to music in England. This is because it has the things in different languages such as the props and languages involved.

Languages: languages are very important to me. It helps me in everyday life as I can talk to people in Pakistan and surrounding areas and I can also talk in England as I have been born here and I have grown up with people specking the English language. Also I can read Arabic which is a third language because as a muslim we read the Quran which is written in Arabic.

I am really proud of my culture as it is one of my key driving points in life which helps me do things in everyday life and I think that my culture is the one that has created me as I am today.

Tanzanian + kenyan

Hi, I'm Jacob and my culture is Tanzanian and Kenyan my dad is from Tanzania and my mum is from Kenya. The language they speak is Swahili and English. During lockdown I learnt a little bit of the language they speak and Hapana means no, ndio means yes, njoo hapa means come here, habari yako means how are you and nzuri means good.

If feel happy to know that I am from multiple cultures, different countries and speak a different language. The music they listen to is Called afro music but I normally listen to rap.

CELEBRATING OUR
DIVERSITY + INDIVIDUALITY

I AM PROUD TO BE NIGERIAN

I am proud of being Nigerian because first of all the women looks like Queens when they have they cultural attires on. The women wear a shirt which we call búba and skirt is called ìro and something you tie on our head like a scarf which we call gela or in different places ladies were beads.The men wear agbada which is like a long overall with fancy embroidery on it. They accessories with beaded necklace and a hat called filá.

Nigeria has lots of festivals including independent day [October 1] Festival like the new yam festival where people dress up in beautiful attire and do a parade. The main purpose of the festival is the celebration that marks the beginning of the yam harvest season.

Another popular festival is the Eyo festival which is in Lagos. This is when masquerades dance with sticks. It is an annual festivals celebration where we celebrate the life of the then king and the new election of the new government.

Lola :)

ANGOLAN WITH A PORTUGUESE FLARE

I was born in Viena, which is Angola but left there when I was 7 years old. My family decided to move from Angola to A Fonte da Prata in Portugal for a better life. I spent a lot of time with my Grandma in Portugal. Just before the global pandemic, we moved to England for a better education and opportunities for my family. As a result of all the moving we have done, I can speak 3 languages: Spanish, Portuguese, and English.

The best thing about being Angolan is the food. I am learning how to make mufete which is boiled plantain and chopped tomatoes, cucumber and onions, fish and palm oil bean, farofa.

We celebrate Christmas at midnight on the 24th December after having spent time cooking a range of dishes including chicken, rissóis (ressoles), and other dishes. It’s brilliant staying awake until 12am to open our presents.

In the central emblem, the gear represents industrial workers and production, the machete represents peasantry, agricultural production and the armed struggle, and the star, shaped like the red star, symbolizes international solidarity and progress. The yellow color of the emblem symbolizes the country's wealth.

Karina

Nigerian Love by Nadine

Birthdays

In Nigeria birthdays were big you would lots of food big cakes lots of food lots of friends and family would come. You would usually have gift bags for your friends and decorations .

Languages

Over 525 languages are spoken in Nigeria alone most are native languages the most popular are Yoruba, igbo, Fulfulde , Nigerian Pidgin and Hausa. I speak Hausa.

Music:

Major artist a from Nigeria include people like: Davido, Whizkid, D’banh

Some popular music tracks are: Last last and City boys

Food

Nigeria is blessed with many food, (Nigerians jollof is better than Ghana). There are 3 major ethnic groups in Nigeria, Hausa ,Yoruba, Igbo.

Independence Day

It’s a day celebrating when Nigeria got its independence on October 1st 1960. In school, you would come dressed in your cultural clothing, give presentations and talk about your culture.

During that week, you would dress in white and green for church. The colours represent the Nigerian flag. My cousins always held parties and they were always amazing with lots of food.

The Nigerian flag is split into 3 equal parts; green, white and green. The green part represents wealth and agriculture and the white represents peace and unity. The Nigerian logo looks like this…