Farha Tahir

The world is changing. Our society is changing. No longer can we enclose ourselves within our faith communities and limit our interactions with other groups. The pluralistic nature of our society is too diverse and too important for us to lock ourselves in enclaves or prevent ourselves from knowing each other. For far too long, each religion has kept to itself.

Recent events based on hate and lack of understanding proved that that was no longer an option. And, for the first time in high school, I truly understood what that meant.

Interfaith work defined my high school years. And, Tomorrow’s Present was the launching pad. My first exposure to interfaith work on the youth level came in planning the Interfaith Youth Forum, a meeting of students of all different faiths and backgrounds from around the greater Milwaukee area coming together to share their values and learn about one another.

I remember walking into the first planning committee meeting, months before the event itself, a bit nervous about what was to come. We went around, learning where the other planners went to school and what they were involved with. I quickly realized something very important: we were making history. This was going to result in something really powerful.

The Interfaith Youth Forum was the first of its kind. A truly unique project designed by and for youth to dispel stereotypes and actively create a better world. It was such an exceptional experience. An innovative approach that understood something others had just begun to realize: the principle that education and understanding were the real methods of combating the world’s problems. The idea is that interactions between the faiths could change hearts and minds. The idea is that efforts must begin with the next generation.

It all began with a profound realization that a thoughtful discourse among faith communities can be immensely powerful, by acknowledging each other’s humanity, by appreciating one another. Interfaith dialogue can change lives, and, as a result, it can change our world.

The experience of working on the Interfaith Youth Forum forced me to look within myself, to keep myself in check, and to ensure that I am an example of my ideals. Ultimately, these experiences of helping others better enable me to help myself. I realized that each person could do something immensely important and more than that, that youth could do something immensely important.

The experience provided me with motivation for the rest of my life. Going into college, my passion for internship work carried through. The desire to embrace diversity and facilitate discourse in order to unearth similarities within groups still burns strong within me. A Zulu proverb states that the art of becoming a person is learned through other people. Tomorrow’s Present goes to the heart of this concept. Tomorrow’s Present creates a means of interaction where that development is possible. Tomorrow’s Present empowers young leaders and invests in our future. Tomorrow’s Present plants the seeds for a fruitful future.