A pre-Congress tour led by Richard Kellaway, titled "Temples and Treasures of South India", will start out in an air-conditioned coach in Chennai and run for 7 or 8 days, arriving in Kochi in time for the IALRW and RFYN events (which begin 1st September).
More to follow, please check back here regularly.
"Beyond Conflict to Reconciliation:
The Challenge of the 21st Century"
The UN has declared that next year, 2010, shall be The International Year for Rapprochement of Cultures, and calls for “interreligious and intercultural dialogue, understanding and cooperation for peace".
As both people of faith and human rights defenders, IARF members are called to confront abuses of religious freedom. But where this is impossible, we must ask ourselves what contribution we can make to promoting reconciliation.
The challenge in this new century is to move beyond dialogue, toward creating pathways to reconciliatory interventions through interfaith collaboration.
Women and youth have a crucial role to play through their insights and perceptions.
Our congress will invoke and explore the shared values that must underpin any lasting resolution of the many religion-based tensions and conflicts in today’s world.
It will consider how to involve the perspectives and contributions of all ages and nationalities, and both genders, in joining together to help birth a new culture of peace among religions.
Theme: "The Role of Youth in Human Rights Duties"
Date: September 11th to 13th, 2009
This gathering concentrates on IARF's Human Rights Education program, and will be attended by its Indian participants & facilitators, and 25 international Master’s students at universities in India will attend.
Young adult leaders of the South Asia RFYN will also be there, and RFYN's representative on Council, Morse Flores, will lead sessions specifically to plan for the World Congress in Kochi next year (September 4th to 7th).
As the Congress is held in South Asia in this cycle, there will be a special organizing effort on the part of the regional RFYN, to prepare for the Young Adult Congress Pre-Meeting, 1st to 3rd September 2010 (immediately preceding the main event).
Emphasis at this Chennai gathering will be on devising an active program for both Pre-meeting & Congress, and social networking over the intervening year with a view to identifying how to best launch & sustain activism. Venue: Catholic Retreat Center known as "Dhyana (Meditation) Ashram ". Accommodation in three-bedded rooms with attached bathroom, in a very clean and peaceful atmosphere in the heart of the metro city.
Please contact the SACC Office, at:
http://www.iarf.net/2008site/YoungAdults/RFYN.htm
