Read on for exciting events by the IPA team to promote greater understanding of IBPOC experiences and healthy relations through fun, intercultural and inter-generational activities! Watch for news of upcoming events on the VanU IPA webpage and we hope you’ll join us!
IPA stands for IBPOC Plus ALLIES while IBPOC stands for Indigenous, Black, and People of Colour. If you have any ideas that you’d like to see the IPA team organize or if you are interested in joining the IPA, please contact us at IPA@vanu.ca
Lunar New Year Community Dinner Celebration
We wish all who celebrate a Happy Lunar New Year and Year of the Snake!
On February 1, 2025 the VanU community shared in a Lunar New Year community dinner in Hewett Centre to celebrate the Year of the Snake as well as crafts, singing, and dancing. Great fun was had by all! Thank you to all for your contributions and participation in the food, singing, dancing and other activities!
2025 ushers in the year of the Wood Snake. Spring is the season associated with Wood, which makes 2025 (much like 2024’s Wood year) a time for renewal, change and rebirth. The Wood element brings its own unique flavour to the Snake’s influence. Since Wood encourages growth, expansion, and renewal, visualize a vine winding its way up a trellis, gaining strength with every twist. Snakes are considered to be very intelligent, thinking carefully and strategically. Snakes also shed their skin, symbolically representing letting go of the old and embracing transformation. It is a year to make responsible decisions to evolve spiritually, moving away from old ways and habits that no longer serve us or the earth.
IPA Service – January 26, 2025
Belonging was the theme for the IPA Team led service. The service explored how that is possible when one is straddling two cultures? Our three guest speakers, who are the offspring of immigrants, shared how as children, they were the bridge between their parents, who brought over their language, culture, hopes and dreams, and the new reality of life in Canada. Thank you so much to everyone who shared in this special service including participating in singing our chosen hymns in other languages and being seated in a semi-circle formation to encourage sharing and connection!