April 30, 2001
Students 'journey' to five varied sites By Elaine Justice
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Four interfaith groups of Emory students will travel in May to Cuba, Bolivia, Northern Ireland and two American Indian reservations to meet with community leaders, educators and religious groups, and attempt to understand the roots of conflict in the locales and ways those rifts are being healed. Called Journeys of Reconciliation, the trips take students
outside the insular world of a university campus to connect with far-flung
communities. The goal is to cultivate relationships of collaboration,
learning, partnership, service opportunity and friendship with communities
around the world that are working toward reconciliation, according to
Susan Henry-Crowe, dean of the chapel and religious life. Her office sponsors
the trips. More than a dozen students and staff will travel to Cuba May 1726
to meet with community leaders, universities and religious groups to explore
partnerships to support the work Health and healing will be the focus for the dozen students and staff
traveling to Bolivia, May 1731. They will partner with Andean Rural
Healthcare, an organization that provides health care to remote regions.
The Emory group will help build a medical clinic, as well as volunteer
in other clinics and meet with local community members and religious organizations. The group traveling to Northern Ireland, May 1530, will be partnering
with political leaders, religious groups, community centers and leaders
from across the six partitioned counties of Northern Ireland. As in past
years, they will discuss how to support the work of communities and individuals
working toward reconciliation, according to Emory Assistant Chaplain Lauren
Cogswell. The fourth journey will take students and staff to Crow and Northern
Cheyenne reservations in the vicinity of Billings, Mont., May 1929.
The group will meet with health care providers, tribal police and area
business and civic leaders to learn more about the history, culture and
current issues faced by these American Indian communities. Several students experiences with different religious communities
abroad have spurred them to recommit to their own religious communities
here at home, Cogswell said. |