The Interfaith Committee Report
January 2009

Our Documentary Work

Our Committee recognizes the important work of many grass roots Urantia Book readers. Our goal for the next several years is to document important planetary work in which some of our readers are engaged. Our first project is dedicated to Free Schools International. We recently traveled to Toronto, Ontario to visit Sue and Derek Tenant. The purpose of the trip was to develop a proposal in order to obtain grants. These grants will be used to document and film the work and experience of Free Schools International.

We will endeavor to film a quality documentary to be shown on PBS. Peter Laurence has created one award-winning documentary that has aired on PBS and is working on his second. We have recruited talented and skilled Urantia Book readers for filming, editing, music, writing, and voiceovers. We will film the students, teachers, and aides for the purpose of educating leading nations regarding the status of girls in India and Thailand. I’m including the documentation we created while in Toronto below. This work is meaningful and will make life-altering changes in the girls of these villages.

The problem
There are one billion people in the world who are illiterate and 2/3 of them are women. In India alone, 200 million women cannot read and write. Illiteracy causes extreme poverty and puts women and children at the risk of human trafficking.  After arms and drugs, human trafficking is the most lucrative exploitation occurring in the world. Two areas of the world where this situation is at it worse are in the state of Bihar in India and among the hill tribes and Burmese refugees in Northern Thailand. Ninety percent of these illiterate people live in rural villages that are difficult to access, hampering the efforts by the governments and NGO’s.
The poverty and desperation is so extreme that parents are compelled to take the lives of newborn girls who are less valued to avoid having another mouth to feed. These parents also sell their daughters as young as 8 years old. What happens to them? They end up in brothels or as bonded laborers in homes all over the world. Entire villages can be complicit in this situation.
There are two problems: the parents do not understand education and are reluctant to lose their children to the necessary workforce for the family survival.
It is extremely difficult to find committed and dedicated teachers to work in these areas. In traditional cultures, deeply ingrained prejudices hamper the commitment of state trained teachers.
These people are trapped in the cycle of ignorance and poverty and the solution begins with education -- particularly with emphasis on those who have been disenfranchised -- women and girls.
The loss of human potential is staggering. Research shows that if women were educated the result would be lower birthrates, fewer and healthier children, empowerment of women to contribute economically to their families, the breakdown of cultural and religious barriers, the encouragement of civic participation and responsibility, and  a civilizing affect on society in general.

The Solution
The Free School project began in 1996 as a free evening school project in Motihari, Bihar. Free Schools World Literacy is a secular educational system involving teachers and supervisors from a variety of religious backgrounds. The mission of Free Schools is to break the cycle of ignorance and poverty by empowering women and children through free education.
In 2005, Free Schools World Literacy was incorporated and schools were expanded in Bihar, opened in Thailand and introduced to Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. From 2005 – 2008, this program went from 2 schools to over 70. Existing facilities and donated structures safe for children are used after closing hours where possible. Female teachers are trained from the same villages where the children live -- teachers who are known and trusted by the villages. In India, the quality primary curriculum involves reading, writing, arithmetic and health, civics, AIDs awareness and the perils of human trafficking as well as income producing skills. Nutritious snacks and clothing are provided.
The money raised for Free Schools pays for salaries for teachers, snacks and clothing, and educational materials. For some who pass a rigorous testing process and who excel academically, Free Schools provides scholarships to continue their education. One surprising outcome has been the emergence of the performance arts, including singing, dancing, art and oral history.
Now when a village asks for a Free School, the men must provide the land and labor and build the school structure before Free Schools provides the teacher. When complete, a teacher is carefully chosen and trained.
The criterion for success is the number of free schools students who are able to complete the program through grade 5. Some families are able to afford the modest tuition fees to go on to formal education after grade 5. Others receive partial scholarship.

The Video

Like the Micro Credit project where women are given small loans to start their own businesses, Free Schools are a means toward having a major positive impact with minimal expense. With the cooperation of Free Schools World Literacy we will produce a half hour documentary for airing on public television.  The purpose of this documentary is to give a voice to the suffering of women and children who have no means of speaking out for themselves, and to illustrate the benefits of education for them.

 The video will begin with images and the story of poverty, desperation, lack of education and the dire situations that force parents to sell their children. We will take a film crew to Bihar and Northern Thailand to capture the images and voices of these women and children, teachers and volunteers.
Our goal is to capture the image of Free Schools and what they do so the world will be made aware, reaching out for more groups to help the women and children on our planet. Through this documentary, we also hope to raise funds to give directly to Free Schools International for more schools and scholarships. Ninety five percent of all funds raised go to the Free Schools and staff. We ask for your partnership and assistance to create possibilities for these women and children.

NAIN Conference in June 2009

The North American Interfaith Network (NAIN) Conference will be in Kansas City in June, 2009. The Urantia Book Interfaith Committee will play a large role in the conference and will be working to entice Urantia Book readers to attend. Susan Cook and Peter Laurence are Co-Chairs of this conference and we will be focusing on Spirituality in Education and the Challenges of Religious Pluralism. It will be held at Unity Village, Missouri.

We ask all of you to attend this Interfaith conference and join with us to experience the Urmia project, our work with Free Schools, and to understand the work we are doing to further the Revelation in the Interfaith realm.

The Urmia Project

The Interfaith Committee has developed a workshop entitled, “Exploring the Big Questions.” Below you will see the outline of this workshop. Peter Laurence and I will conduct this workshop in Kansas City March 14 in the New York City area on July 9th.

Our goal is to enlist Urantia Book Readers around the United States to join us when we visit their area. We’ll train them in our method and ask them to continue this project. Our vision is continuity of the larger questions of life and religion from the point of view of the Urantia Book. We use statements from the Urantia Book to evoke thought from other religions and beliefs for stimulating conversation.

WORKSHOP TITLE:  EXPLORING THE BIG QUESTIONS

PRESENTERS

Susan Cook –Chair of the Interfaith Committee, The Urantia Book Fellowship; Board of Directors, North American Interfaith Network (NAIN); At-Large Member, Kansas City Interfaith Council.

Peter Laurence, Ed.D.  – Executive Director, the Education as Transformation Project at Wellesley College; Chairperson Emeritus, North American Interfaith Network (NAIN); Co-editor, Studies in Education and Spirituality book series (Peter Lang Publishing).

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION:

The workshop leaders will present material that addresses these questions from The Urantia Book, a recent source of deep religious significance.  Participants in the workshop will be asked to provide their own understandings regarding these topics, and the ensuing dialogue should be a rich source of inspiration for us all.

Our Future Work

United Nations NGO Status – Nick Curto is applying for United Nations NGO Status to be on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations. The Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations is a coalition of representatives of religious, spiritual and ethical non-governmental organizations who exchange varying points of view and are dedicated to the pursuit of peace, understanding and mutual respect. We’ll update you soon on our progress.

Committee Members:
Steve Rorhbach
Jo Ann Weidman
Peter Laurence
Bernie Gingras
Susan Cook

Adjuncts are:
Gard Jameson
Jill Kaveny