World Refugee Day 2012

Music, dance, and food filled the Montgomery County Refugee Training Center in Takoma Park as clients, employees, and volunteers from the SWRC celebrated World Refugee Day on June 20.  The celebration gave SWRC clients and Training Center students the opportunity to celebrate and share the cultures of their home countries with each other, the SWRC staff, and the wider community.

SWRC clients transformed the Training Center with decorated display booths representing a diverse range of countries, including Colombia, Somalia, Burma, Ethiopia, Azerbaijan, Cameroon, and several others.  Clients wore traditional clothes and displayed flags and food from their home countries.  Many SWRC clients presented performances, including the Cameroonian and Ethiopian national anthems, a rendition of “Waving Flag,” the hit song by Somali refugee K’naan, and Colombian and Ethiopian traditional dances. Training Center teachers and SWRC staff collaborated to coordinate the celebration.

After the performances finished, the festivities continued across the street at Jesup Blair Park with soccer games and craft activities.  Representatives from the Smithsonian’s ImaginAsia cultural art program led the children in attendance in traditional crafts native to several Asian countries.