When
Hindus and Muslims faced each other in a communally
charged neighborhood in East Delhi in December they looked
at each
other and... smiled. Then
they said prayers in Hindi and Arabic and went to work
with Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians (from the United States
and India), and Bahá’ís
as volunteers in service to a community in need.
 The
volunteers were invited by Global PeaceWorks - an organization
that arranges for people of many faiths live and work together
for two weeks, creating a model of peace
In
the evenings, they heard religious leaders and statesmen
like His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Honorable
President of India A.P.J. Abdul Kalam at the Delhi Peace Summit,
but in the mornings, this group was off to Janta Colony in
Jaffarabad to serve the local people by building a community
center.
 This
diverse group of thirty volunteers from nine nations lived
together as an international family. They supported the Delhi
Peace Summit interfaith conference by presenting prayers of
six traditions at the opening session on Youth and the Culture
of Peace, then, following Dr. Jerry Chang of Humanity United
Globally, the group facilitated discussions on interfaith cooperation.
The
core work of Global PeaceWorks, however, is to provide
'cooperative interfaith service to people in need’ – a
task that program director Eric Wenzel says is needed to
complement traditional interfaith dialogue meetings. In
this case, the group chose to work in Janta Colony, Jaffarabad
which had a history of problems between Muslims and Hindus.
There the group  worked with Chetanalaya,
the social action NGO of the Catholic Diocese of New Delhi,
and its representative
Anthony David, a tireless man devoted to serving people
and uplifting the community.
The volunteers supported this poor neighborhood by offering
their labor to build for both the Muslim and Hindu communities
in the colony. Representatives of each religion laid the
foundation stones and worked together with a shared vision
of peaceful cooperation and community improvements. Global
PeaceWorks interfaith volunteer teams of Hindu, Muslim, Christian
and Sikh visited homes in the community to listen to concerns
and share their vision of peace among religions.
 To
complement the charity work, the volunteers visited religious
sites
in Delhi including the famous Sis Ganj Gurudwara, the
Jama Masjid and Shahi Masjid, Mother Theresa's Sisters of
Charity, the Laxmi Narayan Hindu Temple and The
Bahá’í House
of Worship (the famous "Lotus Temple").
The
experience was enhanced by visits with Dr. Mufti Mukarram
Ahmed, Imam
of the Shahi Masjid, India’s second largest
mosque; Dharma Master Hsin Tao of the Museum
of World Religions;
Peace Activist Ela Gandhi, granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi;
Dilip Kolhatkar of the Everest
Peace Project; Baba Virsa
Singh Ji of Gobind
Sadan; devotees from Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s
Art of Living Foundation; and members of the Central Baptist
Church and a community Gurudwara.
A
day of reflection at a beautiful religious retreat south
of Delhi
concluded this first Global PeaceWorks project which,
in addition to Chetanalaya, was supported by the Tribal Welfare
Society, the Bahá’í House of Worship,
Gobind Sadan and the Religious
Youth Service.
The
success of this inaugural program has paved the way for
a second Global PeaceWorks project in New Delhi to be held
from Dec 30, 2004 to January 7, 2005.
Apply
now to join the
2004
Global PeaceWorks
team in New
Delhi!
See
testimonies and profiles of
Global PeaceWorks 2003 Volunteers
Learn
more about the coming
2004 Project in New Delhi |
