While debates continue on campus over justifications for military action in Iraq, one group of students is putting aside ideological differences and coming together in a humanitarian effort.
As part of Programs in Religious, Interfaith and Spirituality Matters -- a weeklong series of activities and events sponsored by the Office of the Chaplain -- representatives from various religious organizations have set up a table on Locust Walk, where they are collecting supplies and monetary donations to be sent to Iraqi refugees, among other projects.
"All the different student religious groups on campus wanted to have a response for the war --a humanitarian response," said College senior Saema Khandakar, a former board member of the Muslim Students Association involved in the project. "We wanted to have an outlet for students to feel like they are being helpful."
"We are collecting items for kits composed of various things that Iraqi refugees would need," such as toothpaste, toothbrushes and soap, said College senior Zeina Ghayad, president of the Newman Council, Penn's Catholic student group.
The kits will go to various organizations, such as Catholic Relief Services, which will then send them to refugees in Iraq. However, if delivering the kits to Iraq is not possible, they will instead be sent to the families of American soldiers serving in Iraq.
But if students do not have a bar of soap on hand, they can always make a monetary donation, Ghayad added.
Khandakar noted that the project is off to a good start due to a donation from the Christian a cappella group Full Measure. The group raised about $200 for the project through a donation box at one of its concerts.
In addition to filling the kits, students have also been distributing buttons that each include the name and age of an Iraqi child, as well as a piece of paper with a prayer written on it.
"We are asking people to wear them to show the humanitarian side," Ghayad said.
"The buttons are something that the chaplain found," Khandakar said. "They are basically to humanize what is going on in the world."
The group is giving them away for free all week on the Walk.
"Hopefully, we'll get a lot of donations and increase awareness" through these different activities, Khandakar said.
"We felt it was necessary as a group of people promoting a humanitarian response to [engage in] some type of action, in any way that we can," Ghayad added.
Outgoing Hillel President and College senior Katherine Jorgensen agreed with Ghayad, saying that this project is "something that is amazingly relevant to every single person in this diverse group of people."
At this point, Jorgensen said, the project is "seeing an overwhelmingly positive response."
"There is a lot of excitement to see all these different groups working together," Jorgensen said. "This is what college should be about... it's what the world should be like."
"We're also doing something with the Hearts Apart Program, a group that supports children of servicemen," Khandakar added.
Students will be invited to the project's table on Locust Walk to make cards that will be distributed to the children.
