Multicultural Dinner and Dialogue 2008
An Initial Report
Can you imagine hearing languages such as Zulu and Nepalese being spoken in New Hampshire? These were two, among several others that resounded through the basement-turned-banquet hall of Manchester’s Unitarian Universalist Church during the November 15, 2008 Multicultural Dinner and Dialogue. Conversations in Arabic, French, Spanish, Vietnamese, Abenaki, and Swahili could also be heard among the white-draped tables topped with matching blue and white plates and cups and an added touch of daisies and sunflowers.
Joining us on this mild November afternoon, PIRC met 27 guests from Egypt, Morocco Mexico, the Abenaki Nation, Vietnam, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Canada, and Bhutan. In addition to the parents, twelve children were cared for and entertained by Kim Phillips, a PIRC staff, Gil, PIRC literacy volunteer, and Laura, the daughter of one of the Family Voices staff.
Two wonderful pleasures of life are food and music. We opened the event with the usual welcoming and thanking those who put their energy and time into attending and creating the event. 
But the heart and soul was the sharing of different dishes people brought with them. There was lamb curry, Mexican style empanadas, Jasmine rice, Dominican chicken, falafel, pumpkin pie, and rice pudding, just to name a few of the delicious and delectable foods savored by our palates.
Music was provided by talented young people from Kenya. Sharon, the vocalist, memorialized Miriam Makeba, who recently passed away. Ms. Makeba, from South Africa, brought awareness of the apartheid condition in South Africa through her music. The two young men exuded energy while playing the drums inviting everyone to join in to an African dance. And people began to rock!!
PIRC appreciated the support of Devi, a young man from Bhutan whose dream is to begin his university studies. Devi and Thakur, also from Bhutan, provided enormous assistance as interpreters for the Bhutanese community. Veronica Bodden, a PIRC bilingual staff member, assisted Spanish-speaking parents. After an hour of music and dinner the second part of the program ensued.
The Multicultural Dinner and Dialogue (MCDD) is an introduction to having parents and community members of different ethnic groups come together and exchange and share their experiences as they become acquainted with the educational system in New Hampshire. The purpose of the MCDD was to allow parents, the majority born in other countries, to express their views and experiences about how they perceive the educational system that their children attend and how they acclimate to the learning process in New Hampshire.
PIRC’s mission is to create an environment in which the learning potential of all children be fully recognized. One way to ensure that this occurs is by parents getting involved in their children’s education at home. Another important factor is that schools be better prepared and funded as the demographics of New Hampshire change. Three questions were raised to commence discussion.
- What do you like or think is good about New Hampshire Schools?
- What are some of the problems for your child in getting to school and/or doing well in school?
- What more could schools do to help you and your child?
Our guests had about fifteen minutes to discuss each question and the responses were recorded by a PIRC staff. A summary of this discussion will be included in a report to be shared with the community in early 2009. PIRC hopes that this report will not only provide parents an opportunity to express their concerns, but also allow teachers, principles, other educators, and political policy makers to better understand and dissipate misunderstandings of each other’s cultural beliefs and values. The bottom line is that All children succeed in school regardless of where and how they are raised.
