Do NOT Prejudislam
Start date: Jun 18, 2014,
End date: Jan 17, 2015
PROJECT
FINISHED
The Project, "Do NOT PrejudIslam", aimed not only to clear away the prejudice against Islam but also to both stop and prevent any kind of fearful approach toward the philosophy and any practices of the religion of Islam. Introduction of this project took 15 days including three days of visiting the city in which the project put into practise. We visited Sümela Monastory, Trabzon Castle, Gülbahar Hatun Türbesi and Mosque, Lapazan, Ortahisar Mosque, Çarşı Mosque, Boztepe, Sera lake, Hagia Sophia Museum in these three days. During other twelve days, we had discussions, forums, question-answer hours, conferences, slide-shows, presentations and movie screening to give information and we had ice breakers and energizer games to mix with each other as team building sessions. In addition to all these activities, we had cultural shows and programs. These cultural shows made every participant of the project to know each other much better. When it comes to the theme of the project, it is easy to say that ‘’Do NOT PrejudIslam’’ based on the fears of people who are afraid of false practices of Islam that is manipulated by people having no interest in the philosophy of Islam. As project owners, we aimed to show the real beauty of Islam; hence, we had the chance to direct them in a true path to approach Islam. We brought people in obtaining an optimistic perspective towards Islam and we made clear that Islam is a religion of peace not of war with the help of interactive activities. As a result, we did not only have said that Islam is peaceful and Islamophobia is out of place but also we had shown them that. We had partner countries that will be from different cultures and religions from us; so, we had able to see the reactions and ideas of people who may have any possible perception of islamophobia. The project was in Trabzon/Turkey with the countries Lithuania, Spain, Austria and Turkey between the days 22 August - 8 September 2014. The number of the participants was 8 for each country, 9 for Turkey including the leaders, totally 33 people. The project has expected long term effects, advantages and gains. It will appeal not only to the people of one country but also it will help affect people’s thoughts about Islam in a positive way. People who are exposed to the results of our project will have more toleration to each other and they will look at people who are different from each other from a more positive point of view.