United Nations Day at Overseas School, Colombo

COLOMBO: Being an international school with a very large cultural diversity, United Nations Day has a special meaning to the students of OSC. Students from all 46 nationalities don their national dress with pride to turn the school into a riot of colour.

One can see kimonos next to sarongs and children in Sri Lankan national dress walking hand in hand with the national dresses of Nepal, Bangladesh, India, China, Germany, Thailand, Sierra Leone and the list goes on and on.

Although this pageant is designed to be beautiful and a lot of fun, the deeper meaning is a lesson in respecting and understanding one another's cultures and through that cherishing and respecting one's own heritage.

The day started off with a 'Parade of Nations' in which students, teachers and parents of different nationalities walking behind their respective national flags.

The procession, which terminated at the spacious school auditorium, was led by the 50th anniversary school flag being carried by three boys and three girls of different ages and ethnic backgrounds.

The flag was followed by the Sri Lankan contingent and all the remaining 46 nationalities in alphabetical order. It was truly the embodiment of the school motto: Unity in Diversity.