Celebrate Nowruz and help the humble
World Storytelling Day, which happened on the vernal equinox, coincided with another significant annual milestone: The first day of spring is also Nowruz — New Year in Iran and adjacent areas.
Nowruz customs vary from place to place: in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan; in Albania and Macedonia; and among the Kurds in Iraq, Syria and Turkey; the Uyghurs in China; the Pashtuns and Balochis in Pakistan; and the Parsis in India.
Whatever the differences, it is generally agreed that Iranian or Persian new year customs are rooted in ancestral festivities that go back to the emergence of the Zoroastrian faith some 3,000 years ago.
For Zoroastrians, it remains an important religious holiday, but most Nowruz customs are primarily secular.
International Nowruz Day was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 2010, at the initiative of a number of countries that share this cultural tradition.
The festival has been added to the “Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity” with emphasis on the ways it “promotes values of peace and solidarity between generations and within families as well as reconciliation and neighbourliness, thus contributing to cultural diversity and friendship among peoples and different communities.”
So what we have here may be taken as another opportunity to begin anew. Along with the traditional Western new year, we’ve seen increasing attention to the Chinese or Lunar New Year in recent years. Maybe something similar will happen with Nowruz.
It is worth noting that on March 30, 2009, the Parliament of Canada passed, with unanimous consent, a bill that added Nowruz to our national calendar.
An alternative new year is one way to look at it. Persian new year also coincides with beginning of spring, and is therefore related to a number of other dates such as Easter, April 1, May Day, Mother’s Day and, for gardeners and farmers in these northern parts, Victoria Day.
Here in Waterloo Region, there’s an open invitation to Canadians of all backgrounds to celebrate Nowruz at The Family Centre in Kitchener tonight starting at 5 p.m.
The hosts are members of the Afghan Community Association of Waterloo Region, which represents about 7,000 people living in this area.
In previous iterations of Afghan New Year in Kitchener, the focus was primarily cultural. There was no charge for admission. Last year more than a thousand people turned up, about a third from outside the Afghan community.
This year they’ve added a benefit component: Funds raised from the event will go toward a new vocational training program for vulnerable women and people with disabilities living in Afghanistan organized by iHelp, a nonprofit organization founded here in Waterloo to serve people in disaster situations around the world.
War has been a daily reality in Afghanistan for three decades now, with no end in sight.
One of the results is 2.6 million widowed women. On average, they are 35 years old and have four or more children, with no job and no other form of financial support. Children are commonly sent to work washing cars, selling shopping bags, gum or cigarettes, or working in restaurants, auto shops and factories. The aim is to equip these women with skills to earn a living, ideally from their homes so the children can go to school.
Tonight’s event remains a “fun night for all ages,” with “entertainment, music, cultural dances, talent show and fashion show.” It is also an opportunity to contribute to a worthy cause.