Cuban Holiday Traditions

Gambia: The 2011 Taiwan-Gambia Youth Exchange Programme

Before 1994, they were apart, just in the mid 1994 they were friends and today they are two brothers sharing common interests. I am referring to the unshaken relationship between The Gambia and the Asian island republic of China (Taiwan). Since 1995, Gambia has established diplomatic relations with several countries like Taiwan and Cuba. These ties are exhibited more in development areas such as education, agricultural, health and host of others.

Gambia's relationship with Taiwan has now taken new directions with the two countries bridging gaps and creating cooperation among their youths. This is indeed a worthy attempt that amply demonstrates the cordial ties between the two countries. It started last year when a group of young people came to The Gambia to integrate and make friends with Gambian youths through learning each others culture.

The programme which is dubbed: "Youth Ambassadors Cultural Programme" seeks to nurture friendship between the young peoples of The Gambia and Taiwan through culture. Last year's delegation successfully strengthened mutual understanding and friendship between youths of the two countries. This year eight youths and one professor from the Taiwan National University of Technology attended the two-week extensive cultural learning programme, which ended last Friday at the Baobab Holiday Resort in Bijilo. The visiting Taiwanese youth were passionately grateful about the programme.

The feature of the camp was combination of cultural activities including Taiwanese customs, Chinese Kong Fu, ice breaking and the misery of physics - Water Rocket; and lots of Gambian culture and traditions. It was a wonderful and memorable experience, and the two cultures together have demonstrated the unlimited possibility to actualize the global village's vision of love, care, and friendship without boundaries. It was a sad moment for all the participants on the final day of the camp; people were dropping tears.

The youth exchange programme is organized by Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The International Youth Ambassador Programme aims at strengthening Taiwan's bilateral relations with allies. The programme enables students to befriend peoples from different parts of the world and showcase the culture of Taiwan. The 2011 International Youth Ambassador Programme attracted 107 proposals, out of which 37 were selected. This is the second consecutive year for NDHU to participate in the International Youth Ambassador Programme.

Cuban Christmas - Cuban Christmas recipes - Cuban Holiday Traditions

Cuban Christmas, Cuba is a country that is known for harsh government rule, virtually all parts of life are controlled by the government.
This combination has directly affected holidays and ceremonies as well.
One holiday is technically a new celebration for the island country. Officially, Cuban people have only been allowed to celebrate Christmas for the past three years.

There is another heavy influence on the holiday as well. In keeping with almost any other event there, Christmas traditions are strongly influenced by the Latin heritage of the people who live on the island. The History of the Cuban Holiday From 1969 until 2007, the holiday of Christmas was banned from the country. This was a rule set forth by Fidel Castro and held ground for more than three decades.
However, prior to 1969, the celebration of Christmas in Cuba was an elaborate event.
In fact, it lasted much longer than the traditional Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Mingling a combination of Latin music and culture , the celebration of Christmas prior to the reign of Castro involved a two-week long festivity. On December 24, Christmas Eve, it was tradition to begin celebration with an extravagant feast . Whole families, and sometimes, whole neighborhoods, would gather together for the Christmas feast, and the celebration would last throughout the day. The festivities would be highlighted with boisterous Latin style rhythms, usually referred to as Danzon Music . On Christmas Day, the festivity would continue, but activities would switch from dining and bright music, to a religious ceremony. A traditional procession of friends and family would gather to put a model of the newborn Christ in a manger. The rest of the day would involve celebration with family.

Finally, a few weeks after December 25, the end of the Christmas celebration would come in the form of another symbolic Cuban ritual. On January 6, Children in Cuba would be given three gifts to represent the three gifts of the Magi.

A Cuban Christmas Dinner
Christmas Recipes As with every other part of the Cuban holiday, the Christmas food in Cuba is based on the Latin heritage of the island and its people.
Christmas recipes are quite different from what people in the United States may consider traditional Christmas food, but for the people of this island, these foods are truly the tradition.

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