Tony Blair Faith Foundation

The University of Western Australia (UWA) Religion and Globalisation Initiative’s Interfaith Dinner last week was a fun, inspiring and ultimately a historical event. UWA takes pride in its diversity and has many vastly different student-run groups open for participation, both religious-based and those dedicated to social action. But to bring these varying perspectives together, at one table, to talk about working together toward a greater goal, that had never been done before.

Anna Sofia from Tecnológico de Monterrey, in Mexico, was one of a number of students from our Face to Faith programme who took part in My Friend of a Different Faith writing their own stories of how they have lived with and learned from their friend of a different faith. This story was one of our prize winners.

The videoconference was an amazing experience. There were many excellent points raised that I had not previously considered and it was so great to see these ideas came from all over the world.  The questions were both challenging and intelligent, touching on every area of human trafficking. Their questions included challenges on government and global responsibility, what we as the public can do, issues of social media, buying power and how would raising awareness directly affect trafficking.

Last week the Archbishop of Canterbury hosted his annual multi-faith dialogue on international development. This year the event was co-hosted with Islamic Relief Worldwide, Catholic Overseas Development Agency (CAFOD), Progressio and the Tony Blair Faith Foundation and discussed pressing, contemporary questions about the role of faith communities in development.

  The Roman Catholic Loreto Sisters took the decision, a few years ago, that every one of their provinces should start a new community outside their own country.  That is how one of them, and English nun, Sister Imelda Poole ended up in Tirana, Albania.  Her work brought her into contact with the Roma – there were 60,000 in Tirana alone - who suffered social hostility and violence.  They lived mainly in camps without running water or electricity, often earning their living by begging on the streets.   Recently they have been given free school registration.&

  Sophie Hayes told her story of being trafficked to Italy in the Palazzo San Callisto in Trastevere. It was the first time she had done so in a large formal gathering of Church leaders and workers, NGOs and senior law enforcement officers. By chance I was sitting next to her. Though she had written a book about her horrific experiences, relating them in this setting brought her to tears. She was being interviewed by Julie Etchingham, the UK's ITN presenter on News at Ten, with gentleness and sensivity.

This article orginally appeared on the Huffington Post. The Alpha Leadership conference taking place today in London is a reminder that despite all the negative news about religion, a different face of faith is visible and real the world over. The Alpha course on leadership, which was begun under Nicky Gumbel of the Holy Trinity Church in London, has been taken by 18 million people world-wide and is all about spreading a gospel of compassion and service to others.

Today, Face to Faith is hosting special video conferences on Human Trafficking. When Sophie Hayes, a British girl who has escaped trafficking, heard about our video conferences, she wanted to contribute. Sophie believes that educating young people through programmes like Face to Faith is incredibly important for keeping children safe from human trafficking.

Emma from Broughton Business and Enterprise College, United Kingdom, was one of a number of students from our Face to Faith programme who took part in My Friend of a Different Faith writing their own stories of how they have lived with and learned from their friend of a different faith. This story was one of our prize winners. You can find the work of other prize winning Face to Faith students on the My Friend of a Different Faith resource page in company with others like  Eboo Patel, Joel Edwards, and many more. Alison. That's what I'll call my friend.

Of those who visit London from overseas, many are eager to visit the Royal sites such as Buckingham Palace in the vain hope that they might catch a glimpse of members of the royal family. I often have to explain to my friends who visit that the chances of actually seeing royalty up close are fairly slim!