On Saturday, Palms’ celebrated our Solidarity Awards 2018 in association with completing our 100th orientation course.
Palms’ Solidarity Awards recognise the individuals, organisations and groups who have cooperated across cultures to achieve a just, sustainable, interdependent and peaceful world free of poverty. At this year’s event we also commissioned the participants of our 100th orientation course, creating an afternoon that engaged both the newest members of our Palms community and those who have been a part of Palms journey over many years.
In celebration of NAIDOC week and in solidarity with Australia’s first people, guests were encouraged to embrace the traditions of Australian Indigenous culture. Guests learned traditional dances with special guest performers from Indigenous dance ensemble Tribal Warrior before sitting down for an afternoon tea inspired by native flavours of Australia. Though this writer did not try the Kangaroo pies for herself, guests said they were delicious (I can report that the lamb and mint meatballs were fantastic!).
Fresh from his presentation at TEDx Sydney, local human rights lawyer Jahan Kalantar spoke on the way fear informs how we interact cross-culturally and how we can overcome that fear through information and engagement.
There were plenty (too plenty?) of opportunities for guests to support Palms throughout the event as we raffled off prizes from Sydney Theatre Company, Pan Macmillan Publishing, Art Gallery NSW and Glitz N Glamour Photography. We auctioned off some items from our collection of artefacts from across the globe, including tais from Timor Leste and beads from Uganda. The major auction prize, a shield from the Wahgi Valley in Papua New Guinea, sold for $600.
The afternoon was a fantastic way to bring our supporters together and celebrate the work that Palms has done, and continues to do, in Australia and in communities abroad. Thank you to everyone who made this event possible.
We are always looking for ways to engage with our many supporters throughout Australia. If you have ideas on events you would like to see from Palms, or any feedback on what times and types of events you enjoy, let us know! Send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call on 02 9560 5333.