Malaria & Multi-Faith Action: A Calling for Our Generation

We hosted our first action event as Faiths Act Fellows at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University on Tuesday, Nov. 10 with the words of Gandhi in mind: “A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.”  

We—the 30 Faiths Act Fellows around the U.S., U.K., and Canada—are that small body of determined spirits.   Our mission is to rally young people around the Millennium Development Goals, specifically malaria eradication, through multi-faith action.  We hope to alter the course of history by saving lives and adding our voices to the global call to halve the number of people living in extreme poverty by 2015.  It is possible because malaria is preventable, treatable, and can be defeated. We have the option of success or failure, but we simply cannot watch from the sidelines. 

We shared our vision and our practical optimism with the audience, explaining the history of the Faiths Act Campaign, describing the effects of malaria, and inviting participants to join us in action.  

We examined shared values in a number of faith traditions, understanding that service is a core theme among many of the world’s religions.  We ended the evening with a call to action: Young people can make a difference, and it is up to each of us to take on this responsibility.  We can change lives and we can improve the world. After our event, we were invited to share this message with a group of Berkley Center Fellows, involved in a project on new social media and inter-religious understanding.  These Georgetown undergraduates are pioneers in the interfaith world, investigating how to use new technology to achieve shared goals.  

There are many talented and capable young people pursuing interfaith cooperation at Georgetown, including the young people we met on Tuesday.  Each one has his or her own story and brings energy to the movement.  The future of interfaith action looks promising in Washington.

Learn. Act. Change the World.

Randa Kuziez and Avi Smolen
Faiths Act Fellows

(Our event was hosted at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, and co sponsored by the World Faiths Development Dialogue; Office of Campus Ministry; Hindu Students Association; Georgetown Hillel; Office of the Muslim Chaplain; Georgetown University Interfaith Council.)

To find out more about our work visit our homepage here.