Interfaith Dialogue

Dialogue for Life and Reconciliation (DLR) was born in 2010 out of the recognition that although young people from different backgrounds occasionally spend time together socially, it is rare to actually visit each other’s houses. Interfaith dialogue is one of DLR’s most important projects. An ‘inter-religious academy’ was established which functions almost like a summer university. For a period of two weeks, young students undergo trainings in form of talks and workshops about different religions and cultural backgrounds. The idea is to learn about each other’s differences and way of life, while creating a space for interaction. Students are provided with the tools and skills on how to approach each other, how to inquire about each other’s religions and how to debate sensitive issues. As a last step during this academy, young people with different backgrounds are tasked to construct and build something together. This can be the building of a house, the painting of a wall or a small theatre play. In small follow up programs once the academy is over, the participants are given the chance to celebrate holidays such as Christmas and Ramadan together. Beyond that, the participants are divided into mixed groups and sent their universities where they conduct training, recruit new participants and talk about their experiences. The reason for the follow up programs is to keep the newly built relationships between students alive and to keep them working on a common cause.