MosqueopenDay

Audiences were treated to aspects of the Australian Intercultural Society’s ANZAC Spirit Study Tour to Turkey last year. Participants from last year’s tour briefed the group who are taking part this year about their travels and their salient experiences.

“The enduring memory is the people,” said Assistant Commissioner of Victoria Police. They were extremely welcoming. Everywhere we went, we left with a gift. We got to meet some fabulous people.” The country where East meets West, participants reflected on the fact that Turkey constitutes a unique context for the bridging of communities and faiths: “There are not many places in the world where you have a mosque in one corner, a synagogue on another and a Christian church on another,” said the Assistant Commissioner. “This was a great opportunity for personal growth intellectually and spiritually. The greatest learning experience was the number of similarities between my Christianity and the Islamic faith.” A history teacher at Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School discussed the significance of the ANZAC and Gallipoli experience and the message that it imparts to people today: “It threw together two peoples from different parts of the world who had absolutely no history with each other. Many of the Australian soldiers, in fact, did not even know where Turkey was on the map and, I daresay, many Turkish soldiers would have been the same,” he said. “What made this conflict even more fascinating was the fact that this conflict was unique in the annals of warfare. If you go back through history you would not find many adversaries who actually commemorate the same battle together, side by side.” The Friendship Agreement signed by Meadow Heights Primary School and a sister school in Gallipoli on ANZAC Day is testament to the enduring relationship that was forged there. Principal of Meadow Heights Primary School, mentioned that packages had already been exchanged four times in the past year.

Chris Lay, a travel consultant who participated in last year’s tour noted that meeting with everyday people from different facets of society in their homes was something that a standard tourist could not experience, stating that “Being with Mr and Mrs Average in their home with their families was an absolute honour and a privilege.” Photos and presentations reflected the diversity, colour and richness of their encounters. David Schütz from the Catholic Archdiocese’s Ecumenical and Interfaith Commission spoke of the importance of travel as a learning experience. “It gives you the opportunity of seeing not only up the mountain, but down the mountain, he said.

Travel to sites that are significant to different faith traditions is also relevant. “There are different stories. People have different narratives. It grounds one to go to some of these places that are so central to our faiths.

More info on Scheduled Study Tours