 May/Summer 2000 (XXXVIII 3) |
group of Friends is meeting monthly in Philadelphia in support of the vision of the small Friends worship group in New Delhi, India.
The support group was prompted by the extensive visits made by George and Lillian Willoughby of Central Philadelphia Meeting to many parts of India over the past years and the visit by Mary Arnett, also of Central Philadelphia, to New Delhi and the major cities of Pakistan last June.
Delhi Friends have asked us to send one or two trained Friends to New Delhi to run a series of Alternatives to Violence Project workshops. An ongoing local program would emphasize communal harmony and understanding and include interested non-Friends of all persuasions.
New Delhi Friends' Vision Paper goes on to outline their longer term goal of re-establishing the Quaker Peace Center which existed there until the early 1970s. Now more than ever they feel the need to have a place where seekers from all the communities that make up Indian society can have a place to dialogue among themselves and with like-minded people from neighboring countries about sources of tension. Beyond conflict, they feel the need to be in a place where they can develop and implement an interfaith, inter-community approach to addressing mutual social concerns and problems, such as education (especially of girls), population and the environment.
To get involved in the Philadelphia support group for New Delhi Friends, contact George Willoughby at geowilby@juno.com or call Margaret Grace.
Mary Arnett
Central Philadelphia Meeting
Last modified: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at 08:19 AM