Women of Diversity Dinner
Around 300 women from over 20 cultural backgrounds came together for a night of singing, dancing, eating and laughing at the 2018 Women of Diversity Dinner (WDD) recently held at the Emporium Function Centre in Sydney.
Photo: Giselle Haber
NSW Jewish Board of Deputies Community Relations & Policy Manager Lynda Ben-Menashe said: “The WDD is the city’s premier multicultural event for women, giving them the opportunity to celebrate their own cultures, embrace others’ and just have fun. Our message is simple – whether you were born in Australia, or arrived recently, we all want this home of ours to be a harmonious and peaceful place for our families. The WDD is an avenue to express this sentiment.”
The WDD organising committee was thrilled to have the host of SBS TV’s Living Black, Karla Grant, MC the event – which was held during national NAIDOC month. Guests were treated to songs in French, Arabic, Hebrew and Hindi by multilingual performer Dahlia Dior and had fun learning Bollywood dance moves from classically-trained Indian dancers, sisters Varsha and Megha Krishnappa. Another highlight of the evening was the Afghan fashion parade, the traditional dresses were simply stunning.
Photo: Giselle Haber
“The annual Women of Diversity Dinner was a joyful event that bought together women of many different backgrounds. Everyone involved had a fun time, the hall was filled with laughter, singing and dancing with the singer Dahlia Dior’s Hindi number welcoming new Indian arrivals setting the scene for an inspirational and colourful fashion parade by women from the Afghani community followed by traditional South Indian dancing. To our surprise, we even had a swift Bollywood dance lesson, which was the icing on the cake, making most of us jingle and mingle even further”, said Zubeda Raihman, President, Muslim Women’s National Network of Australia, Inc.
The WDD is organised by a partnership of organisations including the Ethnic Communities’ Council of NSW, Afghan Women of the Move, Australian South Sea Islanders (ASSI) – Port Jackson, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Muslim Women’s National Network, NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, SAHELI, Settlement Services International, Uniting Church, and individual women.
