The Interfaith Bridging Project joins the National Aboriginal Day Celebration on Friday for a day of peace and prayer.
“The event is open to everyone. We have had a lot of people come out to the Interfaith Cafés and there are always a lot out for Aboriginal Day. With the Interfaith theme of intergenerational connections and the Aboriginal Day family activities, it is going to be a family-oriented day,” said Mollie Bono, Interfaith Bridging Project committee member and a First Nations Friendship Centre representative.
The day will be filled with music and fun, with drumming performances and workshops, dancing and singing, including in languages from around the world. Games include a family treasure hunt and there will be face painting, fry bread made on site, teepees up and a variety of displays, including arts and crafts and a free lunch at noon.
“Everything will bring out the joy of celebrating in the outdoors together and acknowledging that it’s OK not to be the same as everyone else. We can still hold and support and enjoy each other,” said Sue Ghattas, Interfaith Bridging Project committee member.
The activities will take place at the band stand stage and nearby. The Interfaith Café part of the day, with the theme of family gatherings, keeps the same format with discussions at tables with representatives from various faith groups facilitating questions and answers and summing up.
“We are finding that the Interfaith Bridging Project is a way to nurture each other toward a loving community through providing space that brings people together. We want to reach out to other organizations so we can provide that focus of gentle friendship for each other. It is an opportunity for goodness to happen,” said Ghattas.
Bono thinks it is important for people to question assumptions and the limitations this places on people and relationships.
“Our cultures are so diverse yet we have so much in common. I think it will be an amazing day,” she said.
National Aboriginal Day takes place Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Polson Park in Vernon. It is followed by the Interfaith Café with games for children and families with KAIROS (a group which works for ecological justice and human rights) and ends with strawberries and tea and a closing circle.
For more information, please call 250-542-1247 or e-mail pdirfnfc@shawcable.com.
