Published: April 01, 2009 10:56 pm         

Cultural Fair aims to help raise awareness of diversity

ISU students organize event as part of internship

TERRE HAUTE — John Beard stood leaning slightly over the floor, guiding a stick to maneuver a string with a ring at its end toward the lip of an empty 12-ounce beverage bottle.

Many others had tried and failed to hook the bottle, then lift it to a standing position, but the Union Hospital facilities services employee’s steady hand made it look easy.

“You take your time, pull it up and make sure it’s not twisting,” said Beard, before sipping a cup of Boba tea, a Taiwanese favorite.

The Taiwanese bottle game was among the many activities offered at the Colors of Our Community Cultural Fair on Wednesday afternoon in the hospital’s Green Room.

The fair featured about a dozen tables manned by international students from Indiana State University. Students Yi Chew and Pei Hsuan Sun organized the event as part of their internship with the hospital in human resource development.

“The purpose is, through all the cultural booths and food and music, we want to raise awareness on diversity,” Yi said.

The international students also demonstrated dances and fashion as part of Wednesday’s celebration.

Students from India, Saudi Arabia, Korea, Africa, China and Morocco were among those with tables that held colorful displays, literature about their culture, photographs from home and heaps of sweet-smelling snacks.

Physicians, nurses, custodians and security officers, most on their lunch breaks and dressed in scrubs or uniforms, meandered among the tables to mingle and laugh with their international hosts.

“We didn’t want them to have to sit in a class and listen, but do it in a fun way by interaction,” Yi said of the exercise.

Jennifer Barton, who works in the hospital’s ambulatory surgery, joined many from her department to visit the fair during their break.

“All I’m thinking about is how much my three little kids would enjoy being here,” she said of her children, who would have marveled at the decorations.

Don “Pepsi” Williams, a retired Terre Haute firefighter who works in hospital security, gathered some laughs while there and said the fair serves a useful purpose.

“You get to see a lot of different beliefs and customs and cultures, and it’s nice to see that,” said Williams, whose nickname came from swigging six to 10 Pepsis a day during the tedious downtimes in his firefighting days. On this day, his mind was Pepsi-free and directed more toward spicy entrees, rice and sweet goodies abound on the tables.

“I ate before I came here, now I’m stuffed and can’t eat,” he said with a mournful smile.

Yi, of Beijing, will graduate from ISU next month. She pronounced the fair a success, and even had no one attended, the 19-page booklet she and Pei created and handed out will help employees with their sensitivity training.

The booklet’s main section features tips on differences in diet, communication and cultural beliefs about such matters as pregnancy and the process of dying.



John D. Wright can be reached at john.wright@tribstar.com or (812) 231-4255.

     

Add a comment on this story