On the 6th November 2016 at Erin Hall the Cape Town Interfaith Initiative presented its annual Music Of the Soul Concert. A wonderful line-up of professional and amateur musicians offered songs from their religions with much devotion.
The first group were members from Ananda Kutir Ashrama, a centre that teachers Integral Yoga. This group sang an universal song, which included ‘The Universal Prayer’ of Swami Sivananda, improvised singing of short one-line prayers from various faiths, and a sanskrit hymn invoking the blessings of the prophets, saints, sages and gurus of all religions.
This was followed by beautiful and joyful singing by the Soul Singers of Baha led by Clare Mortimore representing the Baha’i religion. The group consisted of a choir of male and female voices singing harmonious praise songs. Dominique Sylvester also rendered a beautiful song on vocals and guitar.
The third act was offered by the international musician Madosini accompanied by Pedro the Musicman. Madosini offered African Traditional songs and played on traditional instruments. She sang soulfully about various aspects of life interspersed with some humour as well.
Then Thazkiyah offered Qawwali songs in the Islamic/Sufi tradition. Their music was vibrant and their lead singer Haroon Hussein gave wonderful translations and teachings of the songs.
Reverend Peter Fox, accompanied by Colin Leo on supporting vocals, Nic Paton on guitar and Garth Hammer on piano, sang soul-stirring Christian hymns, one of which was composed by Nic Paton. The love of God and mankind was heard through their voices.
The final offering was presented by the opera singer Belinda Silbert whose songs representing Judaism. Her beautiful operatic voice resounded through the hall as she offered classical as well as modern songs, one of which was a song that she had received in a vision.
The concert was enjoyed by all participants as well as the audience. The variety was wonderful and the atmosphere was charged with devotion. It was evident that the devotion is the same in all. There is only one religion, the religion of the soul.
The World Psychiatric Association partnered with Cape Town Interfaith Initiative to host a roundtable discussion as part of the recent Conference held in Cape Town. The roundtable was held between international leading psychologists and nine local different faith leaders to address the integration of religious, spiritual and cultural influences on mental health. All participants found the interaction most inspiring and there was an impetus to create a working group to take the conversation further seek ways to collaborate and create joint programs and initiatives. It was shared that mental health is fast becoming the most prominent cause of ill health, and there are only 200 000 psychologists to serve 7.5 billion people. There is definitely a need for this collaboration, as faith leaders play a significant role in counselling and helping people and are usually the first people to be consulted before professional help is taken.
An exceptional dialogue took place in the Mandela Auditorium, at the SA Jewish Museum on Sunday 20th November after the roundtable discussion. The audience was privileged to hear the comments from members of the WPA hailing from Egypt, India, Brazil, Canada, America and Britain and dialogue with four local religious leaders. All participants enthusiastically encouraged a relationship between faith and cultural leaders and psychologists. Education, trust and better understanding is needed so that collaboratively the best care could be offered to people struggling with mental health. Interestingly also the partnership of western medicine and African Cultural methods of treatment could be encouraged without either feeling threatened. Much discussion occurred around suicide, depression and the lack of mental care especially for the marginalised, rural areas, schools and prisons but also for over stretched medical personnel.
The dialogue inspired hope and the assurance of continued input from the WPA to encourage development in this approach to treatment .
Thank you Mr Harry Wigget, for your reflections on the CTII Heritage Day Interfaith Bus Tour, which took place this year on the 25th September:
HERITAGE DAY 2016
“I had the privilege of being part of the Cape Town Interfaith Heritage Day Bus Tour which included visits to the Baha’i Centre; the Quaker Peace Centre; the Claremont/Wynberg Synagogue; the Claremont Main Road Mosque; and the Brahma Kumaris Centre.
This took place on Sunday 25th September from 9.00a.m. – 3.30p.m. and was an inspiring experience, receiving wonderful warmth and hospitality at all these spiritual ports of call.
God’s children are truly wondrous in their diversity, a diversity reflecting something of the very wonder of God who is beyond our human understanding in His Omnipresent God-ness and His all-embracing and gracing Love-ness!
I believe all who were part of this tour would agree that wherever we went the common uniting factor was that we were all children of God responding to His love and presence in our lives and communities in ways that were very very real and relevant. And that we had places where, with a common mind and understanding, folk could meet to express their love for Him in acts of joyful community and worship.
I think we were all especially moved when Imam Rashied Omar in the Claremont Main Road Mosque prayed a most beautiful prayer for Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
And, another highlight worth mentioning: During his telling about the Claremont/WynbergSynagogue, Rabbi Liebenberg emphasised that the most important buidling in Judaism is the HOME. Which brought to mind the times Jean and I have been invited to the Friday evening family Shabbat meal in Jewish friend’s homes….and confirmed a prayer and hope of mine that the time will come when all Christians will gather around their dining room tables on a Thursday evening with family and friends to Break Bread and Bless the Cup in remembrance of JESUS; the head of the family – mother or father, or host – presiding!
The Tour was an overall experience of the love and peace of God alive and flourishing in our stimulating diversity.”
‘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
(2025/07/22 – A repost of an event from almost 10 years ago)
On the 20th October, the Cape Town Interfaith Initiative hosted the second annual Father John Oliver Memorial Lecture. The lecture was presented by Fr. Christopher Clohessy, the Catholic Priest of St. Barnard and St. Ignatious Parishes, and lecturer at the Pontifical Institute in Rome for Arabic- Islamic Studies. Fr. Clohessy holds a PhD in Shi’ite Islam. Read the full lecture from the evenings event here.
The final offering was presented by the opera singer Belinda Silbert whose songs representing Judaism. Her beautiful operatic voice resounded through the hall as she offered classical as well as modern songs, one of which was a song that she had received in a vision.
