News

Plymouth Rath Yatra celebration - 07/09/2009

For the first time in Plymouth Rath Yatra was celebrated in magnificent style. The event was seen by all who were in the city on 5th Sept 2009. Prasad (free blessed food) and refreshments was distributed to over 2000 people from all walks of life, near and far, young and old free. The highlight of the event was the Chariot which was involved in a procession that started from the Big Screen to Brest de Place and stopped at various points where there was singing, chanting and dancing then circled its way back to the marquee in front of the Big Screen for everybody to see. Inside the Marquee there was Singing, Chanting, Henna, Rangoli, Classical Dance, Face Painting, Sitar/Tabla Player and a Palm Reader who had come all the way from France. The event was attended by a coach from Birmingham and devotees had travelled from Watford Temple to witness the event, which were most impressed and are looking forward to Rath Yatra 2010. Manoj Joshi from the Hindu Community of Plymouth said the event was wonderful and went according to plan. He also added that he would like to thank Plymouth City Council that made this event possible. He would also like to thank Fata He for their support and were the official photographers. Other agencies that supported the event were the Diversity Unit and St John’s Ambulance

Unity Plymouth meeting fo 29 august rescheduled - 28/08/2009

The August montly meeting of Unity Plymouth to be held this Saturday 29th Aug 2009 has been cancelled. This is due to the long bank holiday with many of our members and resource persons going away for holidays. Next meeting is now september 26th 2009. An employment lawyer will give a talk and offer a no win no fee legal services. Apologies for any inconviniences due to the cancellation

Black History month October 2009:-WERE THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS AND THE ANCIENT ISRAELITES BLACK?

This question continues to be raised by a number of our clients across the southwest and beyond. As such we would like to start an informal debate on our forum to highlight this important question, which we will, then use as part of this years Black History month. Please go to the forum www.fatahe.com/forum and reply to this post. Anyone placing offensive and racist comments will be removed!!

Chris Damankah, Fata He volunteer of the year - 10/04/2009

IF I WEREN'T TALKING TO YOU, RIGHT NOW I'D BE... Having fun at the Central Park playground with some children from the Plymouth BME (black and minority ethnic) population. I'M GOOD AT... Teaching children about religion and different culture. BUT I'M BAD AT... My accent – it is very strong. WINNING THE AWARD WAS... A surprise. I have dedicated it to Tracey, who is very patient when I am out volunteering, and my friend Jeff, who is very encouraging. I WISH PEOPLE WOULD TAKE NOTICE OF... The fact that not everybody who comes here is a refugee or asylum seeker. Many people come here as students, like I did, and when they finish their course they want to give something back. That is why I volunteer. TEN YEARS AGO I WAS... Working as a logistics manager and teaching in Accra (the capital of Ghana) and living in Tema, a city on the coast. IN TEN YEARS' TIME I WANT TO BE... A university lecturer and more involved with the Plymouth-Ghana link. I am a member of the link but I would like to do a lot more. We can all learn about each other's culture. IF I WERE A POLITICIAN... I would give the power back to parents so they could control their children better. That (lack of power) leads to a lot of anti-social behaviour. THE RECESSION IS... Really, really upsetting. It happened so unexpectedly and is affecting us all. It has affected my work. I now work part-time on security at events. And it has affected Tracey's work as a carer. ON TELEVISION I NEVER MISS... Jeremy Kyle and Question Time. PLYMOUTH'S GREAT BECAUSE... Of its cleanliness and its seafront. I can walk down to the seafront to get rid of stress, which I used to do at Tema as well. IF I COULD CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT THE CITY... I would get rid of the racism and discrimination. The whole world is a global village. Britain is such a developed country. I did not expect there to be racism and discrimination here in the 21st century. source: http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/features/Head-deck/article-894314-detail/article.html

Multi-cultural dancers raise funds for charity - 06/04/2009

A MULTICULTURAL dance extravaganza aimed at promoting racial harmony was hosted by the University of Plymouth at the weekend. More than 120 performers took the stage to dance in a range of styles, including Indian, Cornish, Chinese, English, Nepali, belly-dancing, line-dancing and break dance. The event, Integration Through Culture: Dance, Dance, Dance, was staged in the Roland Levinsky Arts Building. One of the organisers Dr Sanjay Sharma, lecturer in intelligent systems control in the School of Engineering, said: "It was a fantastic event. The aim of it is to educate people about culture using dance. This is the second time we've run it and we're already looking forward to next year." Half of the dancers in the show were professionals, while the remainder were drawn from amateur city groups. Among those taking part were pupils from Notre Dame and Devonport High School for Girls. The event was attended by the Lord Mayor, Brian Vincent, and Lady Mayoress, Pauline Murphy, and city MPs Linda Gilory and Alison Seabeck. The event, which was supported by Plymouth City Council, the police and the South Asian Society, raised more than £500 for Cancer Research UK. source: http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Multi-cultural-dancers-raise-funds-charity/article-874485-detail/article.html