Bringing the community to dinner
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Last modified: 28 Mar 2023 11:32am
Laughter, new friendships and “enough food to feed an army”. That was the takeaway from the district’s ‘Dinners of Selwyn’ event held on 21 March.
Forty people spanning 15 different nationalities attended the potluck dinner at the Lincoln Event Centre, in celebration of Unity Week. Council Community and Economic Development Advisor, Kirstin Dingwall-Okoye says the event was a wonderful occasion to meet new people and share cultural experiences with one another.
“There was a really diverse mix of people around the tables. Some had only been in Selwyn for a few weeks, while others were long-time residents wanting to meet new people. We’d supplied conversation-starter cards to help break the ice, but there was really no need; the room was full of chatter and laughter.”
Attendees heralded from places all over the world including Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Pakistan, Ghana, India and France. Each person brought their favourite dish to share amongst the group as a way to celebrate the district’s diversity and bring communities together.
“There was everything from homemade chicken pie, prawn fried rice, dumplings and potstickers. Dessert was just as scrumptious, with sticky date pudding, lemon meringue pie and lemon semolina cake. There was so much food, we could have fed an army,” Kirstin says.
Dinners of Selwyn was held during Unity Week, an initiative started by the Sakinah Trust which was established following the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings.
Members of the trust also attended the potluck dinner to share the kaupapa of Unity Week.
“Thank you to everyone who came along and made the night such a success, especially the student army volunteers from the Lincoln University Students’ Association who helped host the event,” Kirstin adds.