Published Friday, October 1, 2004.
Ohio University got the nod from the United States State Department to spearhead peace and reconciliation in Indonesia, where conflicts between Muslims and Christians have existed since 1998, and to improve relations between the Southeast Asian country and the United States.
According to a news release from Ohio University's Center of International Affairs, OU was invited to apply for the grant because of the faculty's long involvement in Indonesia. OU recently has collaborated with government and non-governmental organizations working to promote peace and reconciliation efforts. OU competed with other colleges for the grant.
As a result, 10 Indonesians were at OU for four days this week. The group participated in a workshop on interfaith dialogue, met community leaders and observed peer mediation program in the local schools, said Richard Kraince, special projects manager at the Center for International Affairs.
The program began in Chicago, where the participants observed various interfaith activities. Yesterday morning the group left Athens for Washington, D.C., where they will hold high level meetings with the State Department, Congressional Indonesian Caucus, Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Congressional Foreign Committee.
Kraince, who directs the Center for International Affairs' Inter-religious dialogue project, said the project's objective is to provide ideas for people who want to promote inter-religious peace.
"We want the Indonesians to come here, learn from the US and see the challenges we also face. It is two-way; the Indonesians will also make Americans have a different view of global dynamics," Kraince said.
Kraince said that as the fourth largest country and the largest Muslim country in the world, Indonesia is important to the United States. He said the just-concluded elections in the country were one of the largest experiments with democracy since former President Suharto's 32 years of autocratic rule ended in 1998.
Kraince said the gains OU will get from the program include developing linkages with institutions in Indonesia and a deeper ability to understand issues in Indonesia. He said the program demonstrates OU's commitment to working on practical problems in the world rather than merely theoretical issues.
Ellis Zuliati Anis, a first-year graduate student from Indonesia who attended the Indonesian delegation's welcoming session, said the inter-religious program presented both the US and Indonesia with ample opportunities to learn from each other.
"This program is good because it will correct the misconceptions that both of the countries have had toward each other," Anis said. "Some Indonesians think that Americans are very bad; some people in the U.S. also think that people of Indonesia are very bad; through this (program), there is hope that some understanding will be reached," she said.
