A Day Of Multicultural Discovery At Hillside
Hillside Care Home is proud of its dedicated team members and many have joined the home from all over the world - including Jamaica, Ghana, India, Poland and Portugal - so an opportunity for residents and colleagues to hear about their different cultures was too good to miss.
The Activities team started planning a celebratory day and Care Assistant, Vanisa, who is from Jamaica, was keen to help by asking others she works with about traditional dishes from their home countries and putting together some questions for a residents’ quiz.
Balloons, Flags and A Tricky Quiz!
The sun lounge was decorated with assorted flags and bright, cheerful balloons, with the colour of the balloons representing each country. Then the residents gathered to hear team members talk about their own cultures and the meaning of the flag colours – learning, for example, that the Jamaican flag includes black to represent people of different races, green for agriculture and yellow which symbolises sunshine.
Hillside residents love a quiz and there were some challenging questions, in keeping with the multicultural theme. Who knew that Ghana was known as the Gold Coast before independence or that that the currency in Poland is the zloty!
The fun continued with games which both staff and residents joined in. Blind fold ‘guess the fruit’ was a popular one – and harder than everyone thought! Residents imagined themselves eating grapes and bananas in counties on the other side of the world, while sweet strawberries brought the taste of a classic British summer.
A Food Journey Around the World
The most highly anticipated event of the day was the chance to taste food that the team had cooked and brought in for all try, presented at a wonderful lunch that didn’t disappoint! There was French fried chicken and Jerk chicken; ackee and salt fish – a traditional Jamaican dish; jollof rice from Nigeria, fish cakes from St Lucia, a traditional Portuguese salad and a chicken curry from India.
The day was rounded off with karaoke where the staff sang and some of the residents joined in too. Everybody loved the rhythm of the Jamaican reggae music and it felt like the perfect way to end to a day that had seen everyone coming together to share, discover and have fun.
In the words of one resident, “It was a wonderful day, great fun and the food was delicious - even the spicy bits! I'm looking forward to doing it again next year”.
Our Friendly Care Home in Suffolk
Hillside Care Home is located in the picturesque village of Great Cornard on the outskirts of Sudbury in Suffolk, and is part of the Caring Homes Group. To find out more about our Home, including our award-winning dementia training, please visit Hillside's homepage. You can also find information on our other care homes, as well as similar articles and celebrations, by exploring our site. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions or would like to learn more.
