NEWS
Meeting the torch-bearers of social action
12:56 Mon 21 Jun 2010
Shahnaz Ahsan, student engagement officer for the Coexistence Trust, visited Cambridge university last week to meet Jewish and Muslim students. She recounts her experience.
Posted by: ctadmin
"Visiting Cambridge in last Week brought back waves of nostalgia for the care-free, post-exam bliss I experienced during my student days.
Everywhere I turned there were undergrads sprawled on lawns or sitting outside cafes enjoying their well-deserved freedom after a grueling term of exams and essays.
One particular group of students were gracious enough to agree to meet me in the midst of their serious relaxing and discuss the student engagement projects that The Coexistence Trust is launching for the next academic year.
I met Sarah Sheppard and Miri Fenton and their cohort of fellow Jewish and Muslim female students on Jesus Green for their final event of the academic year: a well-deserved picnic.
The Muslim-Jewish Women’s organisation call themselves “MoJoWs” and bring together students from both faith communities who want to learn and experience more about each other, and establish positive relations on campus.
I witness genuine warmth and friendship between the women – when Sabiha and Fatima arrive somewhat late, Miri thrusts a bowl of rice salad at them to their delight. “I love Kosher food!” exclaims Fatima.
These kind of relationships are exactly what we seek to facilitate and develop at The Coexistence Trust through our Campus Ambassadors Programme.
We want to take students such as these and offer them mentoring and coaching in running activities on campus. Many are already proficient in organising events and committees – but what the Trust offers is more than training.
We also offer students the chance to develop a personalised learning experience, where they set and achieve their own personal goals for their leadership development.
The skills they will gain from participating in the Ambassadors programme are transferrable making them not only more employable in the face of current economic recession, but also will establish them as torch-bearers for an outlook of social action and community interaction that is invaluable in Britain today."
Previous page: JOB OPPORTUNITIES
Next page: CONTACT US