By Alyssa Goldman, Amanda Sawit & Carole Le Goff
Our Lady of Mercy College in Beaumont, north Dublin last week held its sixth annual international day to celebrate the school’s diverse student body – more than 20 per cent of which non-Irish backgrounds.
The event featured samplings of cuisine and performance from around the globe including African, eastern European, Filipino and Indian dancing, as well as traditional Irish music.
Yet aside from the entertainment element, the day holds a deeper meaning for pupils and teachers alike.
Meg Offiah, an English and History teacher, said she noticed that international students were more shy and withdrawn in the classroom than their Irish peers. In order to combat this, she decided to organise the school’s first international day in 2006.
It’s a day where they tend to be more outgoing and sociable, she said: “They see that they belong and are accepted at school. And they realise they have something to offer their host country.”
Offiah worked since October on hosting this year’s day and jokingly said she knows how to do every kind of dance now. But the school’s international students were just as enthusiastic.
“Families were going through a lot of bother to prepare food,” said principal Rosemary Smith. “We had to tell them to not cook so much.”
As students gathered at the back of the school hall to try the different food samples, a group of Irish girls clapped in unison as an Indian girl performed a traditional dance. After the short performance, she and the other girls giggled and hugged each other.
Smith said she hopes the internationals day teaches her pupils that although native and non-Irish students may have differences, they also share a lot of similarities.
“From an Irish perspective, it shows students that it is possible to share the same interests with their peers of a different culture,” she said. “They can have the same tastes in films and music and this could help foster more interaction on a daily basis.”
Meanwhile, the girls were glad that they got to know each other better.
“When everyone gets to see all the cultures come together as one, we can show that underneath skin colour, we are the same,” said 13-year-old Mahduyah Ayub.
It is Smith’s hope that the international day helps all her students feel more at home in Ireland and at school.
“Everyone at this school is important,” she said. “We want to know about all of our students and their culture. We value what everyone has to bring to the school.”
