and raising awareness of global issues
WHAT'S NEW
FORTHCOMING EVENTS:
LMLG Management Committee meeting - Tuesday 24 January 2012 at 8pm at Southfields Library, Southfields Drive, Leicester LE2 6QS
FOOD FOR THOUGHT - Mon 30 January - Fri 3 Feb 2012 and Mon 17 - Fri 21 Sep 2012 Food for Thought Experience Programme.pdf
GLOBAL EDUCATION LEICESTER-SHIRE - Termly meeting - Tuesday 6 March 2012 from 4 - 5.30pm - Venue TBC. Minutes of previous meeting.
Linking Local Lives - Creating Global Connections FREE training for schools
UPDATES and NEWS:
Latest bulletin from Nicaragua - No 24 - Second results out.pdf
Major environmental issue affecting the border of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Go to our News page to read more.
Cultural Connections
Bringing the richness of Masayan Culture to the people of Leicester
Masaya has a rich indigenous and colonial cultural heritage. Known as the ‘city of flowers’ it is the national centre for arts, crafts and folklore. Over the years a number of artists, musicians and dancers have visited Leicester to share their artistic talents and colourful culture. The LMLG also develops and runs a range of projects and events which focus on Nicaraguan culture.
Cultural Connections Project
In 2005, the LMLG devised and presented an all day event to raise awareness of Leicester’s twinning links as part of the ‘Leicester and Me’ project, a large-scale community festival celebrating Leicester’s cultural diversity.
The aim was to raise the profile of Leicester’s global links with its twin cities around the world and show how town-twinning promotes increased understanding of different cultural traditions and helps to foster friendship between peoples of the world.
In particular, the event invited people to celebrate the link that Leicester enjoys with Masaya and from start to finish, it was a day out for all the family to experience the lively atmosphere of Nicaragua’s rich cultural heritage. The spicy sounds of Latin American music tempted people to join rhythmic salsa workshops, whilst colourful and thought provoking art displays inspired contributions to an ongoing mural painting.
With Aztec face painting, mask making, piñatas, craft stalls and clay workshops with a local sculptor, there was something for everyone.
Contributions from the twin-town communities of Rajkot in the Gujarat, as well as displays from Strasbourg in France and Krefeld in Germany ensured that cultural connections were made with India and continental Europe.
Cultural Connections was held during Fairtrade Fortnight, highlighting the advantages of using products that guarantee a better deal for farmers in developing countries. There was an opportunity to try out some fair trade food and drinks, including Nicaraguan coffees, exotic fruit smoothies and traditional treats from Central America, as well tasters of foods from Leicester’s other twin-towns.
Cultural Connections also helped to raise awareness of the 2005 Make Poverty History campaign and the Send a Child to School programme.
A number of local organisations with an environmental focus offered workshops and information to illustrate the importance of sustainable development.
The opportunity to interact in a variety of ways not only inspired an interest in Masaya but helped to raise the profile of our organisation and the other twinning groups. It also brought into focus some of the related global issues, such as fair trade, the environment and global inequality.