Friday, January 7, 2011

Why my students need to understand their neighbours

I am a teacher from Blackburn in the UK, a community working to overcome religious tensions.

On Friday my students and I made a powerful trip demonstrating how we can better live in harmony if we understand and explore our differences.

As part of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation's SolidariTea campaign to mark International Human Rights Day, my students from Pleckgate High School joined pupils from Bowland High School to visit two important places of worship in the school's locality. We visited the Tauheedul mosque with a tour from the imam and then the diocesan guide Anjum Anwar took them round the cathedral in Blackburn to help build bridges and break down prejudices. Afterwards, we played games, learnt about and took action together on the UN Millennium Development Goals.

For many of the Pleckgate students it was their first time visiting a mosque and their new friends from Bowland were able to share their own personal faith stories to help bring this to life. This trip signifies an important act of friendship and solidarity between different faiths and sends a powerful message to the wider community in Blackburn.

We are not alone in taking action this week - there are SolidariTea events going on in over 20 countries and we hope you will join us in arranging your own event. You can find all the tools you need at:

http://www.solidaritea.org

The SolidariTea events mark UN International Human Rights Day. The date was chosen to honor the United Nations General Assembly's adoption and proclamation, on 10 December 1948, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the first global enunciation of human rights.

Sixty-two years later, we made this trip in Blackburn to mark this special day and kick off 10 Days of SolidariTea culminating in UN Human Soldarity Day on 20 December.

From 10-20 December, people around the world are celebrating what people can do when they come together to work on common action for the common good - in classrooms, places of worship, workplaces, dorms and residences.

I look forward to hearing your stories of solidarity from around the world and I know that my students will find it inspirational to know they are part of a wider movement working together for a more tolerant and peaceful world.

Best,

Heather Swales
Pleckgate High School

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