This past weekend's Sharing Our World event in Portage la Prairie was an opportunity for different nations to share bread with one another and really get to know each other better.

That is something that is not often experienced in the day-to-day activities of everyday life.

While cultural diversity is celebrated in Canada on most days, people of different nationalities do not have the chance to enlighten their friends and colleagues about the various facets of their culture that make them unique.

The Sharing Our World festival let Portage's different nationalities put away their shyness for the day and let the spotlight shine on them.

People who took part in the event were able to offer a display of their country's different traditions, including their unique foods and style of dress.

When many newcomers arrive in Canada each day, they might believe that fitting in is the best motto. But it is still important for them, no matter how long they have been in Canada, to respect their roots, and feel free to share some of the beauty of their culture so

everyone can appreciate it.

The Sharing Our World event provided an opportunity for visitors to literally taste some of their neighbour's culture by sampling the foods from the different countries that were represented.

What better way to spice up one's life than by tasting some of the home cooking one's neighbour has to offer?

The magic Portage enjoys by having so much cultural diversity here is that it allows us to learn more about what exists beyond this relatively small community.

It would be a wonderful world if people were able to wake up and speak a different language, eat a new kind of food, as a way to be able to better understand and appreciate their neighbours.

While this is not always possible, the closest they can do is to step outside of the box and strike up a new friendship with someone who can offer them a novel way of approaching life.

It is wonderful that Sharing Our World can offer people this unique opportunity.

- Angela Brown is Editor of Central Plains

Herald-Leader