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URI Workshop in Pakistan Bursts with Enthusiasm |
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Written by Fr. James Channan
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Thursday, 01 November 2007 |
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It is with great joy that I share with you that a two-day Orientation
Workshop was organized for the CC Coordinators in Pakistan on October,
20-21, 2007. There were Sikhs, Bahai, Muslim and Christians present,
and it was truly a grand event in the history of Pakistan.
It was such a wonderful gathering - almost all CCs from Pakistan and Azad Kashmir were present. 27 Coordinators out of 30 came to this whorkshop, which was held at Darul Kalam, 85-D, Model Town, Lahore.
A special word of welcome was extended to the 6 new CCs that just joined the URI family on the 10th of October. The Coordinators of all these new CCs were present. We also cut cakes to welcome these CCs.
Here are the highlights of this workshop:
1. The URI Charter was read by all and reflected upon. We introduced all 27 Coordinators and their CCs.
2. All CCs shared their activities in small groups of 5-6 persons and reported later to in the bigger group.
3. Reports from the International Day of Peace were presented by all CCs.
4. Fr James presented a report on the Symphony Peace Prayer in Japan, Yuel Bhatti talked about the conference which he attended at the UN, and Jahangir Piara reported on the peacebuilding program in Japan.
5. I explained all of the papers concerning the Global Trustee Selection 2007-2008, URI Eligibity, approval of Bylaws and Nomination of the Candidate(s). All of this was done in the national language, URDU, so that everyone could understand the forms.
6. There was an update given on the URI Asia Regional Assembly and an invitation to attend that we had received from Hira Paul in India was distributed.
7. Information about the URI Global Assembly, 2008 was shared.
8. Information about the participation of youth in the GA08 was given.
9. Prof. Mushtaq Asad gave input on "The Role of Sufi/ Mystics in promoting Interfaith Dialogue in the Asia Context". The lecture of Mr. Asad was highly appreciated by all participants.
10. On the eve of October 20th, we went to see Lahore by Night. We visited the Grand Badshahi Mosque where Maulan Abdul Khabir Azad welcomed us and gave us a guided tour of the Grand Mosque. After the grand tour we went to visit the Minar-e-Pakistan (Tower of Pakistan) where we have planted a Peace Pole. The Grand Imam offered wonderful hospitality at his home to all URI coordinators and members. After that, we went to see the famous Food Street of Gowal Mandi in old Lahore. We had ice cream, tea and some other spicy stuff. Everyone enjoyed this visit. Altogether it was about a 4-hour trip.
11. The Coordinators of all 27 CCs present unanimously decided to nominate Fr. James Channan as a Candidate for trustee on the URI Global Council 2008 – 2011.
All participants were extremely happy with this orientation workshop and were grateful for this opportunity to come together and to share success stories, areas of growth, and challenges.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 01 November 2007 )
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