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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

Openhearted campaign uses open house to promote community understanding of Muslims

Region Filler

One by one, men and women removed their shoes and entered the prayer hall. As they waited for the opening speech, strangers sat in circles and introduced themselves to one another.

This was the opening of the Openhearted Open House, which took place Sunday at the Islamic Center of Bloomington in order to promote a better understanding of the Muslim community. The evening involved interactive presentations, prayer and a catered dinner provided by Anatolia Restaurant.

Anna Maidi, founder of the Openhearted campaign, said the conversations shared among strangers, whether a part of the Muslim community or not, captured the heart of her efforts.

“We know the public has a lot of different questions about the Muslim community,” she said. “So we want to engage them in conversation, bridge any gaps.”

Maidi said doing so would help offset the effects of recent political rhetoric and the depiction of extremist Muslims in the media, which has spread fear of Muslims among Americans.

By promoting conversation, Maidi said the community will be able to see Muslims as neighbors rather than outsiders.

“It’s easy to fear something you don’t understand, so we have to understand one another,” she said

One of the evening’s presentations, titled “From Stranger to Neighbor: Knowing One Another,” is meant to do just that, she said.

In the center’s basement, attendees packed in, standing shoulder-to-shoulder while listening to the stories of Muslim Americans.

Presenter Enabah Laracuente said the presentation was meant to humanize Muslim Americans while giving audience members the opportunity to share similar stories.

“Imagine these people as any Muslim,” she said to the audience. “You normally only see a face, but now you get to hear their stories. Now, you can see them as your next-door neighbors.”

Attendee Ronna Papesh said the commonalities between the stories of the Muslim Americans and the stories of the audience is what affected her most.

“It was interesting to see the commonalities in their stories,” she said. “It really showed us that we’re more alike than we are different.”

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