It’s our goal at MAVOC to first and foremost help the students on our campus become more aware and be more accepting of the diversity that surrounds them on campus. We also want to help the students who don't feel like they have a place on campus really have a place to belong and be apart of an organization that can make a difference. Our motto is "Simunye" [sim-u-nae] which is a South African phrase meaning "We Are One."

We feel that if the students on our campus are exposed to the different cultures and traditions that are around them they will be more accepting of them. We do this by holding bi-weekly meetings where our members can explore different cultures by trying new food, learning about that cultures traditions and participating in activities that help them understand the culture. We have the members themselves and special guests present these cultures. We also hold events on campus that involves the rest of our student body who may not necessarily be a member of our club and give them an opportunity to explore different cultures as well. The last event we held on campus was called UNITY WEEK. During this week we had different activities during each lunch that were fun and culturally educational. We had cultural dance performances, an International Snack Bar, Cultural Information table, a Raffle, Game Day and Authentic/Professional Henna Tattoos available. We posted flags of the world around and did what we could to embrace the diversity on our campus. It was a great success!

I created this organization from scratch this past summer. Although this is not the first attempt at our school to a Multicultural Club this is the fist time it has been successful. I had to come up with a purpose and mission statement for our club. I had to find individuals who I believed would be beneficial and make things happen for our club. We had to find an advisor and go through a process to get the school to approve our club. Once me and my partner created a foundation and got the club approved we had to advertise to the students in our school to form an actual club. Once we had members signed up and our first meeting out of the way, we began (as a club) brainstorming, discussing, planning and carrying out ways to help our school embrace its diversity.

Students at our school can help by being more accepting of people that they do not understand. The more we know about someone the more accepting we will be of them and their ways. Also, they can share ideas and help figure out ways to spread unity and awareness to the students on campus. Individuals outside of our school can help by sponsoring our club, making donations and/or resources to fund upcoming projects.