ACWAY – A Common Word Amongst Youth – is the youth organization that organized the Youth Forum of the G20IF, partnering with URI and the Charter for Compassion. This blog is Zahra Jobe’s reflection of the week of the G20IF. Here are some photos of at the Youth Forum.
April 5th was International Golden Rule Day, where all around the world we are reminded of the message of caring for ourselves, each other, animals and the planet, with love and respect. We asked members and friends of CTII to share with us a special message for the day – and their all here for you to watch and enjoy!
So to begin with, here is the message from CTII Chairperson, Berry Behr:
https://web.facebook.com/capeinterfaith/videos/2592599650813888/
Then we have a special message from Frank Molteno and our friends at SAFCEI. The Golden Rule is more than just treating each other with respect, compassion and love, it is also about treating animals and our planet with respect, compassion and love – thank you for sharing this important message with us!
https://web.facebook.com/capeinterfaith/videos/594719224327628/
Happy Golden Rule Day from IAHV SA Inspired Volunteers International Association of Human Values and The Art of Living Foundation – South Africa, some of our young teachers have a special chant for you.
Happy Golden Rule Day from Swami Purnachaitanya disciple of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and a Director of Programs and International Faculty of The Art of Living
https://web.facebook.com/capeinterfaith/videos/307973393151780/
#GoldenRuleDayEveryDay – A beautiful message from composer, Nic Paton, who is sharing with us the recently released song, titled ‘The One’ – a song cycle based on Rumi’s timeless poem “One Song”. May this message of unity spread throughout the world.
Nic’s introductory message: https://web.facebook.com/capeinterfaith/videos/342015859784824/
Finally, CTII Board Members Sarah Oliver and Kirtanya Lutchminarayan participated in the 24hr Global Webinar for Golden Rule Day, alongside our schools programme facilitators, Xola Maswana and Nadia van der Schyff sharing what the Golden Rule means to them in a South African context. (they’re about 20 mins in!)
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!
