Around the World in Orange County by Aley Davis
Families, friends and students gathered to taste the finest in culture represented at the fair. The festival brought together about 900 musicians and dancers who represented several different countries. Performances ranged from Salsa, Indian and Hawaiian dancing to Japanese Taiko drumming. SOKA students from over 40 different countries volunteered to bring the community together.
Local vendors, non-profit organizations, student clubs and even churches set-up over 250 exhibits to attract visitors with their services, ethnic clothing, jewelry and of course food.
This year two Nepalian students organized a yard sale in connection with the Red Cross to provide relief in Nepal. Paresh Khetan, a student who will volunteer in Nepal this summer, said, “We want . . . to provide basic needs like sanitation, water, food, tents and things that people don’t have right now.” He will travel with eight other students to strengthen many small villages struggling in the earthquake aftermath. As a native Nepalian, Khetan expressed, “It’s kind of strange and tough being here. Life just goes on as normal. It’s just so surreal, especially when you know the people back home are suffering.”
The Orange County Register, Yelp.com, and the Orange County Department of Education along with several others sponsored the event this year. This allowed many non-profit organizations to enlist others to rally behind their cause.
One such organization, Hands of Africa, raises funds to provide prosthetic arms and legs and other needs for over 80,000 survivors of the civil war in Sierra Leone. The government kidnapped those who would not comply with their demands and amputated their arms and legs. Dominic Gonzalez, who taught visitors on Saturday at his booth, said, “I just know that what I am doing is going towards something bigger than me. It keeps me fulfilled in terms of having to work and make a living. My living actually provides the living for someone else, so I think it is very powerful what we have been doing today.”
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints organized a booth to make the public aware of their free family history and genealogy services. Nicole Davis, a family history service missionary, spoke with visitors all day long about their families. She said, “As soon as they start telling their stories I sometimes get emotional, and sometimes they get emotional. With the internet these days the access for family history is incredible. It’s crazy what you can find these days. We have such a great facility and it’s free so it has really been an attractive opportunity for everybody to learn about their ancestors.”
Appealing to all ages, the university provided kids with a “festival passport” to earn stamps as they learned about various cultures at different stations. This year’s festival was another informative, entertaining, and yes . . . even delicious event.
Aley Davis
( Aley is a BYU college student and is home for the summer. She is doing an internship with a local television production company)
