Community Connections Network

CC/Russia 2010 – Interfaith Issues in the US
Hosted by the International Visitors Council of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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Religion plays an important role in the republic with 1,440 religious organizations registered.  The participants explained that the long history of multiple faiths in Tartarstan, including Muslim, Orthodox, Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant followers has formed a culture of interfaith dialogue and cooperation in the region.

The Community Connection program provided the participants with the opportunity to learn about the cooperative efforts of various secular and religious organizations in the United States to support interfaith dialogue, integration, tolerance of diverse religious cultures, and community outreach.

A very important part of their work is to improve their outreach in the community to provide social services for the poor, disabled, and sick.  The delegation explained that even though the national and local governments are supportive of maintaining religious pluralism and diversity, the local authorities do not always understand the seriousness of social problems in the region.  After the fall of the Soviet Union, the group explained that religious institutions were re-established in the 1990s but since then, they have not reached a point where they can effectively serve the growing needs of the community due to a lack of government funds and structures.  One participant said that although his Orthodox church is working with people with HIV/AIDS and on programs of drug and alcohol rehabilitation, it is one of very few non-governmental organizations working on these issues in the region and they do not have the funds to expand their efforts.

The group learned much about the community work of religious organizations through visits to the African American Interdenominational Ministries & AAIM-SAFE Program, the Lutheran Children and Family Service, and the Mercy Philadelphia Hospital of the Mercy Health System.  They were impressed that these organizations helped people in need regardless of religious faith. They also learned about cooperation between religious organizations and government offices through visits to the Mayor’s Office of Faith-based Initiatives and the Police Athletic League of Philadelphia.

The group served meals to homeless people at Saint John’s Hospice in Philadelphia and were impressed with how the American culture of volunteerism teaches people to help others in need without any expectation of material reward. They found the concept of volunteerism to be a very powerful tool for community outreach and plan to make a conscious effort to improve volunteerism among young people in Tatarstan by promoting volunteer activities among university students in Tatarstan when the, “University Games” are held in Kazan in 2013.

During their meetings in Philadelphia and Washington, DC, the Russian delegates had the opportunity to make new connections with their US counterparts and the group returned home with many achievable goals and action plans.  Sessions with the Department of Religion at Temple University, led to being asked to submit future journal articles on interfaith issues; a visit to a mosque outside of Philadelphia led to a potential development of an exchange program with the Russian Islamic University in Kazan; and visits to Lutheran churches formed a new connection for the participant working in a non-profit German Lutheran organization in Tatarstan.  Sagit Dzhaxybaev and other participants were intent on planning an international interfaith conference in Kazan and inviting many of the contacts they had met during their program.  Elmira Nguni mentioned her dream of creating an interfaith center in Tatarstan using the rich resource of interfaith history and work in Tatarstan now seemed more possible after her experience in the US.

The participants stated that they felt, “half-American” because of the warm hospitality and support they received from their hosts, and their home stay families.  US Department of State officials were impressed by their dedication to the strengthening interfaith cooperation in the region and praised the participants for their religious philanthropy efforts in their communities.  The delegation felt strongly that programs like this are building good cooperation and relations between the US and Russia and they hope to maintain relationships with their new American friends for years to come.

The Community Connections program welcomed a second delegation from various regions in Russia for Interfaith Issues II in June 2010.  Look for highlights of the program in the next issue.

The group was also featured on USAID’s Telling Our Story – http://www.usaid.gov/locations/europe_eurasia/press/success/2010-06-06.html

Source:  Alumni Event report by American Councils-Tajikistan

CC Program: Tajikistan 2006 – Healthy Life Style Education
Hosted by the International Center of Worcester, Massachusetts
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Tuberculosis remains a problem in Tajikistan with about 2,800-3,500 new cases reported each year, according to the National TB Control Center. The country’s socioeconomic situation and lack of tuberculosis preventive programs have aggravated the situation.  As a response to his country’s needs, CC Healthy Lifestyle Education alumnus, Numon Abduhamedov developed an action plan during his Community Connections program to use drama skits for health awareness and promotion.  After completing the CC program, Numon wrote two plays on HIV and Tuberculosis (TB) that gained popularity in Dushanbe and surrounding communities in Tajikistan.

Numon, the editor of a local newspaper and director of the NGO Tajikistan Doctors, Actors, and Sportsmen for Human Rights, collaborated with famous Tajik actors of the Lahuti Theater to develop a drama skit about a village family facing a TB problem called, “Life is Not Eternal”.  The writers and actors used play performance dialogues and monologues to share information about TB in an accessible way, focusing on the disease’s causes, diagnosis, treatment, and prophylactics.

The actors and program coordinator traveled to 3 Tajik districts, Gissar, Shahrinav, and Tursunzade and presented ten skits in December 2009 to a total of 1,200 children, men, and women. After each show, the audience asked questions about the disease and its prevention. Some members of the audience even spoke on stage to share their perspectives about the skits and emphasized the importance of these performances to help raise awareness about TB among the Tajik population.

There was such an overwhelmingly positive response to the use of drama skits as effective tool increase awareness of TB and preventative treatments that local authorities have asked the program implementers to bring the TB prevention skits to other remote areas of country where the disease is widespread.

Numon’s Community Connections experience coupled with strong community support turned his action plan into reality.

CC Program: Ukraine 2006-2009 Alumni

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In February 2010, Thirty-five alumni of the Community Connections Program in Ukraine convened at a two-day seminar outside of Kyiv to discuss Copyright and Intellectual Property Rights, Patent and Licensing Issues. The event was arranged by the implementing local partner organization, Smart Conference and was attended by alumni from 9 different regions of Ukraine and 13 different program themes spanning 2006-2009 program years.

The presenters represented a dynamic group of professionals in the various fields related to copyright and licensing issues including book publishing and distribution and classical music management.  The USAID/Ukraine program manager, Tamara Palyvoda underscored the importance of observing intellectual property rights for the economic growth of the country and to increase its level of competitiveness in international markets. The Ukrainian State Department of Intellectual Property presented on several topics: the legal and practical aspects of copyright and cooperative rights in Ukraine, the registration of copyrights, and the rights of authors and publishers of educational materials.  Independent experts, representatives of trademark and patent agencies and other specialists led discussions on issues dealing with the production, export and import of disks, intellectual property rights and the Internet, inventions and innovations (transforming ideas into products, protecting copyrights and patents), judicial opinions, compensation for damages, corporate styles and logos (registration and protection).

Prior to the seminar, an open on-line Q&A forum took place.  Sections of the event itself were broadcast live, which was available for viewing at 17 Internet Centers around Ukraine and on personal computers. The seminar broadcast was visited 1029 times by 647 unique users and is currently posted on http://gurt.org.ua/communityconnections/.

During the seminar, participants worked together in small groups based on their interests: publishing, music, patents and know-how, and the Internet.  Four alumni described intellectual property issues they had faced in their professions and how they attempted to address and/or resolved them. Participants rated the seminar very highly and found the topics extremely important and pertinent to their work.  For many, it was the first opportunity to explore these areas closely and with legal experts.

Soon after, two immediate projects emerged. The alumni of the Book Publishing and Distribution group analyzed existing laws, conducted research and found a mechanism to create an electronic library of Ukrainian literature with open access, while an alumnus of the Classical Music Management group planned to make a 50 CD compendium of Ukrainian classical music.

Photos at the alumni event were taken by Pylyp Lytvynov from GURT, the resource center that provided technical assistance for the seminar and can be viewed at the link below.

http://picasaweb.google.com/gurtrc/MorningSeminar?feat=flashalbum#5438400478696612066