Program Offers Students Insight on Bridging Differences
Suburban News Publications
August 5, 2008
Dublin Coffman student Dania Ahmed poses with fellow participants in the Face to Face: Faith to Faith program. They are (from left): row one-Martina Redpath of Northern Ireland and Orli Setton of South Africa; row two-Claudia Finnegan and Naomi McNally, both of Northern Ireland; Shandre Swarts and Farah Jawitz, both of South Africa; Dania Ahmed and Ananas Khogali-Mustafa of the United States, Sonya Cotton of South Africa, and Rachel Winsberg of the U.S.
by Eileen Ryan
Dublin Coffman High School student Dania Ahmed learned this summer that being politically correct isn't always the best way to live with people whose culture is different than one's own. Sometimes you have to ask tough questions to understand.
She had a chance to do that at Face to Face: Faith to Faith, an international multi-faith program held June 29 to July 13 at Auburn Theological Seminary in Holmes, N.Y. About 50 participants ranging from 16 to 18 years old traveled from all over the United States, Northern Ireland, and South Africa to learn tools for peaceful interventions in their societies of origin.
"At school we're always taught to not ever talk about religion because we're in fear of offending someone," Ahmed said. "I think that a lot of problems occur because people hear something and it might not necessarily be true. I think it's better if they have a question, even if they feel it might offend someone, it's better to just ask someone who has the knowledge."
That is how she and her fellow Face to Face participants learned to interact, she said, although it wasn't always easy. Eventually she grew more confident in talking with people of different faiths about their beliefs.
"If you say something wrong, people see it as an opportunity to educate you about it," she said.
Ahmed said she is a Muslim. Although she grew up in the United States, her family is originally from India, and she understands Urdu, the language her family spoke in India. If someone has a question about her, she said, she hopes they will just ask.
Of course, not every difference the campers discussed was quite as serious as their religious beliefs. Some of the Irish participants thought it was very funny to meet someone from Dublin ... in Ohio, Ahmed said.
Ahmed said she came to better understand the differences between her and her fellow participants, but she also recognized their similarities.
"Even people that I didn't think I would have anything in common with, you share the same emotions," she said.
Camp activities and dialogues led Ahmed to talk to people "I would have never talked to if I just saw them," she said.
"It really did make me realize that everyone has some sort of similarity to you and all you have to do is talk to them and find out what their story is."
Ahmed hopes to help members of her local community share their stories with each other, too. As part of a service project that participants must develop and implement in the year following their camp experience, she would like to do something with "intentional listening," which she learned at camp.
The process involves one person who speaks about any issue or shares a story and another person who focuses intently on listening and trying to understand, rather than just hearing.
A program at school would be a good place to start, she said, but she ultimately imagines a community-wide program.
"You get a better understanding of people around you and you can understand why people might think and feel the way they do," she said.
Ahmed could have some help launching her project in the community from the Interfaith Association of Central Ohio, which sponsored her participation in Face to Face. They also sponsored Farah Arman, a Hilliard student who was training to be a counselor next year.
"I think the key thing for us as an association is we have to focus on who are going to be the leaders tomorrow," IACO President Tarunjit Butalia said. "People of faith have to live within their own tradition, but also learn how to relate with people of other faiths.
"Youths have an innate capability of relating across religious boundaries to people of other faith as friends."
Leaving behind the new friends she made in New York was difficult, said Ahmed, because she knows there are some she will never see again.
She does hope to meet up with at least a few of her new South African friends in their country during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
"It really did make me realize that everyone has some sort of similarity to you and all you have to do is talk to them and find out what their story is."