Let’s Celebrate Cultural Diversity Week!

The Department of Pathology has a very culturally diverse population made up of people from every part of the globe. The Department is multiracial and multicultural, and our commonality is that we’re all people with valuable skills and knowledge. Cultural awareness is achieved when all employees in a company can appreciate the benefits of cultural diversity. The numerous benefits of cultural diversity stem from the fact that people from different cultures bring different perspectives to the table, introducing new ideas, perspectives and personalities into strategic planning processes and workplace activities in general. A culturally diverse and aware workforce can create a company culture of mutual respect and dignity.

The Pathology Staff Diversity Committee is now in its fifth year, and we continue our mission to promote the values of diversity to each employee within the Department of Pathology at JHMI and to facilitate commitments to these values in our interactions with individuals and within groups. Through planned initiatives, we intend to build awareness of the importance of recognizing how understanding similarities and difference among individuals and groups will allow each of us to establish common ground for future development of our personal and professional relationships. Education and concern based on respect between individuals and between various groups is an essential element in the creation of satisfying and productive relationships. Please open the link below to see who we are: http://pathology.jhu.edu/department/about/diversity/index.cfm

Cultural Diversity Week — October 24-28, 2011 — is a way in which we promote and celebrate the value of diversity among staff within the Department of Pathology at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. Our Cultural Diversity Week begins on United Nations Day, Monday, October 24. United Nations Day is an occasion to highlight, celebrate and reflect on the work of the United Nations and its family of specialized agencies. These agencies include the World Health Organization (WHO); the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF); International Labour Organization (ILO); United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); and United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

Here are some other interesting holidays and observances in the month of October:
• October 15, 2011 – International Day of Rural Women
• October 16, 2011 – World Food Day
• October 17, 2011 – International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
• October 20, 2011 – World Statistics Day
• October 24, 2011 – U.N. Day and World Development Information Day
• October 27, 2011 – World Day for Audiovisual Heritage

Celebrating the diversity in our department allows us to feel that our values, beliefs and experiences are fully appreciated. A Senegalese poet, Baba Dioum, once said, “In the end we will conserve only what we love. We love only what we understand and we will understand only what we are taught.” We must learn about other cultures in order to understand, in order to love, and in order to preserve our common world heritage.

Latonya Anderson, Histology Technician, on behalf of the
Pathology Staff Cultural Diversity Committee