| Dancing with a group of Latin American students that sang and played guitar, maracas and drums, I understood just what a multicultural society is about: sharing, learning about and embracing cultural differences. At Meriter Hospital's Culture Fair on April 20, the Madison community came together to celebrate diversity. This year marked the fifth annual fair, organized by the Diversity Council and president and CEO of Meriter Hospital, Terri Potter. The people that contributed to the fair represented more than a dozen different cultures, such as Mexican, African, Filipino, Korean, and Norwegian, among others. They brought information, handmade artwork, jewelry and clothing important to and symbolic of their home countries. Participants, hospital staff and fair-goers could also try international food from local restaurants. The fair was created as a way for employees and other community members to share their diverse cultural backgrounds and for the hospital and Madison community to grow from learning more about each other. "A lot of different cultures are represented in the organization," Potter said. "But we didn' have a good way for people to share them. I wanted to create a very visible way that I as a leader could let them." Many employees became excited and volunteered to participate in the fair when they heard that it was taking place, according to Potter. "It's a chance for them to be who they are," he added. Ozzie Rincon brought handmade jewelry as a way of sharing his Mexican heritage. He came to the United States from Mexico 14 years ago and sells jewelry that his father makes while still living in Mexico. "When you grew up in it, it's important to let people know about us," Rincon said about the importance of sharing his Mexican culture through his jewelry. "It represents my state." |
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| Meriter Hospital's Cultural Fair by Melissa Ann Janowski |
| "A lot of different cultures are represented in the organization," Meriter CEO Terry Potter said. |
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| Another participant in the Culture Fair, Judy Kerschner, a nurse, has spent 10 years in Guatemala as a Christian missionary. She works in the Mayan village of Santa Maria de Jesus, where in 2000 she helped open a special education school for children with disabilities such as muscular dystrophy and cerebral palsy. Forty-one kids attend the school this year and it continues to grow. Kerschner brought information on her mission work and the children she helps, along with clothing and tablecloths made in Guatemala. She says the importance of a Culture Fair like this is "to let needs be known and to let people know what can be done." Learning about the culture and struggles of Guatemalans, we can help in a more effective way." At another table at the fair, African culture was displayed by carved figurines that represented specific traditions or ways of life. Geraldine Conklin sells the pieces out of her home as a way of remembering and sharing her African background. "Once you leave that country, you never see any of the pieces again. And it's important to bring pieces together again,"Conklin said. Learning about different cultures and having a diverse background and education is important especially for children, according to Conklin. Prejudice is something that is not inherited, rather it is learned in society. "If they are knowledgeable about different cultures, they don't have to be taught different things like prejudice," Conklin said. Conklin described a piece of artwork that hangs in her home that represents the acceptance of different cultures. The picture depicts a White and a Black child sitting together naked as friends. The children do not know prejudice because it has not yet been taught to them, so they are able to see past their differences and embrace each other as people. This image of friends from different backgrounds embracing each other can serve as the message and image of the Culture Fair, which is just one of many ways to teach acceptance of diversity. -- Melissa Ann Janowski is an Asian Wisconzine intern this semester. |
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