What do young people know about their own and other people’s cultural backgrounds? What do they want to know? The RCH Education Insitute worked with adolescent patients to produce a book about culture and traditions.

Publishing projects are undertaken regularly with RCH patients to give children and young people the opportunity to develop literacy skills through sharing their own stories and engaging with books.

The latest project – the Cultural Diversity Publishing Project – focused on diversity, but according to Executive Director of the Education Institute Glenda Strong, it also highlighted some interesting cultural connections for patients.

“When young people at the RCH set out to discover more about the different cultures around them, they found not only differences but common threads that together weave the fabric of what it is to be Australian,” Glenda said.

After the research phase, teachers from the Education Institute worked with adolescent patients on the Kelpie Ward (adolescent care) to produce a book about culture and traditions. Visiting artist Nikita Burt from Kids’ Own Publishing led workshops with students at the RCH to produce ink illustrations before eventually designing and publishing the book.

The finished product, a beautiful booked named Cultural Diversity at The Royal Children’s Hospital, was launched during Cultural Diversity Week celebrations at the hospital.

The book shares the stories of young people’s cultural experiences and family rituals, and includes delightful illustrations with brushes that capture their thoughts and reflections on cultural diversity. Contributing authors and illustrators were given copies of the published book to take home and share with family and school.

Glenda said the book was an example of the innovative learning program offered by the Education Institute for children and young people at the RCH.

“Our learning projects are guided by children’s individual passions.  It was clear in this project that the students particularly enjoyed learning about the many different foods, celebrations, and languages that can be found in homes around Australia,” she said.

Cultural Diversity at The Royal Children’s Hospital continues to be enjoyed by children and young people at the RCH in learning sessions with RCH teachers and in patient activity rooms throughout the hospital.

The book is also available for purchase in the RCH Shop ($9.95) and was made possible by the generous support of the Kimberley Foundation.

Excerpts from the book

My stepfather is from Guyana, Brazil. The people in Brazil are always happy. – Adryana, 16 years

My family celebrates Ramadan. They fast the whole day and at 5.00pm we cook and then eat. We do that every day for 26 days and we celebrate Ramadan every year.
– Sarah, 10 years

It’s a great honour to be an Australian because we don’t have to deal with poverty or famine, and also we don’t have to deal with wars on our own soil. – Aaron, 17 years

Mum is from Egypt, my sister is from Egypt, my cousins are from Egypt – let’s just say my whole family is from Egypt. But dad is from Sudan. I came here for better education.
– Danial, 10 years

My background is Macedonian. For Christmas we have a special bread that has a hidden coin in it. The bread has to be cut up evenly between the number of people in the house. We call family members by their Macedonian title. Grandma and Grandpa are called Baba and Dedo. – Nicola, 13 years

This story was produced for the RCH Quality of Care Report 2012-13. Click here to view the full report.