[Note by Kathie Malley-Morrison: In recognition of International Day of Nonviolence (the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi) on October 2, we feature guest author Zarrin Caldwell, creator of Models of Unity.]
My passion revolves around bringing people together across divides of race, ethnicity, and religion.
Raised in a religious tradition centered on a theme of unity (the Bahá’í faith) and blessed with travel abroad early in life, I developed “global citizenship” views.
The “Models of Unity™” website was created to explore situations where people were crossing divides over a sustained period of time to improve their community socially, economically, or spiritually.
The site offers a source of inspiration where readers can go when they are fed up with all the bad news.
The site offers several criteria related to the links between peace-building and development. Having these criteria has made the models harder to find but, ultimately, I want to explore the factors that lead to sustainable change.
What have I discovered?
- Working together on common, functional goals is one of the best ways to break down barriers and create the bonds of friendship and respect that lead to peace
- Both social and spiritual capital is far more critical to changing conflict-centered paradigms than we give them credit for.
- Community change is a long-term process and requires both moral leadership and willingness for a “critical mass” to work through inevitable challenges.
My goal is to build a library of cases that inform the discussion about building cohesive communities. Please contact me if you have examples that meet the Models of Unity criteria.
In faith and friendship,
Ms. Zarrín Caldwell