The Marlene Silbert Youth Interfaith Intercultural Programme celebrated National Woman’s Day on 9 August by visiting 4 houses of different faiths to learn about their practices and traditions; and the role of women within those faiths.
The first stop was the Sri Siva Aalayam; the first Hindu Temple that was started in Cape Town 40 years ago. Guru Krishna and Ms Nalini Gangen presented an informative session on the rituals and practices of the devotees. The students were given an opportunity to ask questions and have a tour of the temple.
Our next stop was the Claremont Synagogue where the tour was facilitated by the Rabbi’s wife (rabitzen); Mrs Lee Liebenberg. This visit helped the students to make connections between the Abrahamic Faiths as they were led through the significance of the Creation account and how God rested on the 7th day; providing humanity with an example of a work and rest. It was great to get a female’s perspective on the practices and traditions of the Jewish faith. We were served tea and cinnamon rolls at the Shul; hospitality is an important aspect of Judaism.
We arrived at St Saviour’s Anglican Church in Claremont for the next segment of the tour. This church houses the burial ground for the first Anglican Bishop of Cape Town, Robert Gray and his wife Sophie. The resident priest was called away to deal with a pastoral matter and so Revd Natalie Simons-Arendse; a female Anglican priest led the tour. The students had many questions about the liturgies; the various colours and symbols used and the all-time favourite – the Trinity… who is more important within that relationship?
The day concluded with a visit to the Masjid Ghiedmatiel Islamia – a mosque in Crawford. The Maulana Yazeed Mohamed (religious leader); connected with the young people so well and spoke of his own faith journey. The 5 Pillars of Islam were explained and the role of women within the faith was a lively discussion.
A beautiful day filled with learning and sharing of each other’s stories and faith practices.
Natalie Simons-Arendse, MS YIIP Programme Coordinator
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.
‘I have learnt to respect the dignity of difference and have become enriched by meaningful dialogue’.
‘We have been sensitized to the prejudices which still exist in our society’.
‘We have learnt to respect people from different religions, cultures and backgrounds’.
‘There are so many things we can learn from one another through having meaningful dialogue and I have also learnt so much more about myself’.
‘I have learnt not to make assumptions about people and judge them by the way they look’.
‘I have changed the way I look at the world and I am a far better person’.
‘I understand the importance of helping people in need and not remaining silent when others are treated unfairly or unjustly’.
These are some of the remarks delivered by learners at a reception hosted by Deputy Mayor, Ian Nielson. The learners – from Gardens Commercial High School, Herzlia High School in Highlands Estate, Langa High School, Oude Molen School of Science and Technology in Pinelands, Rylands High School, The Leadership College in Manenberg, and Spine Road High in Rocklands – had all been participating in an Interfaith Intercultural School Twinning and Exchange programme organised by Marlene Silbert with the assistance of Steven Jacobs under the auspices of the Cape Town Interfaith Initiative (CTII).
Mandela taught that ‘No one is born hating another because of the colour of his skin, or his background or his religion. People learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.’
Marlene Silbert’s house was used by the ANC as a safe house to shelter people sought by the apartheid government and Marlene, as a former teacher and the founding educational director of the Cape Town Holocaust Centre, realised the truth in Mandela’s words, and how essential it is for young South Africans to unlearn the culture of racism and prejudice that had developed over the centuries and developed a programme for high school learners called, ‘Learning to Live Together: we can make a difference’.
Marlene Silbert
After being elected to serve on the CTII, Marlene developed a similar programme which involved selecting three learners each from fiveschools from different areas who came from different religious, racial, socio-economic and historical backgrounds. The results surpassed all expectations, and Marlene was invited to facilitate a similar programme in Blackburn in the U.K which was funded by the Blackburn College. Even when the funding for the overseas trips ceased due to financial difficulties, the programme continued to expand in Cape Town now involving four learners from seven schools – and the results, both according to the teachers and from the learners themselves, have been remarkable and transformative.
One Muslim teacher remarked ‘This dialogue needs to be increased because we do not want to be like the Middle East.”
Afternoon sessions were hosted by the different schools which focus on getting to know one another, eliminating stereotypical assumptions, respecting people from different backgrounds, developing an appreciation of diversity, enhancing self-esteem and empowering them to become social activists, to work towards transformation and help people in need. The students introduce clubs within their school, twin with other schools and introduce community projects. There are also two weekend camps which deal with character building, respect for themselves and others, self-discipline, problem solving and leadership.
Learners and teachers from the Leadership College, Manenberg, with Deputy Mayor Ian Nielsen, and CTII Chairperson, James Ellman.
Within two sessions the barriers break down as these young people begin to bond and discover how much they all have in common. As one learner said, ‘Without our meaningful discussions we would never have been able to form such wonderful relationships’.
During the second year of the programme, the pupils, who are then in grade 11, tutor disadvantaged young learners in numeracy or literacy through the Amy Biehl Foundation. The learners find this so rewarding that when the sessions end, they often volunteer to continue tutoring, or through their school, find another school where they can continue to tutor disadvantaged learners.
The course is life changing and all these future leaders comment that it is a pity that it is not possible to extend it to every young person in South Africa.
Deputy Mayor Ian Nielsen praised the programme saying that Cape Town was unique because it was a city of minorities with a great deal of diversity. This provided opportunities, such as those taken by the CTII to reach out and build links to develop a new future – one in which we should not rely on race or religion.
Deputy Mayor Ian Nielsen praised the programme
‘Don’t let race speak for you. Don’t let it set the agenda’, he implored.
The graduates of the Cape Town Interfaith Intercultural School Twinning Programme will make sure that for them this will not happen!’
– written by Gwynne Robins, founding secretary and long-time member of the Cape Town Interfaith Initiative
