Fiesta Fun Harding Latin American students host a cultural showcase. Latin Fest was an annual celebration that provided Harding and its surrounding communities with the opportunity to experience the rich heritage and colorful culture of students from Central America and Mexico. Hosted by Harding’s Latin American international students, this once-a-year event benefitted schools in Guatemala and Honduras through the service project of Smiles4Christ and the non-profit organization Educating For Life. In addition to benefiting educational institutions internationally, this event provided students with a chance to experience cultures they may have never experienced and provided a platform for Latin American students to be represented and celebrated. The McInteer Rotunda was decorated with festive flags and colorful booths representing each country and hosted cultural dances and songs. The booths showcased food, drinks, candies and educational information about each culture, all represented by students who called each of the respective countries home. One of the organizers for the event, senior Ana Melo from Panama reflected on how Latin Fest connected with the mission of Harding University. “I think Latin Fest goes along with the Christian perspective of loving each other and making room for everybody,” Melo said. “It just makes sense to me that there’s an activity like this one here at Harding where we can all be together, celebrate together and celebrate each other’s differences, but also embrace our similarities as people who are all part of the kingdom.” Melo expressed what this event meant to her as an international student. “I think Latin Fest is very special,” Melo said. “Latin Fest is such a good opportunity for us to showcase our culture and our roots and be proud of it. As international students, we are very happy to be here and share with everybody who we are, what we do and how we are.” MEXICO FEST At the booth dedicated to Mexico, students fellowship on Oct. 24. The mexican students shared food at their booth as well as detailed graphics. Photo by Abigail Callicoat 260 Organizations Senior Mirna “Yesenia” Callejas Mendez from El Salvador helped prepare for her country’s booth for the event. She explained how both the Latin American and non-Latin American students gained something from this event. “This event makes me feel really welcome and loved in the Harding community because it’s a place where we can embrace our culture,” Mendez explained. “One thing that I feel like students can take away is that they can experience the represented countries without being there. They can get to know about our cultures and about us as students.” Senior Oscar Aldana from Guatemala also reflected on his part in Latin Fest. “Latin Fest is such a wonderful opportunity for us students from Mexico and Central American countries to showcase the wonders that each country has,” Aldana said. “My favorite part of Latin Fest is when each country performs its dances, as through the dances you can see the amount of work that they have put into it. In Our Guatemalan booth, we offered Guatemalan chips called ‘Tortix,’ as well as Guatemalan coffee and chocolates.” No matter the background of a student, faculty member or Searcian, Latin Fest filled everyone involved with love, joy and delicious foods from different cultures. Written by Alaina Wolf
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