The following project was conducted prior to the outbreak of COVID-19.
By Emiko Perea
Global Peace Foundation (GPF) India initiated “Facets of Faith” as an interactive program to create mutual respect among youth of different faiths and to provide the opportunity for interfaith collaboration in peacebuilding efforts in their communities.
For half of February, fifteen youth from different religious backgrounds joined the Facets of Faith program. They participated in group discussions about each other’s religious and cultural backgrounds, and each group presented what they learned about faith from them.
Afterward, they visited various places of worship, such as temples, churches, synagogues, and gurudwaras in Delhi. They had the opportunity to learn directly from respected faith leaders at each venue about not only their specific traditions but spiritual principles and values that connected all people across faith backgrounds.
The participants expressed how happy they were to learn more about other faiths and being able to broaden their perspectives. One such participant, Yash Dhamija, described the “Facets of Faith” program as “A wonderful experiential journey with exposure to the lived reality of religious faiths.”
“All the sessions at the office were very informative, and Facets of Faith was a short yet vital program to appreciate the nuances of the grassroots workings of faith, culture and religious traditions in our society,” said Vanshika Khullar, another participant, “ A great platform to work on communication, teamwork, and peacebuilding.”
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