By Casey Neill
Queensland students swapped their classroom for a Dandenong tour to learn about the world’s different faiths.
Teacher Jennifer Egan from St Catherine’s Catholic College in Proserpine, in the Whitsunday region, came across the Greater Dandenong Interfaith Network and its tours online.
She’d organised a trip to Melbourne so the students could see different places of worship and, as a former Melbourne resident, knew that Dandenong was an ideal destination.
“Where our school is located, there is really only Christian churches in our area and no temples, mosques or cathedrals,” Ms Egan said.
“The purpose of the tour was for them to learn about other faiths from the people who follow them and to have an opportunity to ask them questions about their beliefs.”
The trip was an extension of their study of religion class, in which they learn about the major religious dominations in the world – Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism – and others.
“The subject is all about being open to learning about other traditions, finding similarities and appreciating the differences that exist,” Ms Egan said.
“This year we have focused on various rituals and artistic representations of the spiritualties.”
On Tuesday 29 November, the group visited Keysborough’s Turkish Islamic Cultural Centre and Mosque and St Stefan Serbian Orthodox Church, Tao temple Chua Quan Thanh in Springvale and Carrum Downs Hindu temple Shri Shiva Vishnu.
“The students really enjoyed meeting our hosts and looking around the various places we visited,” Ms Egan said.
“They loved hearing the stories behind the teachings and seeing the various icons around the different temples.
“For me, it was a really beautiful experience to see our students so mesmerised and astonished by going into the temples, churches and mosques, and to see them experience the awe and wonder of visiting somewhere they have never experienced before.”
Greater Dandenong Interfaith Network development officer Helen Heath said it would have been difficult and costly for Ms Egan to organise a similar tour herself.
“She just thought that it would be such a great opportunity for a group of rural country kids to experience such diverse belief systems,” she said.
Next year’s public tours will be held on the second Wednesday of every second month – 12 April, 14 June, 9 August, 11 October and 13 December.
The tour costs $25. Email interfaithofficer@interfaithnetwork.org.au or call 8774 7662 or 0421 829 563.
