Greater Shepparton Secondary College and Notre Dame College unite to celebrate Africa Day in a spectacular display of cultural harmony

The festivities kicked off with an electrifying djembe drum session led by Monga Mukasa, the founder and chief executive of Networking African-Australians.

Mr Mukasa said Africa Day was an occasion to celebrate the continent’s diverse talents, culture and heritage.

“I’ve been invited to celebrate Africa Day, which is an annual event celebrating Africa as a whole where we can showcase our talents, our culture, our food, our dance,” Mr Mukasa said.

“I’ve done some drum sessions, and students have been able to do djembe drumming — the sound of Africa.”

GSSC executive principal Barbara O’Brien highlighted the value African students brought to the school community and emphasised the need to celebrate their culture.

“We acknowledge and celebrate Africa Day because our students are an important part of our school and our culture,” she said.

“Our (African) students add a real richness to our school, and we often see them involved in lots of different activities, sporting events, music and performances, and we want to celebrate that.

“We also want to celebrate the fact that they have added to our school culture, something that we didn’t have before — a real richness — and we want to be able to appreciate their culture, understand their culture, and walk side by side with them.

“It’s also about really celebrating our diversity and acknowledging that we are a very multicultural school, and our African students are an important part of that multiculturalism.”

African students from Notre Dame College, as well as principal John Cortese, joined the GSSC students.

“The collegiality between the two schools is important, and earlier in the year there was an event at Notre Dame where there was confusion around students coming to our harmony day,” Mr Cortese said.

“So, this is a great way to re-address the issue that happened then.

“It definitely was positive to share with our fellow schools but also to maybe re-address the issue that happened on that day,”

Greater Shepparton City Council multicultural development officer Mariola Nebiu was also present at the event.

“We (the council) embrace and support our multicultural society because there are so many benefits to having such a diverse community,” Ms Nebiu said.

“Most importantly, it shows that Shepparton is a place for togetherness.

“In this case, the younger generations learn about other cultures, and this can be a great support for them for their future.”