BY B. SIEJA, F. BENDER, A. INHARJANTO
DCU does its best to help and support new international students.
DCU wants you to feel welcome, safe and happy therefore it offers many
facilities across campus to reduce your stress and make you feel more at home.
One of those places is located at the heart of the campus, the Inter Faith
Centre. It’s cosy, it’s quiet and everybody is welcome.
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| Joe and Susan welcome everyone by B. Sieja, F. Bender and A. Inharjanto |
Joe and Susan Jones, the Chaplains in the Inter Faith Centre
are looking after students' spiritual and religious
needs. We asked Joe why he thinks students come to the Centre and this is what
he told us: “Often it is to meet their friends over a cup of tea and
some small groups use the meeting room for project work or even use the piano.
We like to think that the Centre is a place of welcome for people of all faiths
and none. Our logo for the Chaplaincy leaves one empty space for this
particular reason to highlight to all that you don’t have to have a faith to
come in and use the space.” We asked Susan if she thinks that the Centre
is favoured by international students and she said: “Most of the students who
come in for tea and to use the Muslim prayer rooms are international students’.
We go to the Centre quite often; on a bad rainy day, when we’re
down, when we’re a bit lonely, when we want to pray or gather our thoughts,
sometimes just to read a book or newspaper, often to chat with our friends. Joe
and Susan “endeavour to create a homely atmosphere in the Inter Faith Centre”
and that homely atmosphere gives us comfort, a sense of familiarity and
belonging. We noticed how often in the Centre, over a cup of tea, students
start talking to each other despite the fact that they come from different
religious backgrounds, are studying different things and have never met before.
This communication is what the Centre is all about.
We asked Joe about it and he told us: “Everything we do is helping
us to make DCU one community/family, enabling us to move forward in mutual
respect and harmony with dignity afforded to everyone who enters.” We also
asked Susan about it and she told us: ”If you take the number of people who
visit the Centre and see how people of different faith or no faith traditions
chat and have a laugh with each other, and yet respect that people will slip
into the prayer rooms to pray, and see how people offer each other support in
relation to many issues, yes one gets a sense of the family of DCU.”
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| The Inter Faith Centre by B. Vysoky |
The Centre is a welcoming place for students who have problems of
any kind. The Chaplains are approachable for everybody who feels the need to
talk to someone. Joe explained to us: “They come with many different needs and
many questions at different levels; these can be personal or related to their
studies or their own spiritual development.” Students, who are far away from
home, might turn to the Centre when experiencing difficult times. For instance,
when we have to cope with the loss of a family member, we can seek support in
the Centre where the Chaplains would guide and accompany us during our time of grief.
Apart from offering a helping hand in hard times, the members of the Centre are
also there just to listen to us. Susan told us: “Many students are not aware
that pastoral care is a very important aspect of Chaplaincy, that
non-judgemental listening and support is part of our role.” Students are always
welcome to just drop in and talk about whatever is on their mind. The Centre
aims to be a place of open doors and open ears.
Apart from offering support in difficult times, the Inter Faith
Centre is also very much involved in various events that take place on and off
campus. When we asked Joe about the relationship between the Centre and the
International Office he replied: ”Until recently the International Office was
under the Student Support & Development so we all worked together very
well. We have organised events like the Host Family Project when local families
hosted students from foreign lands to give them a taste of Irish family life
and culture.” The Centre also started the DCU Failte Programme. This programme
offers trips to different places of interest in Ireland in order for us to
learn more about Irish culture and heritage.
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| Logo used in the Centre by F. Bender |
Besides the Christian or inter-faith services held by the Centre,
there are also informative talks that explain spiritual topics. Susan told us:
“At the moment we have the Talking Heads Programme which is done in conjunction
with the Students Union and the School of Communication. This is where the
leaders of the main religions in Dublin are interviewed by students.” There is
also the Alpha course which is for anyone who would like to learn more about
Christianity in particular. The Inter Faith Centre is therefore not only a
place where we can go to worship but also a starting point for everybody who is
interested in learning more about various religions. It is, however, not only
the spiritual journey that could have its roots in the Centre, but also the
exploration of Ireland, its culture and especially its people.
Irish hospitality and friendliness are well known around the world.
Joe and Susan exercise those traits everyday through their creative projects
for students carried out inside and outside the Centre. It is good to know we
have so much support from people so deeply dedicated to their work. Our respect
and gratitude for this place and the fond memories of events and moments spent
in the Inter Faith Centre are a huge part of our college experience.
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