Shared Voices Event 2 -Women of Faith

Understanding of different faiths begins at home, was just one of the themes for this year’s Women of Faith- shared Voices event, which I’ve had the pleasure of hosting and organising two years in a row. Our events have never been about “ticking boxes” but establishing real connections with individuals from all different faith groups and non. This year has been such an amazing year working on this project, which has included our trip to Bosnia with Remembering Srebrenica.

The greatest lesson has been “in the face of hate, we must love.” Without a doubt this year has also brought with it difficult conversations about issues happening around the world and it isn’t something we’ve chosen to ignore, as I believe we cannot move forward if we are unable to name the “elephant in the room.” However the beauty of working in the way that we have, through developing trust, and reflecting a non-judgemental attitude, is that even at testing and difficult times we have been able to have dialogue and fundamentally ask questions which sometimes we are too afraid to ask.

Yesterday we saw our women come together to celebrate “love for all, and hatred for non” with an afternoon of song, poetry, dialogue, shared understanding and some impromptu dancing which spanned across all faiths. We had the pleasure of listening to The Sacred Sounds Choir and Daf Daman with their hauntingly beautiful sounds. We had poetry/song written and performed by Jackie Harrison, Heather Fletcher on the meaning of interfaith, and heard Amna Abdul Latif share her story of being part of an interfaith family. We had Ann share some of the highlights of our trip to Bosnia and the learning, that even those who have suffered the most horrific crimes encourage justice, and most crucially peace by harbouring no hatred. I was able to close by sharing my poem on unconditional love; no matter what I experience in life there is always One greater love.

One woman at the event was emotional and shared this:

“this type of gathering brings me hope that despite what we hear and see happening around the globe, there are people committed to bring about change and there are far more good and compassionate people in the world.”

Aisha Mirza 2016