WFWP Canada Builds Bridges of Trust and Love
The Women’s Federation for World Peace (WFWP) Canada hosted a bilingual Women of Faith Webinar on Monday, January 30th, 2023. There were 53 participants in attendance. The theme of the webinar was “Women of Faith—building bridges of trust and love between cultures, races and religions”
WFWP President Lilly Tadin invited participants via email where she said the following:
“This event is for women of all faiths. Together, we can experience the power of unity and discover new ways to strengthen our families, communities, nations and the world.
Through these webinars, we can learn and empower each other as well as explore new ways to work together and engage our communities toward the needed positive change.”
The Webinar Featured four Women of Faith Speakers. Jeannine Musau Kabuya [Unificationist Missionary], Salma Elibyari [Secretary, Canadian Council of Muslim Women Montreal Chapter], Nala Moorthy [Hindu] and Catherine Biaya [Christian Human Rights Activist].
Nalan Moorthy
The first panelist, Nala Moorthy, provided the Hindu perspective as a possible solution for the spiritual void that exists today. The contributions of the Hindu faith are the samsara (doctrines), karma (self responsibility), dharma (good conduct and morality), yoga (unity of mind and body), Ahimsa (love, care and compassion towards all living). Nala states that abiding by these eternal laws can create harmony in society.
Catherine Biaya
The second panelist, Catherine Biaya, presented the dynamics on how to build bridges of trust and love between cultures, races and religions from the Christian perspective. She emphasized using critical questions to know one’s own culture, avoid biases, avoid prejudices, stereotypes, discrimination and racism. She recommended the use of the principles of mutual respect, mutual sharing, mutual responsibility and mutual recognition.
Salma Elibyari
The third panelist, Salma Elibyari, spoke about the necessity of Muslim awareness week.
“Our hope is that the results of this one week of activities remain with all of us well beyond a limited time-frame. The aim is to improve the understanding of Quebec Muslims in a deliberate approach aiming at achieving social cohesion, minimize if not prevent conflict, curtail violent acts, and sustain harmony in our society. We invite you to join us in this journey through our multiple events.”
Salma revealed the four key factors of success for the project as:
Addressing the sources of misunderstanding of Quebec Muslims
Creating a prerequisite environment for addressing the root causes of conflict in our society
Offering opportunities for rapprochement among various groups
Developing effective tools for education about Muslims and advocacy for Muslims in Quebec
Jeannine Musau Kabuya
The final panelist, Jeannine Musau Kabuya, concluded her presentation with a definition of women of faith. According to Jeannine, to be a woman of faith is to be a woman of word. A woman of word uses the power of persuasion, communication, sacrifice and service. A woman of faith has self esteem and confidence and the sense of responsibility that aims for change. She is an actress not a spectator. She lives for others through service and sacrifice. She keeps hope in all circumstances. She does not remain closed on her knees praying and fasting without action, for faith without works is dead.
The evening concluded with a question and answer period and group photo.