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The Cooperation
C I R C L E
Vol. IV. No. 2 July - December 2009
Mindanao Peace Garden
Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines
Higa-onon Ha Migsabuwa Ta Lanao
Iligan City, Philippines
Ranao Muslim-ChristianMovement for Dialogue and Peace.
Iligan City, Philippines
URI SEAPacWelcomes New CCs
The world’s biggest interfaith festival,
the
Parliament of the World’s Religions
, was held inMelbourne, Australia from December 3-9, 2009.With the theme
“Making a world of Dierence:Hearing Each Other, Healing the Earth ”
it attractedover 4,000 people from an amazing variety of religious, spiritual as well as indigenous traditions.It hosted more than 500 programs includingdialogues, workshops, symposia, culturalperformances and exhibits. The delegates had aunique opportunity to expand their worldviewsand learn from one another. The URI Southeast Asia and the Pacic (URISEAPac) Regional Coordinator Shakun Vaswanifacilitated URI hospitality and presence at theParliament. URI shared a booth courtesy of theDharma Realm Buddhist Association. Over thirtypresentations on dierent specializations relatedto interfaith dialogue, peacebuilding,cross-cultural cooperation, youth initiatives, andspiritual practices were delivered by the URIcommunity members.Marites Africa, a Trustee from the SEAPac Regionshared about her interfaith work in the Philippinesduring the International Plenary and fellow Trustee Dr. Amir Farid Isahak facilitated severalsessions.On December 2, COMMON CC and GreenFaith CC,the URI Cooperation Circles in Melbourne, hosteda welcome gathering at Jessiee Kaur Singh’s homefor the URI members attending the Parliament. Abigger reception for URI members and friends washosted at the Parliament venue on December 5 byURI Executive Director Rev. Charles Gibbs andGlobal Council Chair Yoland Trevino.Delegates from many faiths and culturesinteracted with URI’s presence at the Parliamentand more bridges and friendships were built overthe course of the week-long event. Everyone wenthome inspired with the hopes of fostering theconnection with new found friends who wish towork with URI in promoting a culture of peace.
A United Religions Iniave in South East Asia and the Pacific
URI Community Parcipates in the Parliament of World’s Religions 2009
editorial*
EDITORIAL STAFF
Editor-in-Chief
Musa Mohamad Sanguila
Managing Editor
Shakuntala Vaswani
Publishers
United Religions InitiativeSEAPac Regional Oce
Contributors
Shakuntala Vaswani
URI -SEAPac
Marites Guingona - Africa
Peacemakers Circle CC
Musa Mohamad Sanguila
Pakigdait CC
Padmini Solomon
Nur Damai CC
Indra Udayana
Gandhi Puri Ashram CC
Jamel Kaur Singh
GreenFaith Australia CC
Orlan de Guzman
Peacemakers Circle CC
Jessiee Kaur Singh
Center for MelbrourneMultifaith and Others Network C
C
Sam An Ros
Interfaith Youth Circle Cambodia CC
Noemi Alindogan
Mindanao Peace Garden CC
PK Moorthy
INSaF CC
Lanelio Sangcoan
Higa-onon Ti Magsabuwa TaLanao CC
Design and Lay - Out
Sarah Queblatin
Peacemakers’ Circle and URI SEAPacLaunch the Travelling Peace Academy inthe Region
Last November 19-22, 2009 the Peacemakers’ Circle CC together with the URISEAPac Regional Oce and Pakigdait CC hosted a workshop in Manila, Philippinesentitled, "Engaging the Moral Imagination in Grassroots Interfaith Dialogue andCommunity-Building in Conict Areas in Mindanao." The leadership workshop ispart of the URI Travelling Peace Academy (TPA) program. The TPA is an initiative by the members of the URI Peacebuilding Satellite. TheSatellite works with the URI President’s Council in developing and strengtheningpeacebuilding eorts through trainings and workshops for grassroots leadersaround the world.Grassroots leaders who work with members of conict-aected communities inMindanao Philippines—Lanao del Norte and Sur, Cotabato, Maguindanao, andBasilan were invited. The partner organizations represented in the workshop were:Pakigdait of Lanao del Norte, United Youth for Peace and Development,Bangsamoro Successor Generation Network-Lanao, Mindanao Dynamic Culture of Peace, Inc., Oblates of Mary Immaculate, Notre Dame Peace Center, KauswaganUlama Forum, Prelature of Marawi, United Youth of the Philippines, KutawatoCouncil for Justice and Peace and the Mindanao People’s Caucus. The workshop aimed to focus on building partnerships with Mindanao grassrootsleaders and providing the basics on moral imagination approaches to interfaithdialogue and relationship-building. The organizers intend to build bridges of communication and partnerships in collaborative action for the upholding of human rights and the promotion of peace and development in Mindanaobetween participating grassroots leaders from the abovementioned conictaected areas and their peacebuilding counterparts in Metro Manila. Togetherthey will serve as catalysts for change in their respective communities and form anetwork that will help build the foundations for grassroots-led vision in action,and bridging partnerships with leaders of various sectors of government and civilsociety in the National Capital Region.After the workshop, a public forum with 70 attendees from the media,government, civil society and the academe in interaction with the grassrootsleaders was held. They discussed plans for a community based theater that tellsstories of peace on the ground, an interfaith council and network working for thepromotion of the MOA on Ancestral Domain, and initiatives for peaceful and cleanelections in the Philippines this coming May 2010.Nur Damai CC from Malaysia was represented in the workshop-forum by its CCleader Padmini Solomon, who shared her knowledge about peace building andconict resolution. Plans are ongoing about expanding the reach of thepeacebuilding workshop to the rest of South East Asia and the Pacic Region.As we draw 2009 to a close, we reect on our strengthsand challenges. When we look back, the URI SEAPachas grown from its humble beginnings and its birthingpains into a tree with many branches with its ownunique fruits. With over twenty Cooperation Circles todate, URI SEAPac continues to envision a worldwithout conict through interfaith dialogue andcooperation. The region is proud to have launched its ownpeacebuilding projects like the workshops inMindanao, where decades - long struggle for peace isstill ongoing. Addressing this issue was also the pilotproject of the URI Travelling Peace Academy in theRegion. We are likewise proud to have co-hosted andrepresented URI during the recent Parliament of World’s Religions.In this issue of the URI SEAPac Newsletter, you will readabout everyone’s work on the ground that makesimpact on conict prevention in the region. As wegrow together in enriching our capacities and ourstrengths in various forms of peacebuilding work, letus continue to share our stories, experiences, and bestpractices.Salam to All!Musa Mohamad Sanguila
2009 INTERNATIONAL DAYOF PEACE CELEBRATIONS
COMMON CC: A Gathering on Sharing our Water
A public gathering for understanding the spiritual and scienticprinciples of water in our lives was hosted by COMMON CC inMelbourne. Adults and children participated in a plenary, games,and discussions in understanding and taking action for waterconservation in Australia.
(Read the Report on CC News Section)
.
Kalinaw CC: September Declared as Interfaith Monthin Cebu City
Through the initiative of the ten - member Interfaith Council of CebuCity (established earlier with the leadership of Kalinaw CC), the localgovernment of Cebu City has declared the month of September eachyear as Peace and Interfaith Month. This is a great boost for interfaithbridge building in this predominantly Catholic City in the Philippines.Also, this year, as part of the celebrations of the International Day of Peace, the Kalinaw CC, in cooperation with the University of Cebu,organized on September 26 a
Good Citizenship
peace concertfeaturing neo-folk artist Joey Ayala. With over 5,000 students presentthis was the biggest gathering ever to celebrate this day of peace inCebu.
Nur Damai CC: Film Showing and Discussion aboutInterfaith Dialogue
Nur Damai celebrated the UN International Day of Peace on Sunday,September 13th by showing a documentary lm “The Imam & thePastor”which depicts the reconciliation between Imam MuhammadAshafa and Pastor James Wuye, and the peace-making initiativeswhich have owed from it. The lm, narrated by Rageh Omaar,dramatizes their remarkable story. It showed the dynamics of forgiveness and challenges that arise in Christian-Muslim partnershipand how they can be resolved. The invited audience of around 50 included some community,political leaders, and police personnel among others. PadminiSolomon, the CC leader, highlighted the vision of the URI in heraddress at the lm showing. Nur Damai also launched their website atthe gathering.
Gandhi Puri Ashram CC: Interfaith Activities for Peace
Gandhi Puri Ashram CC Celebrated the International Day of Peace with interfaithprayers and dialogue at a gathering of youths and community members. The activi-ties included tree planting in the Mahatma Sacred Garden. A statue of Confuciuswas also installed in the compound. To entertain everyone, young dancersperformed a Balinese dance.
Pakigdait CC: Peace through Ramadan Talk, Coastal Clean Up,and Community Celebrations
As part of the International Day of Peace celebrations Pakigdait joined theInternational Coastal Clean Up Campaign and together with the communitymembers cleaned the coastal town of Kulambugan. On September 19, MusaSanguila, a Muslim, shared about Ramadan and Fasting with the Tubod CatholicPriests of Lanao del Norte. During the
Eid al-Fitr
celebrations last September 20, they held their annual"Pagtagbo alang sa Kalinaw" (Meeting for Peace). The event gathered theChristian community to celebrate with the Muslims on the grounds of a Masjid. They invited people of dierent faiths, the Bishop of Lanao del Norte, and theBrigade Commander to give their messages of peace. The community's MuslimYouth performed traditional songs and dance. Christians in return gave owers tothe Muslims and oered tokens of friendship in the form of fruits during theprogram. Later they all ate together at one table lled with Maranao delicacies.
InSaF CC: Multi-Faith Gathering Launches IDP
The Interfaith Spiritual Fellowship CC in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia celebrated theInternational Day of Peace with an ocial launch marking this UN Celebration asan annual celebration in Malaysia. Senator Kihilan Pillay, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Aairs in Malaysia and the UNICEF representative graced thecelebrations.Prayers from the dierent faith traditions - Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Christian,Sikh, Baha`i, and Indigenous Spirituality, along with a Universal Prayer were thehighlight of the celebrations. This augurs well for interfaith relationships in themulti-cultural society of Malaysia..
Peacemakers' Circle & URI-SEAP oce: Peace Arts Mosaic
The Peacemakers Circle Foundation CC and the United Religions InitiativeSEAPac Regional Oce partnered with lead convening organization,Generation Peace (GenPeace) youth network and its Peace NGO partners forthe 2009 IDP. The Youth for Unity (Y4U) of the Peacemakers’Circle led theinterfaith prayers that set the mood for a contemplative celebration of peace. They also prepared copies of a mini brochure on the Ways of Peace for innerpeace, harmony with others, and the healing of the earth to give awayduring the event.Youth from the CC’s four community partners joined the Peace Mosaicpainting and installation with their message for Peace in conict aectedMindanao. The CC booth hosted a sacred space for meditation andreection. Y4U created a labyrinth walk to encourage people to walk forinner peace.
Read URI SEAPac’s Latest News on
www.uriseap.ning.com
Bohol Goodwill Volunteers CC: News Column
Balitang MaayoQnahanglan!
(Good News is Needed!)
Boni Quirog, CC Leader of Bohol Goodwill Volunteers wrote a column, aboutthe International Day of Peace on September 21 in the local paper
The Bohol Chronicle
. For the celebration, he said he would like to initiate that good newsmust be published so there will be lasting peace in all aspects - culture,economy, and politics. He also mentioned that the Bohol Goodwill Volunteerswill be hosting the Interfaith Consumers’Rights and Welfare Conference whichis funded by the URI SEAPac’s Seed Grants Program.
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