Tag

international

Browsing

Christmas is the most celebrated holiday of the year, but every country does it differently. Here’s a quick insight into the weird and wonderful Christmas traditions from around the globe.

According to the encyclopaedia Britannica, December 25th (‘mass on Christ’s day) was first recognised as the birth of Jesus in the year 221, but only began to be celebrated widely in the 9th century. Now it is one of the most popular holidays with over 2 billion people considering it to be the most important holiday of the year.

A typical Australian Christmas is hot, with BBQ’s and Carols by Candlelight a staple. Most Australians and Americans open gifts on Christmas day, whereas most places in Europe share presents on Christmas Eve. Here’s a look into other countries around the world and the quirky ways they celebrate Christmas.

Japan – Fried chicken

Japan is less than one percent Christian, but one tradition that has stuck is eating KFC or other fried chicken on Christmas, with more than 4 million people tucking into the finger lickin’ food on this day each year. This unusual tradition began after a successful marketing campaign by KFC in 1974 called Kurisumasi ni wa kentakkii! (Kentucky for Christmas!).

family and chicken

Ukraine – Spiderwebs on Christmas trees

In Ukraine, families decorate their Christmas tree with spiderwebs as a sign of good luck. It is based on old folklore about a family who couldn’t afford ornaments and decorations for their tree, and spiderwebs became a symbol of good fortune on Christmas. It is also tradition to have 12 course feasts, one for every apostle!

Slovakia – Carp catching

In one of the most interesting Christmas traditions, Slovakians catch carp and keep them in a bathtub of freshwater swimming until Christmas Eve and eaten for their dinner feast. The significance of the Carp is in its scales. They are said to bring good luck and fortune into the new year.

Iceland – 13 Yule Lads

Instead of Santa, Icelandic children are visited by the 13 Yule Lads in the 13 nights leading up to Christmas. Children leave their shoes by a window and the Yule trolls leave gifts and sweets for nice boys and girls and rotten potatoes for the misbehaved!

homemade advent calendar

Sweden – Saint Lucia and the giant goat

In Sweden the Christmas celebrations begin on December 13, marked by Saint Lucia’s Day and a festival to celebrate light. In the night parade, one girl is selected as ‘Lucia’, the Christian saint, and leads a procession of people wearing white robes and carrying candles above their head along with star-headed wands.

In the Swedish city of Gävle, a 13-metre-high straw goat is put up in the city centre to mark the start of Advent. The first Yule Goat was erected in 1966 and burnt down on New Year’s Eve. The tradition has lasted but is a big target for vandals, the most recent goat to be incinerated was the 2016 mascot.

Norway – Hiding brooms

The legend in Norway is that witches will arrive on Christmas Eve. Norwegians hide their brooms in the safest room in their house on this night in the hopes of fending off evil and dark spirits the witches might bring.

lights and people

Venezuela – Rollerblading Santas

In Caracas, the capital city of Venezuela, the streets are closed on Christmas morning so that citizens can roller skate to church services. They are guided along by fireworks and skaters dressed up as Santas and other Christmas related costumes!

Spain – Caga Tió

In the Spanish region of Catalonia, the Caga Tió (Pooping log) or Tió de Nadal (Christmas Log) arrives in early December to mark the Christmas season. This large log is decorated with Christmas hats and facial features and as far as the name goes, it ‘poops’ out presents when children hit it with a stick, singing the traditional Caga Tió song!

christmas lights woman in beanie

World Immunisation Week which began on Friday 24th April and concludes Thursday 30th April, showcases the growing importance of awareness and the effective ways to keep children safe from preventable disease.

UNICEF Australia, the humanitarian fund organisation that champions children’s health and wellbeing, along with the Department of Health have urged parents to not forget about their child’s immunisation programs during this time of crisis.Though Australia has a generally high level of immunised children, experts note it is essential that we do not fall behind in vaccination upkeep.

24 countries around the globe including Brazil, Mexico and Ukraine have paused child vaccination programs in the wake of COVID 19, leaving over 117 million children susceptible to deadly and preventable diseases such as measles, tetanus and rubella.

Despite Australia not being one of these countries, we still have a low level of children who are fully immunised at the age of two years old.

Felicity Wever, Director of International Programs at UNICEF Australia says any decline in immunisation rates, particularly for this age group, would be cause for concern.  We should be making sure children are not missing out for good, putting them at unnecessary risk of preventable disease.

“The government sets out the immunisation schedule for children, but some children may be missing out on immunisation due to social distancing or fear of COVID-19.

“Immunisations are an essential part of regular health checks, so we’re urging parents to continue to make those appointments during this time.

Felicity Wever, Director of International Programs at UNICEF Australia

“UNICEF is also ensuring there is a continuity of ongoing health services for children in the wider Asia Pacific region, including immunisations, even in the midst of this pandemic.,” says Ms Wever.

Similar trends of immunisation postponement are developing in Asia Pacific regions including Vietnam and the Philippines, which is particularly dangerous as experienced during a recent secondary outbreak of  measles in Samoa,.

Due to postponement of supplementary programs, pockets of children are left un-immunised and vulnerable. In such vulnerable countries wherein health systems are often of lower standard, prevention is truly the best treatment and these childhood diseases combined with coronavirus result in communities fighting against a multi-pronged enemy.

“It’s not that long ago I that we saw a measles outbreak in Samoa. 70 lives lost and 61 children under five years old died as a result of that.” says Ms Wever.

“Outbreaks are  a very real risk when you have declined coverage of immunisation.”

“Having worked with UNICEF for a number of years now in places where it is such a precious gift for parents to be able to immunise their children because they have much higher rates of mortality under five years old;  it’s a luxury in countries with very high levels of coverage like Australia for parents to be able to make their own choices.”

Dr. Katherine O’Brien, Director of the Immunisation, Vaccines and Biologicals Programme at the World Health Organisation implores people to continue vaccinations wherever possible.

“WHO is working constantly with partners and scientists to accelerate vaccine development for COVID-19, but we must also ensure people are protected against those diseases for which vaccines already exist,” says Dr. O’Brien.

“The message from this guidance is clear. Countries should take what steps they can to sustain immunisation programmes and prevent unnecessary loss of life.”

World Immunisation Week is primarily about raising awareness. Children still die of completely preventable diseases, a fact that should not be the case in 2020, especially when first-hand evidence of the lethality unchecked disease results in can be seen globally.

Parents have the right and duty to protect their children. Many deadly childhood diseases have been all but eradicated, the number steadily declining.

This can only continue if awareness increases, everyone contributes and does their part to support childhood health via immunisation.