“I believe that expanding this contact between our communities is essential,” he said at the interaction and book distribution program at the school, a part of a special outreach program.[break]
The special outreach program initiated in 2009 by the Embassy of the United States in Nepal and Teacher’s Educator’s Society—Nepal (TESON)has been working to open a communication channel between the Muslim community and the Embassy.
Basu Dev Kafle, president of TESON, said the program was initiated to start a “dialogue with the Muslim community” and its main objective is to “eliminate the misunderstandings about the community and to address their challenges.”
Quoting US President Barack Obama’s speech in Cairo on June 4, 2009—a speech said to have started a “new beginning” between the US and the Muslim world— Envoy DeLisi pointed out Islam’s role in American history and success stories of the Muslim community, including Obama. The US is home to an estimated seven million American Muslims.
And in the book titled “Being Muslim in America”, distributed to students, the message is easy to understand through the texts and pictures representing the Muslim culture, community and their success stories.
“The book is phenomenal in that it shows the diversity of Islam in America,” said Amanda Jacobsen, cultural affairs officer at the Embassy, pointing at the cover of the book that shows two women playing basketball, one with a headscarf and the other in her shorts.
Ambassador DeLisi said the book is an “effort to begin a relationship between the US Embassy and the Muslim communities in Nepal.”
And the Embassy, through its outreach program, plans to inform about American society, culture, and values, and to establish dialogue. DeLisi said he has found the exchanges to be “productive and rewarding.” Since December 2009, the program has conducted educational workshops in 19 places, including Bhairahawa, Biratnagar, Gorkha, Rautahat, and Parsa.
“The U.S. Embassy in Nepal is committed to the ideals and vision laid out by President Obama in his Cairo speech,” DeLisi said, vowing assistance programs that would benefit the Muslim community.
In July, the Embassy is organizing a digital video conferencing between Muslims in Nepal and the United States to discuss Islamic education in their respective countries.
During the two-hour program, students and teachers of the school also put forth their queries regarding education in America, facilities for underprivileged but intelligent students to study in America, and how to overcome challenges the community faces.
“Education is critically important,” His Excellency DeLisi said, adding that it is important to understand what one’s hopes and concerns are.
“If you have a dream—about higher education, what you want to do— don’t give up just because it is hard,” he concluded. “You can do it to achieve your dream. But you do have to make that effort. You have to reach for it and work for it.”
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