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Ripple Effect

It became so clear to me how a few people influence so many when I visited with CC members on a trip to Argentina in March. Maria Crespo, URI’s global support staff member in Buenos Aires, and I met CC members individually and in small gatherings. We experienced URI’s impact in individual lives, in their CC work, and in sustaining a core community of friends from different parts of society.

In Buenos Aires, an immense city known for fragmentation (prejudice and barriers) among religions and social classes, URI members battled heavy traffic to get together. We enjoyed easy conversation catching up on each other’s news, reinforcing the values that brought us to interfaith work, refreshing our commitment to URI’s Preamble Purpose and Principles and generating possibilities for the future. We sat at a circular table, flowers fresh, candle lit, munching snacks - renewing friendships.

People spoke of their own projects:

Asociación Intercultural Díalogo – Alejandro Ponieman and Maria Carbo, contacts. They see their CC as caring parent of other CCs in Buenos Aires. Originally inspired by Father Louis Dolan’s vision over 15 years ago, Díalogo has continued to provide hospitality and foundational support for CCs in the city. They are currently exploring media outlets to promote interfaith activities and  investigating ways to offer informal mediation services among different religious groups as issues arise. Maria Cristina Martinez Bouquet from this CC, who also participated in a 1997 URI gathering, joined in on one of the meetings. She is looking forward to presenting a new CC soon.

Misiones Unidas – Ciro Gabriel Avruj, contact. Ciro works as a local representative in a global organization, Humanity’s Team. We met him and his parents, who as a family are dedicated to helping shift consciousness toward embracing “oneness of humanity.” Susi Reich, another contact of the CC and primary contact of Proyecto Tercer Milenio, was out of the country and unavailable for a visit.

Of the Indigenous People of Argentina CC -- Rosalia Gutierrez, contact. We met Rosalia three times during my trip. She took buses across town each time to attend URI meetings and share her commitments. This CC continues to mentor young adults in indigenous values, and Rosalia participates in interreligious events as a spokesperson for the indigenous communities. She holds the PPP as the most important value URI brings to the world.

Comunidad Cosmica – Francisco Morales, contact. This CC continues to provide practical support and education in indigenous values to young adults from indigenous backgrounds living in Buenos Aires. Many use music to help them re-align with their roots and identity.  Francisco writes, “many youth in our community abandon education and turn to violence; our work strengthens the identity of youth and gives them positive alternatives.”

Mujeres Originarias en la Política Social y Comunitaria – Luisa Pereira, contact. Luisa recounted  her own family story of disruption between her father and his brother, a member of an evangelical church. They refused to associate with each other. The break within the family influenced her life and this CC is dedicated to healing these kinds of splits and reviving self-respect for indigenous values.

Escuela de Amor – Rabbi Arieh Sztokman, contact. Rabbi Ari made time in his busy schedule to visit us at the URI office. He was bursting with news of the new website he is launching called Affinnerty – a place for young adults to share spiritual ideas and build community. Rabbi Arieh has dedicated his life to interreligious work.  Last year, he offered Jewish prayers as part of the funeral service when Luisa Pereira’s husband died because of the deep relationship created with her in “Aprendiendo a Convivir” (Learning to Coexist), a weekly seminar the CC had maintained during five years working cooperatively with an Islamic Foundation. Rabbi Arieh, Sheik Beytullah Cholak, Maria, Rosalia and other faith leaders regularly speak to students K-12 about the identity of the different religions and the need for cooperation and understanding among people of different faiths.

Bridge Builders Program -- We visited Fundación Judaica where URI’s Bridge Builders program took place in 2009/2010 and met Laura Szames, assistant to and participant of the project. As she showed us around the Jewish Museum and the oldest synagogue in Buenos Aires she told us about the deep and important transformation she experienced because of the project. We also met Rabbi Sergio Bergman, program mentor and important religious leader, and an affiliate of URI. Rabbi Bergman has had a very important role in the community calling on people to change from being inhabitants to citizens.

 Qewña - Raul Mamani, contact. Maria and I had the amazing good fortune to be invited to visit Raul Mamani and members of Qewña CC in Jujuy, a city in a northwest province of Argentina. We were hosted by Raul and his brother Juan Carlos in Jujuy.  We were interviewed for local TV news and the news reporters were fascinated with URI’s principles and organization design. We visited Teodosio Martinez, a CC member living in Humahuaca. Teodosio is the keeper of cultural music and traditions and highly respected elder. They chose the name Qewña for their CC because it is the name of a tree that is almost extinct but trying to be revived. The Qewña tree has a very deep root. The Qewña CC is dedicated to reviving the deep roots of indigenous traditions and offering these values and practices as gifts to society. This CC is involved in a major project to integrate initiatives in reviving cultural values, education, organic farming, health and technology to provide support for renewed healthy communities. They are members of an MCC – Peoples of the Earth.

Click here to view the TV interview.

All of these individuals are exemplars of URI values in their communities. How can URI measure their impact – what they give in the way they live URI’s values and what they receive? They encourage interfaith cooperation and community development of all kinds. Their character, actions, relationships and histories make real the vision of URI. As we absorbed their qualities and obvious leadership in their own CCs and communities, we also experienced the invisible ripple of positive influence these people generate.