Multicultural Calendar for January

Multicultural Calendar - January 2008

Select a Month:

January 1:

New Year's Day

Haiti - On this day in 1804, Haitian slaves rebelled against French forces. Napoleon Bonaparte’s powerful army was defeated, and Haiti became a free country.

Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) - The most significant and elaborate event in Japan. Many visit shrines to pray for good health and fortune. Year 2665 begins.

St. Basil’s Day (Greece) - The Greeks call New Year's St. Basil’s Day. Traditionally, gifts are exchanged.

January 2:

Ancestry Day (Haiti) - Honors Haitian heroes.

January 4:

Shabbat - The Jewish Sabbath, or weekly day of rest and spiritual enrichment. It is observed the seventh day of the week from before sunset on Friday until nightfall on Saturday.

January 6:

Carnival Season begins (Christian) - An age-old festival observed in parts of Europe and the Americas, from the Christian observances of Epiphany to Ash Wednesday, is called Carnival and culminates in Mardi Gras.

Old Christmas Day (Armenia) - Celebrated in the Armenian Church, the oldest Christian national church (founded 301 CE).

Three Kings Day (Christian) - A day of celebration in many parts of Europe, Latin America and South America that is the traditional time of
gift giving and the culmination of the Christmas season.

January 7:

Christmas (eastern Orthodox, Ethiopian) - Celebrations take place in and outside of ancient churches. On the eve of this day there is prayer and chanting, and in the morning a colorful procession makes its way to a hilltop for mass. After the service the day is spent dancing, playing sports and feasting.

January 8:

Seijin no hi (Adult’s Day) - Honors the coming of age of those person who have turned 20 in the preceding year in Japan.

January 14:

Pongol (India) - A three-day Hindu rice harvest festival in South India is celebrated with a cultural evening of song and dance.

Kitchen God Celebration (China) - The custom is based on the traditional farewell ceremony for T’sao Wang, Prince of the Oven, before he leaves for his annual trip to heaven to report on families’ good behavior during the year.

Makar Sankrat (India) - A Hindu and South Indian winter solstice observation marking the beginning of the Pongal festival.

January 18:

Ashura (Islam) - The first day of the first month of the Islamic year 1425 CE commemorates the migration in 622 CE of Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina, where the first Islamic community was established. Muharram lasts for 10 days.

*Solnal (Korea) - This is the biggest event of the year. Fifteen days after Solnal on the first full moon day, Koreans eat a five-grain meal and pray for a bountiful harvest. (Jan. 18-20)

Jean Ibañez Payne
is an Hourly Desk Coordinator
in Richmond, Va.
(Click image to enlarge)

Spotlight: Jean Ibañez Payne, Colombia

Jean Ibañez Payne lives in Virginia, but a large part of her heart, and much of her family, lives in Colombia. A Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, native of Colombian parents, Payne visits her mother, father, brothers and extended family, in Monteria, Colombia, three to four times a year.

"My father worked at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant in Pennsylvania when I was born," says Payne, an Hourly Desk Coordinator for Dominion Energy Marketing, Tredegar Street.

"After he worked and saved enough to start his ranch and cattle business in Colombia, our family moved back to Colombia when I was 2 years-old."

Payne lived in Colombia with her family for 15 years until she decided to return to the United States to complete high school and college while her family remained in Colombia. After completing high school, Payne enlisted in the U.S. Navy for four-and-a-half years. While in the Navy, Payne earned her bachelor's degree in criminal justice and master's degree in business administration.

"After the Navy, I got married and decided that United States was where I wanted to live," Payne says. "My entire family resides in Colombia and I visit them every three to six months."

"In Colombia, family ties, values and relationships are extremely important to each member of our family and considered the number one priority and work secondary," Payne says. "Children often live with their parents and are expected to follow the house rules until they marry, and even after they marry, they rarely move far away from their parents."

New Year's Day is a major holiday for Colombian families, Payne points out. One of the most popular New Year traditions in Colombia is to prepare an effigy of a person that will represent the old year, or Año Nuevo. The figure is made from bits of old clothing and stuffed with straw and fireworks.

On New Year's Eve, each family member writes on a piece of paper a fault or a bit of bad luck one has faced in the old year. As Año Nuevo is set on fire at the stroke of midnight, families read aloud their lists of faults and bad luck. In this way, it is believed they drive off the bad things of the old year and embrace the New Year in a fresh manner.

“Religion is a very important aspect of our culture and family members are expected to attend church early each Sunday and practice their faith,” Payne says.

Colombia has 17 public holidays. Two of the most significant holidays are Independence Day on July 20th celebrating Colombia’s declaration of independence in 1810. On August 7, Colombians celebrate the Battle of Boyaca in 1819 remembering Colombia’s final defeat of Spanish forces and winning its definitive independence from Spain.

One of the most traditional dishes in the inner part of the country is sancocho de gallina, a soup composed mostly of chicken, plantains, corn, coriander, yucca root and other seasonings. Other Colombian favorites are coconut rice, fried fish and fried plantains. •

January 20:

*Day of Hajj (Islamic) - Muslims perform the annual spiritual pilgrimage to Mecca. About 4 million Muslims from more than 70 nations make this journey each year.

Hijra (Islamic) - Celebrates the emigration of Muhammad and his followers to the city of Medina in 622, and marks the start of the Hijri year of the Islamic calendar.

January 21:

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (USA) - Across the country, schools and offices close to celebrate the life, death and legacy of one of the most influential civil rights leaders of our time.

Errol Barrow Day (Barbados) - Honors the birth date of independence leader Errol Barrow, who led Barbados to freedom from Britain.

January 26:

Australia Day - Commemorating the first white settlement in Australia in 1788.

January 30:

Greek Day of Education - It is the anniversary for St. of Three Hierarchs Day, St. Basil (Greece) and St. Gregory the Great.

January-February: Iroquois Midwinter - Lasts for eight days and each day is dedicated to an event, ceremony (aboriginal), i.e., Tobacco Invocation. Days vary according to community.

January-February: Hopi Holy Cycle - Buffalo dances are performed in Hopi reserves. Days vary (aboriginal), according to community.

[*Date of observance may vary according to sighting of the new moon.]

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