SARAH 's   Story

 

The Living Room Dialogues was the name of a 3 session meeting hosted by the County’s Dept of Human Relations. Equal numbers of men and women of the Jewish, Muslim, and Christian faiths were brought together to discuss, with controlled topics, our personal experiences in an effort to take the temperature of the community's level of tolerance and understanding following the 9/11 tragedies.

In sharing our personal stories of who we are, where we come from, and how that shapes us as individuals in our community, we had a chance to get to know one another and develop a bond. At our 3^rd and final meeting we all agreed, at the suggestion of Father Will Crist , that we should continue our relationship in a new format. One that would include doing community service together, a family picnic, youth empowerment programs, retreats and especially a trip to Mexico to build a home together for the organization Corazon.

It was during this trip Mexico that we developed the most unique bond. While taking  a break from our painting duties, about 5 women, all of diverse religions were standing in the dusty street talking about our impression of the day. Since the first meeting of the Living Room Dialogues,  I had been thinking about bringing  the women together since we connected so well and there seemed to be a strong connection between us, regardless of our cultural or religious backgrounds. In fact, it was because of our cultural and religious backgrounds that we experienced this bond. We quickly realized that we were too closely connected and, as women of the community we had not only an obligation but the immense power to make a difference together.

A Corazon representative, who had observed us throughout the day commented that we reminded him of "cousins separated at birth".

The name SARAH seemed fitting, as she was the wife of Abraham, the father of all 3 religions present. Also on that street came Spiritual And Religious Alliance for Hope.

 

 We hired a documentary film maker to follow us on our journey.  The film is called On Common Grounds.   Please take a look at this one minute clip from the documentary. Please click here for viewing information.

The rest is a work in progress. We know that dialogue is important, but action is what is going to make the bigger difference. Like a mother empowers her children, so does S.A.R.A.H. empower the community through the Peace Tapestries, Youth Empowerment programs, gleaning groups, book enlightenment , education programs and much more.