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Muslim and Christian youth come together in Mombasa, Kenya
an article by Initiatives of Change International (abridged)
‘Our youth are affected by radicalization, drug
abuse, peer pressure and social media. I have been
wanting to bring together Christian and Muslim youth
in Mombasa for 10 years,’ said Reverend Jane Jilani.
‘Today it has happened.’
Pastor James Wuye and Imam Muhammad Ashafa present DVDs and the Resource Guide of An African Answer to the organizing teams from the Minda and Eleka Trusts. (Photo: Alan Channer)
click on photo to enlarge
‘Our theme is “Come Back Home!”’ continued Jilani,
an initiator of Kenya’s Coast Interfaith Council
of Clergy. ‘We are holding two days of workshops,
for mothers and clergy on the first day and for
youth on the second. The mothers and clergy will
be asking:“What can we say to our youth that will
call them home from threats and from immorality?”’
The idea for the workshops was born when Rev
Jilani and Muslim youth leader Zuhura Juma, both
from Mombasa, attended a ‘training of trainers’
for religious leaders in Nairobi, in November
2012. This training was the first step in a
project ‘to transfer the methodologies depicted in
the film An African Answer across Kenya’. The 16
month project, which is supported by the United
States Institute of Peace and IofC UK, is being
co-ordinated by Dr Alan Channer of FLTfilms and
Joseph Karanja and Steve Kimaru of IofC Kenya. The
project trainers are the protagonists of An
African Answer, internationally acclaimed
peacemakers Imam Muhammad Ashafa and Pastor James
Wuye, from Nigeria.
Jilani and Juma organized the workshops with a
team from the Mombasa-based Eleka Trust, which has
a Christian membership, and the Mombasa-based
Minda Trust, which has a Muslim membership. They
timed their workshops so that Pastor Wuye and Imam
Ashafa could attend in person and play a mentoring
role. . .
Mrs Zebeida Suleiman, co-founder with Revered Jilani
of the Coast Interfaith Council of Clergy, remarked
that to hear the likes and dislikes shared in the
whole group was one of the most striking things she
had experienced in inter-faith work.
The workshop for youth began with a screening of The
Imam and the Pastor and a discussion of what it is
to be a ‘role model’.
Imam Ashafa shared some lines of African wisdom with
the 40 attendees: ‘If you cannot be teachable,
having a teacher won’t help you. If you cannot be
mentorable, having a future won’t help you.’
Discussion moved on to the reasons for inter-faith
conflict and how youth can contribute to inter-
faith understanding and peaceful coexistence. The
young people were quick to identify ‘youths in
substance abuse, people living with HIV/AIDS,
youths in business and youths in leadership’ as
areas where they could focus their influence as
‘ambassadors of change’. One practical proposal
was for a programme to clean up the city of
Mombasa from litter and garbage – an idea which
moved ahead soon after the workshop had ended.
For Zuhura Juma, the events were a great success.
‘I have worked with many organizations in conflict
issues and peace building, within my faith and my
society, but never as inter-faith,’ she concluded.
‘I am very interested indeed to continue working
in an interfaith perspective. I would love if this
initiative can go on, for it can do a lot to our
youth and our community.’
[Note: Thank you to Tex Albert, the CPNN reporter
for this article.]
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DISCUSSION
Question(s) related to this article:
How can different faiths work together for understanding and harmony?,
* * * * *
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