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With winter now in full swing and the spring solstice still months away, students at MSU might be hard pressed to find beauty in the cold hands of a February in Minnesota: but sometimes beauty -and culture - can be found in the most unlikely of places.
The YWCA's Walking in Two Worlds program will be holding their second annual "International Festival of Fashion" this Monday, an opportunity for people from all cultural backgrounds to get together and celebrate their diversity through fashion and food.
The Walking in Two Worlds program, first piloted in 2006 at the YWCA, is an organization of volunteers dedicated to helping young immigrant and refugee women in the Mankato community through education and community collaboration.
"Our main goal is to help these women and their children connect to the community," said Edell Fiedler, Director of the WTW. "A lot of these women came from war-ravaged countries, most of them not English-speaking. We help them with transportation and one-on-one education, but what we're really trying to do is help them connect with people in the [Mankato] community."
The WTW has assisted more than 350 immigrant or refugee women and their children during the past four years and is entrenched in cultural diversity, with nearly ten nationalities -including Somalis, Sudanese, Ethiopians, and Venezuelans - involved in the program.
"[Fighting] language barriers is one of our biggest challenges," said Fiedler. "A lot of the people we help are educated - many of them with university degrees-but still need help with [English] for finding jobs, or with meeting requirements so their degrees are accepted in the [U.S.]."
Fiedler says many of the volunteers who help with the WTW program were once assisted by it, and use their own experiences when they help newly-American immigrants and refugees. Among those problems assisted by the volunteers include transportation and language education, but most importantly, says Fiedler, they help their members feel at home in their new community.
"Without our volunteers the program wouldn't be what it is," said Fiedler. "Most of them are a part of the Lincoln Community Center [in Mankato], and they help tremendously in making these women a part of the community. We have about ten regular volunteers working for us right now, but we're always looking for help, especially during events."
The WTW holds several regular events, including the annual International Festival of Fashion that will be taking place on Monday. A monthly "Colorful Dialogue" meeting is also a regular occurrence, where notable figures in the Mankato community come to speak with members of the WTW about their concerns or for educational benefit. January's Colorful Dialogue, the first of the year, included talks by Mayor John Brady and MSU President Richard Davenport.
Monday's IFF, which is taking place at the Red Sky Lounge in downtown Mankato, will feature models from cultures around the world.
"We have over fifty signed up to model for us," said Fiedler. "The [IFF] will run through like an actual fashion show. It will give people a chance to connect with other cultures in the community and learn a little about each as well."
Monday's IFF will also include a menu of five different appetizers from various cultures in the Mankato community, giving attendees a chance to stimulate their gustatory interest in cultures as well as their clothing. Fiedler says that as each model walks down the aisle, cultural and geographic information about the country they originate from as well as the intended purpose of their outfits will be explained.
"Our main goal with the [IFF] is to make people aware of how rich Mankato is in diversity," said Fiedler. "It also helps create connections in the community, which is a huge part of the WTW. What better way than through fashion and food?"
Each of the models walking on Monday afternoon will bring their own clothes, something that makes each of the outfits more unique to the cultures being represented.
"Last year's was a pretty good time," said Laura Stern, a senior at MSU. "I guess I just love different clothing, so it was fun to see so many different kinds from these cultures I'd never even heard of. A lot of the women were just beautiful in the stuff they wore. The guys looked good, too."
Those looking to attend Monday's International Festival of Fashion should buy tickets soon, however, as last year's became a sellout quickly.
"I tried to buy tickets at the door last year," said Aamani Pratiman, a sophomore and 2006 immigrant from India at MSU. "They sold out fast, though. I ended up watching a few of the models from outside but didn't get to see as much as I wanted. I knew one of the models so I wasn't happy I missed her."
Monday's International Festival of Fashion will take place at the Red Sky Lounge from 1 p.m. - 3 p.m. Tickets are $25 for YWCA members and $35 for non-members, which include five ethnic appetizers that attendees will be treated to during the show. Contact MSU's International Student Association or the YWCA for more information about tickets.
Matt Sauer is a Reporter staff writer
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