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Indo American News • Friday, Aug 19, 2011
IamCommunItynews
Online Edition: www.indoamerican-news.com
Unique camp by Interfaith ministries of Greater Houston
By ShIVEn dAnAyAK HOUSTON: During July 19- July 22, 2011, a unique camp was held by Interfaith Ministries of Greater Houston in the Baha’i Center located in Downtown Houston. About 7 different religions and more sub-religions were represented in this camp. Four youths, Ayush Sharma, Nikhil Jaiswal, Vinayak Shukla and myself, Shiven Danayak were sponsored by Hindus of Greater Houston, represented the Hindu Dharma.
places of worship. Not only were there religion based activities, but there were also volunteering and leadership activities. We went to volunteer at “Bread of Life” to help numerous homeless people in Downtown Houston. One very important activity was to create a 30 second PSA to help the society realize the changes that need to be made in order to establish a peaceful society. We were divided into three groups, each of which was given
Nikhil Jaiswal Shiven Danayak Ayush Sharma and Vinayak Shukla at the Interfaith Camp
Announcement
All four of us have been closely associated with Hindu Swayam Sevak Sangh and have been attending Shakha since our childhood. This Camp focused on interfaith dialogue, community service, and leadership development. Throughout the course of this camp, we were educated about the beliefs of major world religions and were introduced to other minority religions as well. We had an opportunity to learn about Zoroastrian and Baha’i faiths - their customs, traditions, and most importantly their beliefs in God. As we did not know much about these religions previously, we were very curious. We thoroughly enjoyed their lectures and the information given by them. Speakers from Buddhist faith also educated us on their beliefs and customs. We found their explanation about the art of Zen and meditation very enlightening. On the following days, we learnt about Islam and Judaism and visited a mosque and a synagogue, their respective
a topic. During the three days, we were given some time to discuss in our groups how and what to present in the video. On the last day we were scheduled to film the PSA in a professional studio. Afterwards, it would be shown on the news and the viewers would vote which group had the best PSA. I found the camp very educational and informative and had cleared many doubts and misunderstandings about other religions. Our belief that with healthy communication and the goal of serving the needy, all faith can come together, know each other while maintaining their own beliefs was further confirmed. However, there was little representation and explanation of Hinduism. In the future years, it would be great to have a Hindu representative who could educate others about Hindu philosophy and life style. Shiven Danayak is in 10 th grade and attends High Tower High School.
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Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdAy, AUGUsT 19 , 2011 • onlIne edITIon: www.IndoAmerIcAn-news.com