Sacred Connections in July was hosted by the Cape Town Unitarians. We welcomed Himalayan Buddhist teacher, Lama Ngawang Tsultrim Rinpoche from Nepal for his first visit to South Africa. Rinpoche gave a talk titled, “Cutting our own ego and dualism, an introduction to Himalayan Buddhism.” This was followed by a Chod practice demonstration by local Chod practitioner Nadia Thorn.
During this holy month of Ramadan, we have witnessed the love and hospitality of the Muslim community across Cape Town, who have opened their doors and dinner tables to host non-muslim friends for Iftar, the evening meal that breaks the day’s fast. These dinners have been opportunities for connecting, sharing and learning about our different traditions, and particularly the significance of Ramadan.
As Stuart Diamond, Director of the Cape SA Jewish Board of Deputies and CTII Board Member said, speaking at the Turquoise Harmony Institute’s annual Friendship and Dialogue Iftar on the 28th May,
“When we share bread and break bread, and we start to speak as people, over something as simple as food, we break down the boundaries and the walls that keep us apart”
Here we have a collection of photographs from various Interfaith Iftar meals hosted during this holy month.
The unexpected blessing of winning the 2019 HM King Abdullah II prize for our work during the UN World Interfaith Harmony Week will help us to amplify the message of Interfaith Harmony in the world and will give us a platform for meaningful partnership on so many levels with those who work equally hard for the common purpose of peace on Earth.
Our Chairperson, Berry Behr, and the founder of Faith Hope Love Communities of Elsie’s River, James Ellman, travelled to Jordan to accept the prize. James is also a founding member of Cape Town Interfaith Initiative and is a current member of our Advisory Council.
Prayers for the City was started by Cape Town Interfaith Initiative some years ago, and in 2015 was anchored on the first Sunday in February by then Chairman Rev Gordon Oliver, in order to bring it into line with World Interfaith Harmony Week.
This year, instead of holding the Prayers in the City Centre we decided at the invitation of Faith Hope Love Communities to take the Prayers to the people. We chose a site in Elsie’s River that had been recently reclaimed by the community after it had become a crime hotspot. We walked from the Mosque to the site, symbolically supporting the people of Elsie’s River in their bid to take back their streets, and to bless the land that had been reclaimed. It was a humble event, held under a cloudy Cape Town sky, and we never for a moment expected it to receive such wonderful international attention.
The trip to Jordan was extraordinary.
For both Berry and James, spending Holy Week in the Holy Land was beyond anything we could have imagined. Every person we met was a gift, every new day was an anointing. There were so many moments of pure reverence, such as standing at the Citadel on top of one of Amman’s seven hills, listening to the call to prayer reverberate around the city. We felt as if we could almost touch the collective prayers rising up from the city of Amman, to heaven. How appropriate, seeing as the event that won us the prize was entitled Love of the neighbour – Our Prayers for our city. We visited the sacred site of the Baptism of Jesus, and the cave in which John the Baptist lived… We went to Petra, the legendary city carved into the pink sandstone rock and home to a series of powerful civilisations in its 3000 year history.
And then, of course, we went to the Palace. His Majesty was a warm and gracious host, encouraging us to continue our work and to keep talking about the message of interfaith harmony and its importance in the world today.
We returned home inspired, motivated and determined to redouble our efforts. Our earnest prayer is that we will be able to use our voice and our prize to create a sustainable platform for our own continued interfaith mission, and also that we will be able to encourage the many, many other grassroots organisations in our region to keep up their amazing, heart-centred work.
Elsie’s River Man wins royal peace prize – Cape Argus, 7 May 2019
Winners’ Speech at World Interfaith Harmony Prize Giving Ceremony
The CTII Annual General Meeting was held on the 15th May 2019,at the Cape Town Unitarian Church in Cape Town. To open the occasion, interfaith prayers were shared by different members of the community. This was followed by a special presentation from Berry and James about their experience in Jordan, where they represented CTII and Faith Hope Love Communities to receive the first prize for World Interfaith Harmony Week, from the King of Jordan himself. (Read more about this experience here)
Berry Behr then presented the Chairperson’s Report, followed by the Financial Report, presented by CTII Treasurer Mark Bind. Read the Chairperson’s Report here – Chairperson’s Report 2018-2019 (Final Version)
We were also blessed with a musical performance by Nic, Anne and Ruby Paton, in collaboration with Nur Felix.
We closed the evening with a sacred water ceremony, merging together water from the River Jordan, which Berry and James had brought back from their World Interfaith Harmony Week Prize ceremony, with water from Zeekoevlei, one of Cape Town’s nature reserves. Members of the CTII community were invited up to connect these two bodies of water both physically and spiritually, marking the significant connection of building peace across the world.
We are very pleased to announce our new Executive Board members for the year. Berry Behr, Sarah Oliver and Kirtanya Lutchminarayan, who have all already served one year on the Board, will be joined by Uzair Ben Ebrahim and Stuart Diamond. Photographed below, from left to right, is Sarah, Berry, Kirtanya and Uzair.
In Collaboration with Novalis Ubuntu Institute, The Gatehouse Community and URI, we co-hosted a highly successful Interfaith Indaba from 26-28 April.
The three day bonanza started with a workshop at which David Karchere, Spiritual Director of Emissaries of Divine Light, shared some of the teachings expressed in his recently published book, Becoming a Sun. The morning session was followed by an Intergenerational workshop facilitated by Sarah Oliver and Uzair Ben Ebrahim, during which we engaged with learners from New Eisleben School in Crossroads received insights into how young people experience the concept of Freedom. We looked at how perceptions and ideas have changed over the years since the euphoria and hopes of 1994.
Our Freedom Day Bus Tour took our intergenerational group to Tana Baru, the Slave Lodge, Groote Kerk and finally, to the Planetarium where we watched an amazing presentation on the role of the Sun in caring for our planet.
The Interfaith Indaba concluded on Sunday 28 April with Sacred Connections. Novalis Ubuntu hosted it this time and between Anne-Lise Bure and Howard Goodman an enriching programme was presented. We were treated to a Hawaian dance, Khoi San poetry, drumming and musical gifting from Nic Paton and friends. Berry Behr and David Karchere shared messages from their heart… concluding that Interfaith as a movement has the power to save all our religions by creating a safe space where we watch out for each other.
