\n
Hala Ahmed only arrived in Londonderry five months ago from Sudan.<\/p>\n
She was one of the many who gathered at Cult\u00farlann U\u00ed Chan\u00e1in in Derry for a cross-cultural ceilidh to mark world diversity day.<\/p>\n
And it lived up to its name with participants from as far away as Syria and Sudan, Ukraine and Yemen.<\/p>\n
The event was organised by the North West Migrants Forum in partnership with the theatre company, Sole Purpose Productions.<\/p>\n\n\nKhalid Ahmed and Obama Ali played the tabla (drums) at the event [BBC]<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Hala said the evening was important to her because it allowed people to learn more about different cultures.<\/p>\n
Proceedings kicked off with traditional Irish music along with a lesson in how to dance during a ceilidh.<\/p>\n
Then came musicians from Sudan, Syria and Turkey.<\/p>\n
People also brought traditional foods from their native countries.<\/p>\n
On the menu from Hala was a traditional sandwich from Sudan. It was a spicy chicken sandwich with a special type of hot sauce.<\/p>\n
“You can say it’s unique because we made it from peanut butter, a green chilli and lemon and, of course, salt,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\nMohamed with his family Randa, Karin, Mo and Lio [BBC]<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Another person who brought traditional food from his country was Syrian Mohamed Outabacci, who impressed with his take on baklava, a dessert dating back to the Ottoman empire.<\/p>\n
He has been living in Derry for six years with his family and said they were made to feel at home at the event.<\/p>\n
“As Syrian people, we lost our country and so to come to activities like this, to make friends and to have fun, it’s important and good for us to be a part of this community as well.”<\/p>\n\n\nThe event included ceilidh lessons from Mary McGuigan and music from Clodagh Warnock and Finna MacGyver [BBC]<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Event organiser Ga\u00eblle Gormley said the aim was to “generate a bond between Northern Ireland’s two traditional communities and those from overseas who have made it their home in more recent times”.<\/p>\n
Clodagh Warnock enthralled the international audience with her fiddle during the ceilidh and said it was great to see people’s faces when she started playing.<\/p>\n
“We were ripping into a couple of good, fast tunes, and you can see they were genuinely interested,” she said.<\/p>\n
“Now we’ve just been listening to a bit of singing, which has been accompanied by drums, so it’s very different, it’s very, very diverse,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\nIryna Vorona with her son Dmtyro and mum, Liubov wearing traditional Ukrainian attire [BBC]<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The evening was also a good opportunity for people to make new connections and friendships with others from different cultures and religions.<\/p>\n
This was one of the reasons Ahmed Alweasbi decided to go along.<\/p>\n
Ahmed came to Northern Ireland seven months ago as an asylum seeker from war-torn Yemen.<\/p>\n
“It’s important for integration and they might help people in terms of diversity. So it’s really helpful for people to join here,” he said.<\/p>\n
Iryna Vorna, from Ukraine, has been living in Derry for two years and attended the event with her son Dmytro and mum, Liubov.<\/p>\n
“This is a new country for us and in our country we didn’t see so many nationalities so this is good for our children but it’s useful for everyone,” she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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