Harrow United Deaf Club’s Eid & Diwali Celebration 2013
At Bentley Day Centre, 94 Uxbridge Road, Harrow
Harrow United Deaf Club was proud to host a successful event – Eid & Diwali Celebration, bringing the community together. The event took place on Saturday 2nd November 2013 at Bentley Day Centre.
The event was welcomed by the Mayor of Harrow, Councilor Nana Asante and Mayoress Miss Awula Serwah and they were greeted by two young sisters – Samaira (7) and Rubi (3) with a beautiful bouquet of flowers each. Both the Mayor and Mayoress were pleased to meet the members of the Deaf Club and joined them for a festive feast of Indian delights and enjoyed a special display of Diwali, with decorative candles to celebrate both Eid and Diwali (Festival of Lights). Other guests joined the event including Councillor Navin Shah, Councillor Krishna Suresh, Councillor Sasikala Suresh, Councillor Kareema Marikar, Councillor Husain Akhtar, Councillor Vina Mithani, Councillor Manji Kara, John and Margaret Purnell (Patrons of HUDC).
The Mayor gave a speech of support to celebrate the Eid and Diwali event and how pleased she was to join on this very special occasion. Councillor Manji Kara, Cabinet Member of Culture and Community, agreed and praised the positive impact of our Harrow United Deaf Club’s work onto the local communities and urged us to keep up the good work.
Sidika Mustafa Dewji, who spoke about the meaning of Eid and why we celebrate it. She also explained about the right of Muslim women and empowering them, resulting in a huge applause from our audiences who admired her speech. Then we moved onto another fantastic speaker, Radha Mohan Das from Krisma Temple, he explained the importance of Diwali as Festival of Light and shared the story behind it too which was fascinating.In appreciation of their time, both of the guest speakers were presented with a beautiful cultural scarf together with a certificate of thanks in recognition of their hard work.
Later that evening, we had fun with Bollywood dances and competed with each other for the best moves where winners were given fantastic prizes. We then proceeded with the stunning display of colourful fireworks that got everyone in awe.
The evening ended with audition and raffles with some fantastic prizes to give away, much to the delights of our members and special guests.
Asif Iqbal MBE, President of HUDC, explained “Eid and Diwali is a celebration of family togetherness and for many of the members, it is an opportunity to unite and celebrate the diversity of our communities, and we are pleased with the success of our event.”
The event was captured on YouTube – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCk8aIM1s6s
Next month on Saturday 6th December, we are pleased to have Gerry Hughes, a first Deaf sailor who went round the world, joining us to share his inspiring story of his personal journey. To learn more and to book your tickets, please contact us on hadc@hotmail.co.uk
