THE Hamilton Area Rural Australians for Refugees (HARAR) hosted a Community Cultural Celebration at the Hamilton Uniting Church on Sunday that tackled international issues and aimed to bridge the gap between cultures.

The free event was well received by members of the community who attended to listen to the guest speakers, enjoy the various musical performances, and share a plate of food reflecting their culture.

HARAR president, Peter Cook OAM, said the group were “trying to work towards a greater understanding of people from different countries and different cultures”, with this event providing the perfect opportunity for people to get to know each other.

“Face to face is a really beautiful way for people to begin that understanding and that was one of the things that was really positive about the event,” he said.

Over the course of two hours, the public heard performances from the Kaza Mwendo Choir from Adelaide, Norwegian musician Anne-Kristin Christie, and Uncle Johnny Lovett who shared a song he wrote about Gunditjmara country.

Mr Cook said the performances were “excellent” and the guest speaker - Afghan refugee Abdul Rasuli, who came to Australia by boat as an unaccompanied minor - was very moving.

“His story was well worth hearing,” he said.

“Anyone would be proud to have him as a member of their family given what he’s had to go through and where he’s got to now.

“He will soon complete a degree at Federation University and he’s also a key link between the Ballarat Afghan Action group and people back in Afghanistan.

“He’s got a brother there and that’s been very helpful for them to get assistance.”

Mr Rasuli also spoke about his humanitarian work as a prime mover in the Ballarat Afghan Action Group, which continues to advise on what is needed in Afghanistan and the safest and most secure way to get items there.

So far, this group has delivered five projects over recent months - four enabling the provision of emergency food, and one that supports teachers in a remote mountain valley which is snowed in for the winter.

Mr Cook said a welcome addition to the event was a bunch of sunflowers donated by the Whyte family for anyone to take if they wanted to.

“All the African kids wanted one,” he said.

“There was lots of nice little things about that event and in the endeavour of what we were up to that’s all part of appreciating another culture.

“I was really pleased with the commitment of the group to the causes, the HARAR is a vibrant group and they’re doing some really great things.”

The Community Cultural Celebration was facilitated by the Southern Grampians Shire Council’s Smarty Grants and Mr Cook extended his thanks to the Hamilton Uniting Church for allowing use of the premises.