PORTLAND, MAINE | The holiday season in Maine took on a special feel this year. Maine Seeds organized Holiday of Holidays, a community event bringing different religious groups together in celebration of their holidays.
The event, held December 7, celebrated the diversity of Portland’s multi-cultural community with family-friendly activities and educational festivities at the Portland Public Library.
Over 70 Maine Seeds, Educators, families, and friends representing the wide range of communities in the Portland area—including native-born, and refugee and immigrants from Somalia, Sudan, Iraq, China, Thailand, Ethiopia, Congo—joined together for a day of celebration, learning, and sharing.
Ten Seeds took on leadership roles at the event, leading the group in interactive activities and presentations. A particularly meaningful moment was the open circle presentation, during which each participant explained how they celebrate their respective Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist holidays.
By taking on roles in facilitation, public speaking, organization, coordination, and public outreach, Holiday of Holidays was an opportunity for Seeds to practice their leadership skills, a core component of Seeds of Peace’s mission. The power of this positive and diverse peer leadership on the children present could be felt throughout the day, as Seeds emerged as a unified group of inspirational youth community leaders.
2013 HOLIDAY OF HOLIDAYS MAINE PHOTOS