Umoja Performance
What is Umoja? It is the Swahili word for “unity”. On March 5, 2010 Jose Ortega students participated in our annual Umoja Day, which is a day of celebrating cultures.
During an assembly of multicultural performances, classrooms sang songs in English and Chinese. Students played piano and violin, performed lion dances, Irish stepdancing, and student choreographed dances. They sang solos, recited poetry, and performed karate and capoiera. The show ended with the humorous and energetic annual lion dance performance by Mr. John, our custodian.
After the performance, parents brought food to share in an international feast. The dishes ranged from homemade sushi to lumpia, from Swedish blueberry soup to chicken biryani. Some of the parents were so inspired by the feast that they decided to compile an international, unity in diversity cookbook with the recipes from families’ Umoja dishes. The cookbook will be for sale at the Umoja Carnival on May 22, 2010.
