HAPPY: Sudanese Students celebrate after winning the best booth award.
The College of the North Atlantic-Qatar (CNA-Q) welcomed more than 5,000 visitors to its 8th Annual Global Village recently. The event, which showcases the various student countries represented at CNA-Q, is the largest and most popular student event at the college.
Dr Ken MacLeod, CNA-Q president, said, “This is the premier event at CNA-Q because it is a celebration of the cultural mosaic that makes up CNA-Q and Qatar. It truly is a student event and engages hundreds of students on all levels.”
Students from 17 countries worked for several months on booth design and stage performances to ensure they present their countries to the thousands of visitors that attended the two-day event. Each booth was designed and decorated to represent the traditions of the students’ country. Wall coverings, furniture, artwork, rugs and cuisine all were used to ensure there were 17 unique experiences as a visitor walked through the village.
“It’s amazing to see the creativity that our student [displayed],” said Diane Martin, event co-organiser. “Each year they out-do themselves. In 2006 the booths were mainly posters and pictures, this year several of the booths have massive builds to recreate iconic images and buildings. The fact that the students do this themselves, shows their belief in the importance of events like Global Village.”
The stage performances were also as varied as the countries themselves and included a Qatari wedding, a Pakistani fashion show, an Egyptian whirling dervish and a Bollywood dance routine. For the first time in eight years, four countries joined together to present one show. Students from Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria, presented a play about the unity of the countries, including a performance of the four different debka styles that had the audience cheering.
Global Village began in 2006 as a way to share the experiences and backgrounds of the students at CNA-Q. Its predecessor, an international potluck dinner, was a student favourite event before moving to the permanent Duhail campus. With the larger campus, and larger student body, it became possible to showcase the cultures in a bigger, and more public forum.
This year’s event was the largest to date with more than 2,500 visitors each night, including ambassadors and embassy representatives from Canada, Indonesia, Djibouti and Japan visiting.