By Khalida Sarwari
A bride walked onto a stage and sat awaiting her groom while a handful of women wearing traditional Iraqi dresses beat dayras, or frame drums, and danced around her to Arabic music.
It was a scene befitting a royal wedding, but on a Friday night in mid-June, it was just a peek into the Iraqi wedding dance at the Campbell Community Center.
The event was part of Santa Clara County’s 20th annual World Refugee Day to commemorate refugee residents and their contributions to their local communities.
Anhkhoa Nguyen, 25, a video editor at Cubico in Campbell, was one of a few hundred who showed up after work. He marveled at the diversity in the faces at the banquet hall. Gathered under one roof were natives of Kyrgyzstan, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Bosnia, China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Honduras, Iceland, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia.
The Iraqi wedding scene, he said, was especially fun to watch. It didn’t resemble Vietnamese weddings very much, he said.
“The Vietnamese, we just sit down and eat,” he said, laughing.
Raghad Toma, a refugee from Iraq, shared her experience of leaving her homeland and starting anew in another country.
“I left my country because of the war, the restrictions and the condition of living,” she said. “Gradually I loved living here in the U.S. and I see it as my second homeland.”
The audience included dignitaries, among them Kansen Chu, a member of the San Jose City Council, and Jamie McLeod, a Santa Clara city councilwoman. Mohammad Qayoumi, president of San Jose State University, was the guest speaker.
“We have a lot of civic responsibility,” he said, addressing the audience. “All of you should be involved in the political process–know your Congress members, your city council members. Make sure you register, make sure you vote and make sure you count.”
McLeod shared a story about enlisting the help of her diverse friends during her campaign for council.
“When you become citizens, you do not give up your cultural heritage,” she told the refugees in the room. “Days like today are important because we celebrate who we are as Americans.”
Organized by the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, World Refugee Day is celebrated in cities across the world in June every year to coincide with Refugee Month and raise awareness of the plight of refugees throughout the world.
With one-third of its population born outside the United States, Santa Clara County boasts one of the most diverse regions in the country. The World Refugee Day event in Campbell was sponsored by the county’s Office of Human Relations, Immigrant Relations and Integration Services in partnership with PARS Equality Center. The Immigrant Relations and Integration Services works with immigrant communities and service providers to promote the inclusion of immigrant communities in the county.
Campbell is the diversity capital of the valley, for a night anyway
