The City of Cape Town hosted an Interfaith blessing of the Newlands Springwater at the new collection point on Tuesday the 22nd May. What a special moment! The rains were included in the ceremony, and the Water and Sanitation Department shared some interesting background to their very challenging task. This beautiful event included prayers and blessings from many traditions including Baha’i, Buddhism, Hindu, Islam, Judaism, Catholic, Unitarian, Anglican, AfricanTraditional and Quaker.
Each year the Turquoise Harmony Institute sends out an invitation during the holy month of Ramadan, inviting those of other faiths to come and enjoy an iftar meal (breaking the fast) with a family from their community. Mary and Francis from CTII enjoyed this wonderful opportunity:
It was such a privilege to be invited to an Iftar with two Turkish families this week during the sacred month of Ramadan. To gather around the table sharing delicious food, different cultures learning from each other in a relaxed home environment. A much appreciated gift. Thank you Turquoise Harmony and our beautiful hosts. – Mary
James Ellman, CTII Director, recently represented the Cape Town Interfaith Initiative at the United Religions Initiative (URI) Regional Assembly in Malawi. The Regional Assembly brought together all the Cooperation Circle (CC) leaders, from South Africa, Mozambique, and Malawi. The Cape Town Interfaith Initiative has been a Cooperation Circle of URI since 2014. James described the experience as follows;
“The Malawi experience with URI has brought together people from various backgrounds throughout Southern Africa. It was an opportunity to learn from the various representatives about the challenges they face and how they respond to these challenges. I was inspired by the way they deal with their challenges using non-violence as their vehicle to respond.
CTII also shared experiences and participants were encouraged by the way CTII makes interfaith interaction a reality. CTII is seen as a beacon of hope to them guiding the way of getting involved in interfaith dialogue.
The one challenge I found that most of the organisations present shared, was getting funding for the great work being done. People in Malawi and Mozambique live in extreme poverty but they are positive and keep moving forward making a difference one step and one person at a time. Living in South Africa, I also see poverty and I am re-inspired by these CCs to stay faithful to the vision of CTII.
One of the main outcomes of the regional assembly was that a work plan was set up for the journey forward into 2018 and beyond for URI Southern Africa.”
Thank you James for sharing the experiences of CTII and being a voice for interfaith dialogue at this important gathering!
The weekend camp of the Marlene Silbert Youth Interfaith Intercultural Programme, took place at Mizpah, Grabouw Youth Camp Centre, over the weekend of 15th -17th September. 24 learners attended the camp. With the learners, we had a team of seven GOAL Facilitators, which was fantastic as the team worked well together, and were able to share responsibilities and be with the participants at all times.
The aim of the camp was to bring the learners together, now towards the end of the year-long programme, to deepen their learning on the themes covered in the programme and think about how they are active citizens in their communities. This was done through fun games and activities that allowed the students to learn about creating trust, learn to work together, discuss issues of racism, gender discrimination, religion and xenophobia and develop a deeper sense of who they are in the world.
Time was also allocated for the participants to design their community projects as well as to prepare their presentations for the Closing Function. The group came up with the idea of a pledge that they would like to share with the audience at the closing function, sharing what they have learnt and what they are taking forward from the programme. So overall the camp was a great success. The learners had fun and found the experience very meaningful. The accommodation and catering worked very well. And the facilitation team did an excellent job.
On a drizzly September morning a bus full of “pilgrims” set off on the annual interfaith bus tour. The rain soon stopped and St Michael’s Catholic Church Rondebosch was a beautiful start to the day. We then visited a Kramat in Constantia and back to the Soka Gakkai International Buddist centre in Eco village. At each location we were given a brief informative talk. We then proceeded to the Ahmadiyya Jama’at in Rondebosch East where we were treated to a delicious lunch. Lastly we visited the Ananda Kutir Ashram in Rondebosch East. All our hosts were so welcoming and hospitable happy to open their doors to us.
Judging from the comments and some appreciative emails our fellow travellers enjoyed the day and were most grateful for the opportunity.
Mary Frost
September 2017.
