Videoconferencing connects young people from Davao city and Bacolod City in a series of exchanges on war, religion and diversity.
07 October 2008, Davao — Christian and Muslim youth from Davao City and Bacolod used technology to virtually cross the country’s thousands of islands and engage in dialogue. Linked by videoconferencing facilities, about 2000 young people engaged in a lively discussion on the theme, Embracing Diversity: How are Islam and Christianity Religions of Peace?
With the recent outbreak of war due to the failed Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) prejudices are high.
“There’s no better way to reduce tension and ignorance than by bringing people face to face,” says PeaceTech’s Jakarta-based President, Robin Pettyfer. “And we are doing this in on a mass scale! By bringing two sides together they can realize for themselves that the other is not to be feared. This is especially useful in societies torn by misunderstanding and tension.”
The Conference hopes to foster understanding between Muslim and non-Muslim youth, reduce prejudice and discrimination, and find ways on how to work towards peace, even beyond the video dialogue event.
Many realized for the first time how discrimination hurts young people in their everyday lives.
Jerryl, 23, shared how her uncles were forced to go down from a public transportation and killed “just because they were Christians”. Although her family is still grieving for their losses, she has realized that not all Muslims are bad. She was also happy to share that she even have Muslim friends.
Ed Bullecer, CEO of Paglas Corporation, recounted his great experience as a Christian working in a Muslim owned company, which he now runs. He also shared the benefit of Muslims and Christians working together in the successes of the municipality of Paglas and Paglas Corporation.
Skit and Games, played between the two venues, showed how energetic and innovative the youth can be.
Frontpage Picture: Sunstar Davao, Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Aside from the video-conference, PeaceTech conducts Peace Education Workshop for youth within the local area whom they call Peace Ambassadors. The course revolves around the following topics: Peace Education, Islam and Christianity as Religions of Peace, Dialogue and Facilitation skills training. The project identified 35 Peace Ambassadors from different religious and ethnic backgrounds coming from various universities in the city
In Davao, the event was organized by the PeaceTech Inc., Catholic Relief Services – Davao and University of Immaculate Conception – High School.
Page 2, Sunstar Davao, Tuesday, October 7, 2008
