On Tuesday 26th of January Face to Faith co-ordinators from Lebanon, Jordan, the Palestinian Territories, Pakistan, India, Australia and the UK convene for the first time in London to discuss the achievements of the programme to date.
Face to Faith is a global schools programme which connects 11-16 year olds of different faiths and none through video conferencing technology, allowing students to learn directly with, from and about each other.
Since its launch in summer 2009, Face to Faith has grown rapidly and now operates in 12 countries: India, Pakistan, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Jordan, Palestinian Territories, Lebanon, Australia, UK, US and Canada. Over 100 schools and 10,000 students are currently registered to take part.
Video conferences have already taken place between students in Jordan and the Palestinian Territories, Singapore and the US and within India. Last week children from slums in New Delhi connected with a school in Bolton, UK and in the coming months will also connect with schools in Jordan, the Palestinian Territories and New York.
"I'm a Christian," a Jordanian student in a recent session told a room of Muslim students in the Palestinian territories. "But I'm inspired and amazed by the way that Muslims are dedicated to their five daily prayers and respect them very much."
“Although Face to Faith is a new programme, it is developing very rapidly, and the enthusiasm that we find amongst students, educators and legislators across the world suggests that the approach we are advocating is very much of the moment - people all over the world recognize the need to prepare young people for a rapidly changing, and richly diverse future, and the Face to Faith Programme sets out to meet that need.
I'm very excited about the potential of this programme as a way of giving young people opportunities to develop relationships with one another across the globe, to establish meaningful dialogue with each other, to face and to overcome prejudices, and to teach and learn from one another about both the rich diversity of their cultures and faith, and the commonalities of human experience.” - Tony Blair, Founder and Patron of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation
