Eid is the Arabic word meaning Feast/Festival. There are two Eid’s in the Islamic Religion; Eid-Al-Fitr which marks the end of Ramadan (fasting), and Eid-Al-Adha.
Eid-Al-Adha (Festival of Sacrifice) is a celebration in which Muslims reflect and learn from how Prophet Ibrahim demonstrated his devotion, love, and obedience to God. The BGS community came together to host their very first Eid-Al-Adha themed celebration on Friday 8th July 2022. The Greens Kitchen team presented a wide variety of beautiful aromatic dishes inspired from different parts of the world, decorated the hall with Eid balloons and banners, and played Eid themed music. Everyone knew it was a festival, an Eid festival.
Students were excited to see the many different dishes, and were particularly excited to learn the art of making chapatis from our Catering Assistant Mrs Gaddu who provided brilliant chapati making demonstrations for the whole of the BGS community.
Miss Choudhury (Junior School Teaching Assistant): “It was amazing how BGS came together to make the festival of Eid-Al-Adha known and celebrated together. The Greens Kitchen team really went above and beyond providing dishes that were inspired from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Yemen, Middle East and many other countries. Many students approached me as I walked into the school lunch hall asking questions about the celebration: 'What is Eid' 'Why do you celebrate it' 'I want to know more'. This really opened up great discussions where children were able to learn about the differences and find similarities. A student who asked me about Eid-Al-Adha walked off with another student stating “I’ll explain to you now what Eid is'' and they both walked off talking about Eid-Al-Adha. Many students who have these dishes at home were also able to show their peers the strategies they use when eating chapatis without utensils. Many students found this very exciting as some students said “I showed my friends how to eat chapati using just my hands, I did not feel embarrassed, I felt proud”. Mango Lassi, Rainbow Rice and the live Chapati demonstration was the talk for the rest of the day. It is very important to celebrate different religious festivals the wider community represents, and I think BGS inclusive practice is very forward thinking.”
Mrs Tombs (Deputy Catering Manager): “The Greens Kitchen team loved making an Indian inspired banquet; after learning more about Eid-Al-Adha we wanted to create a menu that was varied and inclusive for the students to share. Creating many different flavours using traditional dishes from different regions, we really encouraged our students to try different things and also to try using their chapatis to pick up their food to eat. Using the skills of Mrs Gaddu (Catering Assistant) to make chapatis in the dining hall all the way through service was a real highlight and gave the students the opportunity to come up and talk and ask questions.”
Isabella Hoare (Year 4): “It was a really nice event, the decorations were beautiful, and there were lots of religious symbols around. The food really showed the culture. It made me feel like a part of the BGS community, and I felt like I learnt a lot about the meaning of Eid and why it happens. It made me feel like I began to know more of the Muslim culture. I learnt it was about giving charity, and once I learnt this information I then shared the knowledge with other students.”
Zaynah Ghafoor (Year 4): “I really liked the food, it was very tasty. I loved the samosas! And if this could be every year it will be a good thing. When I saw the decorations, I thought it all looked amazing. It is good to make people aware of different celebrations, and to celebrate with everyone in the BGS community.”
Sasha Wooldridge (Year 5): “I especially loved the rainbow rice with all the different vibrant colours, it made me feel happy. My personal favourite is Mango Lassi and when I saw they had that for pudding I was amazed. It was unique and a beautiful surprise, I didn’t expect it and I loved it. I learnt more about other cultures. I loved the banner decorations and I know how to say Eid greetings now - ‘Eid Mubarak’.”
Ayesha Bacon (Year 6): “It felt like a big Eid party. The food looked amazing and colourful, especially the rainbow rice.”
Juanita Efungbon (Year 6): “I liked the Eid lunch time, and I liked the multi-coloured rice and the samosas. It was the first proper Eid lunch we have ever had at BGS and I am really excited for the next one.”
