Arunachal: SCCZ Cultural Ambassadors tour for cultural exchange
The ‘Cultural Ambassadors’ is an initiative by SCCZ for which the college has MoUs with other institutions to facilitate cultural exchange.
ZIRO- As part of a cultural exchange initiative, students from Saint Claret College, Ziro (SCCZ), visited colleges in Goa and Karnataka as ‘Cultural Ambassadors’ from Arunachal Pradesh between 2nd and 18th January.
Through a series of input sessions, exhibition of cultural artefacts and display of information and photographs, and a cultural programme on the different tribes of Arunachal Pradesh, the group of thirty students accompanied by the college’s principal and a few faculty, interacted with students and faculty of five Colleges viz., Nirmala Institute of Education, Panaji, St. Agnes College (Autonomous), Mangaluru, St. Aloysius College (Autonomous), Mangaluru, Mount Carmel College (Autonomous), Bengaluru, and St. Claret College, Bengaluru.
The ‘Cultural Ambassadors’ is an initiative by SCCZ for which the college has MoUs with other institutions to facilitate cultural exchange. The MoUs were signed in September 2023 with specific clauses that provision for the colleges to visit each other with a troupe of students who will primarily showcase the culture of the state they represent.
SCCZ materialized the initiative by visiting the above institutions and portraying the rich culture and traditions of Arunachal Pradesh.
In every institution, they visited, the Cultural Ambassadors from SCCZ were accorded a warm reception and were applauded for their performances and efforts to depict Arunachal Pradesh through video presentations, discussions, dances, songs and folklores.
The SCCZ Cultural Ambassadors programme received much attention in local media and several social media platforms. The mesmerising beauty and diversity of Arunachal Pradesh as presented through the programmes so captivated the audiences that several people have promised to visit the state and experience the richness first-hand.
For the visiting troupe, the experience was a memorable one lined with opportunities; to interact with students and faculty from other institutions, to visit important places, to taste local cuisine, and most of all to be the first from SCCZ to embark upon the task to represent as Cultural Ambassadors.
During the seventeen days programme, the troupe visited several important landmarks and places of historical and cultural significance.
The most prominent places being, Bom Jesus Basilica and Se Cathedral in Goa, St. Mary’s Island in Udupi, Mysore Palace, Mysore Zoological Park, Brindavan Gardens, and St. Philomena’s Church in Mysore, Namdroling Monastery Golden Temple at Bylakuppe, Coorg, Chennakeshava and Hoysaleshwara temples (historical sites) in Belur and Halebidu, Vidhana Soudha (Legislative House) and Lalbagh in Bangalore.
The troupe’s visit to ISRO’s Master Control Facility in Hassan, Karnataka was awe-inspiring since the facility is of utmost importance in India’s Space Programme.
The Cultural Ambassadors Programme of Saint Claret College, Ziro, is an offshoot of one of its values, i.e., Cultural Tolerance, which the college envisages that every Claretine must imbibe and promote. One of the best means to achieve this would be through cultural exchanges.
SCCZ hopes that the Cultural Ambassadors Programme which is its innovation will one day grow to be one of its best practices and through this initiative, the goodness of Arunachal Pradesh would not only be depicted in other parts of India, but also all over the world.
