Merryhills Primary School in the UK celebrates Newroz

Celebrated as the day of “resistance and freedom” by the people of Kurdistan, Newroz draws considerable interest from the peoples of the world.

London’s Merryhills Primary School, which organizes activities for its students to learn about the beliefs, identities and cultures of the peoples, has organized a series of activities related to the Kurds and Newroz.

The main theme of the events organized to inform students about the Kurdish culture, language and music was ‘Newroz’.

As part of the events, a Newroz celebration was held at school. The Co-Chair of the Kurdish Community Center, Elif Sarıcan, who was invited to the celebration, talked to hundreds of students aged 5-7 about the history of Newroz.

Sarıcan told students that Newroz was born with the revolt of Kawa the Blacksmith against tyrant ruler Dehak. The Kurdish politician emphasized the importance of collective consciousness and comradeship in Dehak’s defeat.

Following the presentation, students asked questions such as “How was Dehak defeated?”, “Were the Kurds liberated?”, “What was the role of children in the resistance?” “Did the children have a will in this resistance?”

Sarıcan said that no matter how evil a dictator might be, when there is comradely unity, people can be stronger than tyrants. The woman politician explained the importance of Newroz in terms of the language and identity of the Kurdish people. She also touched upon the bans imposed on the Kurdish language.

After the presentation, music group Awazen Çiya sang Newroz songs, to which the pupils danced. There was also a cine-vision screening about the Kurds and Newroz.

A mini-exhibition consisting of pictures drawn by children about Newroz was displayed. Activities related to the Kurds and Newroz will continue to be held at the school for a week.

The school administration stated that they would continue to organize activities about the Kurds in every Newroz in the following years and added that their door would always remain open to the Kurdish Community Centre to organize events.

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