India (Gujarat): Morbi, Nana Dahisara & Kajarada
February 2005
31 Hindu young adults
Organiser: Hiten Bhagtani, RFYN India Gujarati leader.
For this project, the young adults did shramadan, gift of labour, at the sites built during the 2002 project. Most were very wary of going into a 100% Muslim village, entering their mosque and cleaning it. Most had never entered a mosque or had any interaction with Muslims and feared that they would hate the Hindus for what happened in 2002. Thanks to the cordial relations built up since the 2002 project, the Muslim elders agreed on this particular shramadan. Once in the village and the mosque, the young adults became friendly with the villagers and started interacting with them. The gesture of visiting their village and cleaning their place of worship was greatly appreciated.
Suspicion and reservations diminished as they discussed the importance of building up understanding & respect for each others’ religions.
A similar discussion took place between the villagers and the young adults at Nana Dahisara where the temple was cleaned.
