Harmony Day Reflection

What Harmony Day means to me

Harmony Day is a day when I trace and reflect on my heritage as part of Australian Society. As one of the lucky few Africans of South Sudanese background who has become part of Australian society, I think revisiting my origin on Harmony Day gave me an avenue to say thanks to Australian society for welcoming and recognising my heritage. Brian Tracy said ‘Develop an ‘attitude of gratitude. Say thank you to everyone you meet for everything they do for you’. I valued the day that allowed us as migrants to display our cultures to all Australians society. Harmony Day is also a day where we as migrants should think about how to fit our cultures into the wider Australian multicultural society and reflect on our heritage.

I left my original home of South Sudan because of war, which denied me the opportunity to exploit my full potential in education and the other benefits of our modern world. These opportunities are available here in Australia.  Only effort, persistence and focus to take advantage of these opportunities is required. Students of my heritage should heed it. In other words, my assumption is that students of my background coming here young or being born in Australia ought to reap the opportunities that were lacking in South Sudan. The ball is in their court. Some people think it is easy to come to a new country with education and jobs.  It is not as easy as they think.  There are many difficulties and challenges. Albert Einstein once stated ‘in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity’. Harmony Day provided an avenue to remind younger generations of my background and myself to make better use of available opportunities so that we create better future for our children and ourselves in Australian Society.

Thus as a migrant of African descent from South Sudan, Harmony Day helped me feel at home. It also showed me that Australian Society values what we have brought to this country from South Sudan. It reminds each one of us to make better use of available opportunities in education, employment and so on to establish our life in our second home. It is a day that we all as migrants ought to pay gratitude to Australian Society for welcoming us and recognising our heritage and for us to strive and contribute to her greatness in a positive light.

Mr Ayiik