Asia

Dear Friends,

Namaste and greetings of peace from India. Here are some pictures of another computer center which opened a few weeks ago with the help of the members from the local Mosque. This is the first time in the area that a computer training program has been run by URI inside the Mosque premises. URI member Md. Sarfaraz oversees the project. We expect to run a complete educational program and engage the larger community, especially targeting children from different communities to attend classes at the center. This will allow children from other communities to an opportunity to attend the Mosque and become familiar with other religions through engagement and open interaction with other children. This initiative had been planned for a long time. So it’s now being born, we are moving forward with much concrete steps to develop the plan further for greater impact.

Biswadeb Chakraborty
Ektaan CC

Ektaan Cooperation Circle organized a soccer tournament among its members, affiliated groups and members from other organization, to observe the Indian Independence day on the 15th August. Members from Sikh, Muslim, Hindu, seniors and Youngsters played together to celebrate this day.

Namaste and Greetings! I send you all the very special ribbon to tie for our special bonding as it calls Raksha ( Ribbon for Protection)  and Bandhan means Tie. So this day lets tie a ribbon for each other protection.

THIS IS THE MEMBER OF MCYPD youth ....

im so happy.....GOD bless all !!!

Irfan Ali of Roots CC in Quetta, Pakistan co-led a group of young peace activists to the home of Pakistan's founding father and an important shrine in one of the country's most dangerous areas.

URI-South India proudly announces that the Indian Dalit Ecumenical CC won the Best CC of the Year award in July 2011. The CC is one of 53 prominent CCs in URI's South India Region. The word ‘dalit’ stands for aborigines. The main thrust of this unit is to develop the conditional of aboriginal people, especially the youth. Many of their programs are related to capacity building.

“We have 9/11 every day in Pakistan,” said Fr. James Channan, Regional Coordinator for the United Religions Initiative (URI) in Pakistan, speaking on “Interfaith in Pakistan” at the Chapel at Croton Falls on Sunday, July 10, 2011. He explained that more than 35,000 people in his country have been killed by terrorists, making ordinary life very unsafe. There are now guards outside of mosques and churches. And it was a particular shock when Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian who had been appointed Federal Minister for Minorities, was assassinated in March 2011 for his stance on the blasphemy laws often used as an excuse for persecution. Fr. Channan believes that ignorance is the root cause of terrorism and thus education is the real key to a brighter future.

“We are creating religious harmony and peace through education in a slum where there was no concept of education,” said Yuel Bhatti, a founder of ABC4All Pakistan Cooperation Circle and school principal. “We are trying hard to motivate the community that education is the only way towards peace and love for humanity.”