African Child receives malaria treatment
(AP Photo/ Karel Prinsloo)
Silicon Valley attracts any number of energetic, visionary young people from around the world, but Tim Brauhn and Hafsa Arain are not here to create a new killer app or solar power cell. They're here to help save children from malaria.
Tim and Hafsa arrived in San Jose in October two of 30 young people from the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada who have become Faith Acts Fellows in a joint program sponsored by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's Faith Foundation and the Interfaith Youth Corps, founded in Chicago by Eboo Patel.
The Faith Acts fellows come from a variety of religious backgrounds, and have been assigned to cities like London, Washington DC, Montreal, Portland, Birmingham (England), and Boston. Their focus is on the United Nations Millennium Development Goals in general, and specifically on the campaign to end malaria worldwide.
Recently, Tim spoke with me about the program and his experiences. The starting point for the program came when Tony Blair and Eboo Patel met at the World Economic Forum. They began talking about what an international interfaith youth project might look like, and out of those conversations the Faith Acts Fellows was created.
30 Fellows were named, and immediately embarked on an intensive round of training around the Millennium Development Goals and malaria. This involved meetings in London with representatives of Malaria No More UK, time spent at a research and training center in Bagamoyo, Tanzania, and developing skills for interfaith dialogue and advocacy in Chicago.
While in Tanzania, Tim joined in conversations with local imams and priests about how malaria is a preventable disease that affects the whole community. It is not sufficient for any single group to take precautions. One must continually ask, "What about your neighbors?" They learned about the successes in Zanzibar in combating malaria using mosquito nets and anti-malarial medications, and work to connect faith groups in the local areas to work together for the common good.
Originally from Illinois, Tim studied International Studies and Faith and Politics at the University of Denver. He was active in setting up a student interfaith alliance and, though he himself comes from a Roman Catholic background, he served at the chair of the Muslim student group on campus.
He and Hafsa, a Muslim graduate of DePaul University who has long been active with the Interfaith Youth Corps, are delighted to find themselves in San Jose. Many of the Felllows feel somewhat isolated in their assigned cities, but there is so much already going on in this area that they feel right at home.
They are based at ING, a locally-based international organization that provides speakers on Islam and Interfaith for schools, governmental organizations, and religious groups. They have begun connecting to existing student groups at local universities: Stanford, St. Mary's, and Santa Clara; they will soon branch out to the University of San Francisco, University of California, Berkeley, and local Community Colleges.
Welcome, Tim and Hafsa!
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