Fixing potholes isn’t the sexiest way out of the recession.

But for Aziz Tejpar, an entrepreneur who runs a company that destroys drain grease in restaurants and hospitals by using live bacteria, pothole repair might just prove to be the best way.

“America is built on strip malls,” says Tejpar. “And strip malls have a lot of potholes.”

So Tejpar, president of Bradenton-based Environmental Biotech, has created a new franchise-model business to harness a technology he says will turn the staid industry of filling potholes into something efficient and entrepreneurial. Even better, says Tejpar, this system has no need for jackhammers and is environmentally friendly.

Tejpar calls the system, and the new company behind it, B Pothole Free. The technology revolves around a patented, infrared asphalt heater that is placed over a pothole.

Then, using short, medium and long wave thermal induction, the temperature is raised to 200 degrees Celsius, so heat permeates the entire pothole. The heater is removed after about 10 minutes and a two-man crew reshapes the area with the new road material.

The area is then compacted down and smoothed over while still hot. The entire process takes about 20 minutes.

B Pothole Free charges $99 for each standard size repair, which covers a pothole as big as 3 feet by 3 feet. It costs a county or municipal government about $250 to replace a pothole using traditional methods, says Tejpar, for a job that takes at least twice as long and usually requires twice as much manpower.

Tejpar discovered the pothole repair system in England, his native country, on a business trip last year. Tejpar bought the technology and imported it to Bradenton, where he and a team of researchers spent the past six months refining it.

“[This] is a project we’ve dedicated ourselves to for a long time because we believe in its many benefits,” says Tejpar. “It’s a safer, cleaner and quieter process than current pothole repair methods.”

Tejpar has already begun deploying the system. Clients include a mall in Bradenton and about 45 Starbucks stores in the Jacksonville area, for which Tejpar sent out two-man crews to fix potholes in the store’s parking lots.

Company executives are also targeting Wal-Marts in Florida, thinking that well-traveled lots are in greater need of this kind of service.

But Tejpar believes the future of the business lies in a franchise model. He is planning to lease a full B Pothole Free operation for $35,000, as well as charge a royalty fee on revenues. The operation includes the asphalt heater and related equipment, which is packaged into a hitch-ready cart that includes company signage. Tejpar’s crew from Environmental Biotech will train the franchisees.

B Pothole Free is also partnering with Sarasota-based Insignia Bank on equipment leasing, as Tejpar says he realizes a lack of financing is a steep hurdle for entrepreneurs to get into a new business these days.

Tejpar projects that an ambitious, fully trained B Pothole Free operator, working with commercial landlords, can be filling 30 potholes a day. That can translate to $3,000 a day in sales.

Source: http://www.review.net/section/detail/smooth-move/

“It is an amazing feeling to volunteer alongside other members of the Jamat at the largest event Vancouver has ever hosted,” said Kahir Lalji, an Ismaili volunteer.

Through CIVIC — Challenging Ismaili Volunteers in Communities — a youth based programme that focuses the energy of young Ismailis towards improving the wellbeing of the communities in which they live, younger members of the Jamat were also invited to help welcome the world. Volunteers aged 18-25 responded enthusiastically, signing up rapidly to take on the role of youth ambassadors.

Easily identifiable in their green-coloured jackets, Ismaili volunteers
in Vancouver City Centre have been welcoming tourists and athletes
since the beginning of February. Photo: Hakam Bhaloo

“We were given the opportunity to volunteer at one of the busiest downtown locations,” said Adam Samji, a youth volunteer. “It was a great feeling to represent the Ismaili community in our special green jackets and to showcase our spirit of volunteerism.”

Ismaili volunteers benefit from the recent experience of organising large events that commemorated Mawlana Hazar Imam’s Golden Jubilee, as well as the Jamat’s Khushiali celebrations that take place every year. Their performance has garnered applause from the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC), who requested their organisation and management expertise to streamline other volunteer host locations.

“We are fortunate to have attracted a large and diverse application pool of people from around the world who are willing to volunteer for the Games,” said Allen Vansen, who is responsible for workforce operations at VANOC. According to the organisation, more than 77,000 people applied to donate their time and talent to contribute to the success of the Games.

Tourists visiting Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games
seek assistance from an Ismaili volunteer. Photo: Hakam Bhaloo

In addition to taking part as Olympic Ambassadors, the community has also partnered with VANOC in other ways. Some Ismaili volunteers received specialised training from the Olympic Organizing Committee to chauffeur senior government officials and ministers to Olympics Special VIP Events. VANOC also engaged the community’s assistance in managing Olympics-related events.

On 11 February, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, hosted the 2010 Olympic Truce Youth Dialogue at the Vancouver Public Library, which was attended by over 500 youth from across Canada. Following a similar successful event held at the Ismaili Centre, Burnaby in September, VANOC asked the community to co-manage and provide human resources.

After the dialogue, the Governor General met with the Ismaili volunteers and expressed her appreciation for their contributions towards the success of the event, recalling the earlier Truce Dialogue at the Ismaili Centre.

Ismaili youth were enthusiastic to volunteer as Olympic Ambassadors and welcome the world
to Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Games. Photo: Riyaz Lalani

Years later, Jessani finds herself not only at McGill, but playing an active role in providing that friendly welcome to non-Canadians as the president of the McGill International Students’ Network.

“My grandfather, who didn’t go to any university, knew of McGill,” says Jessani, who is in her fourth year in a BSc program, majoring in anatomy and cell biology, with a minor in psychology.

Jessani began working with the MISN last year as vice-president, communications. She sought the presidency last year with a few ideas in mind for improving the lot of the University’s 3,000 international students.

For instance, one of her priorities is finding a housing solution for exchange students who number roughly 400 annually. Because these students stay only four months, they frequently have trouble finding accommodation.

Working with Off Campus Housing and the Student Exchange Office, Jessani hopes to enlist the “buddy system,” whereby recent arrivals are matched with well-settled students, to help such students find accommodation. She also plans to lobby nearby landlords to offer short-term leases.

Her work on this dossier has impressed Pauline L’Ecuyer, the International Student Adviser. “I’ve met lots of students with great ideas and projects, but she realizes them fast; she’s very pro-active,” says L’Ecuyer.

Fostering communication seems to be one of Jessani’s strong points. Last year, for instance, she initiated the newsletter MISiNformed, to keep MISN members abreast of information. A glance through the current issue reveals articles on the Network’s new home in the new student services building, a regular advice column penned by L’Ecuyer, a page on culture and events listings.

Winter events, such as skating at the Bell Amphitheatre and planned trips to the winter carnivals in Quebec and Ottawa, figure in the list.

“We try to give people Canadian experiences,” says Jessani, who has become an enthusiastic floor hockey player since coming to McGill — she played field hockey in Kenya as a child, and, later, in the United Arab Emirates, where her family moved when she was a teenager. She has also become an avid skier.

Still, Jessani recognizes that adapting to this culture, this climate and this distance from home is harder for some international students than for others. While Jessani herself is Kenyan-born, she lived in Canada for a few years when she was a toddler. Her mother’s family lives in Alberta. “I suffered no culture-shock nor weather-shock,” she laughs.

Many members of the MISN “are like me” and have some previous Canadian experience, she says. There are also members who are not international students but who join MISN out of an interest in helping the newcomers and in learning about a whole slew of countries. Among McGill’s roughly 3,500 international students, 145 countries are represented.

Next year, Jessani hopes to find herself doing volunteer work in the health field, in some corner of the developing world. Last year, while working in Pakistan teaching children how to read, she caught the bug for development work.

She enjoyed the experience of rubbing against the realities, as opposed to the stereotypes, of people from other cultures. The people she encountered found Jessani to be something of a revelation as well.

In the village in northern Pakistan, for instance, “They couldn’t believe that we [of Indian origin] could speak French and English so well and they couldn’t believe that [Canada's] prime minister is not Muslim,” chuckles Jessani, herself a Muslim of the Ismaili community.

“It’s amazing the questions you get, which is why it’s so important to work or travel internationally.”

Source: http://reporter-archive.mcgill.ca/Rep/r3207/scope.html

OTTAWA, Jan. 21 /CNW/ – Bridges that Unite, an interactive exhibition showcasing Canada’s ability to bridge the developed and the developing worlds, is set to open in Ottawa next week as part of a cross-Canada tour.

Presented from January 28th to February 28th at the Canada Science and Technology Museum, the exhibit invites visitors to consider Canada’s role in the world through the lens of a remarkable 25-year partnership with the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) in some of the world’s most isolated and impoverished regions. Thought-provoking stories, spanning several continents, are told through powerful images, evocative soundscapes and multimedia components.

Aga Khan Foundation Canada (AKFC), an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network, is presenting the bilingual exhibition, which provides an opportunity to share the experience of the past quarter-century and chart a way forward for Canada and the world, explained Khalil Z. Shariff, Chief Executive Officer of AKFC.

“The exhibition draws on our rich experience in the developing world to spark conversations about what Canada and Canadians can do to ensure a more peaceful, prosperous and pluralist world. We are delighted to continue this important dialogue in Ottawa and we look forward to teaming up with the Canada Science and Technology Museum and other key partners to present Bridges that Unite.”

The exhibition provides an ideal platform for in-depth exchanges on some of the most pressing questions of the 21st century and plays host to a range of on-site events including free film screenings, cultural events, and school programs. Guides are on hand to engage with visitors and animate special activities.

“While at the Canada Science and Technology Museum, the Bridges that Unite exhibition will highlight many of Canada’s contributions on the world stage. As one of Canada’s national cultural institutions, we are also pleased to provide a platform to generate dialogue and engagement for visitors of all ages with this revealing window on the human condition. Both Bridges that Unite and our concurrent exhibition, Hungry Planet will provide a unique opportunity to reflect on some of the great issues that challenge our planet,” said Denise Amyot, President and CEO of the Canada Science and Technology Museum Corporation.

Bridges that Unite is presented Tuesday through Sunday, free of charge, at the Canada Science and Technology Museum, located at 1867 St. Laurent Blvd., Ottawa. The Museum will also be open on Monday, February 15, 2010, for Family Day.

For more information including details on the weekly calendar of events, visit www.bridgesthatunite.ca or contact Aga Khan Foundation Canada at info@bridgesthatunite.ca or 1-800-267-2532 ext. 8.

                               UPCOMING EVENTS

    Dialogue on Enhancing Equality and Human Development
    Monday, January 25, 2010, 1.00 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.

BRIDGESTHATUNITE and Canada’s World will host a dialogue session that will bring together a cross-section of citizens to reflect on the question of Canada’s role in enhancing equality and human development. Registration is free, however seating is limited. To register please contact Sarah Van Borek at: sarah@canadasworld.ca.

Media Preview: Members of the media are invited to attend a preview on Tuesday, January 26th from 10:30-11:30 a.m. at the Canada Science and Technology Museum, 1867 St Laurent Boulevard. (Free parking available at the museum). Representatives of host organizations will be available for interviews.

Aga Khan Foundation Canada (AKFC) is a Canadian international development organization, and an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network, founded in 1980. Working primarily in Asia and Africa, AKFC works to address the root causes of poverty. www.akfc.ca

The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) is a group of non-denominational development agencies founded by His Highness the Aga Khan, with wide-ranging mandates covering social, economic and cultural development. www.akdn.org

Sharing Canada’s rich collections of objects related to transportation, natural resources, communications, space, energy, manufacturing and industry, the Canada Science and Technology Museum helps Canadians explore the rich connections among science, technology, and culture. www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca

Bridges that Unite began its successful cross-country journey in Victoria with tour stops in Calgary, Vancouver, Kitchener-Waterloo and Halifax. The tour continues to Concordia University in Montréal, March 7-26, 2010.

The exhibition is presented with the support of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). www.acdi-cida.gc.ca

For further information: Jennifer Morrow, AKFC Manager, Communications, Telephone: (613) 237-2532 x 107, Email: jennifer@akfc.ca; Kelly Ray, media and public relations, Canada Science and Technology Museum, Telephone: (613) 949-5732, Email: kray@technomuses.ca

Earth Day Canada president Jed Goldberg and Toyota Canada president Yoichi Tomihara recognized Adatia’s outstanding achievements in environmental community service, academics and extracurricular participation. To date, $500,000 has been awarded to 100 young Canadians through the program.

“Adil is a perfect example of a student who aspires to better their environment and make lasting impacts in their community,” Goldberg said. “He has truly stepped forward as an environmental leader and is most deserving of this honour.”

Adatia was selected from a finalist group of 15 students who received regional scholarships when they were selected from a pool of hundreds of applicants across Canada. The 17-year-old student is highly involved in scientific research and discovery, is the Youth Coordinator of the Southern Alberta Community for Environmental Education, and is the founder of his school’s Environmental Club.

In addition to the $5,000 award he received as a regional scholarship finalist, Adatia was also presented with a Panasonic notebook computer.

Source: http://www.canadiandriver.com/2009/06/02/
toyota-represents-earth-day-scholarship-award.htm

These provide an overview of the Islamic world’s finest artistic achievements in wood, stone, gold, bronze, ivory, ceramics and textiles, and on parchment and paper. The different Islamic dynasties can be seen, identifying the territories over which each dynasty ruled following the Abbasid caliphate at the end of the 9th century. The Umayyads held sway over al-Andalus, the Fatimids and the Mamelukes reigned in Egypt, the Ottomans in Turkey, and the Safavids in Iran and the Mughals in India.

The essential characteristics of Islamic courtly culture can be seen in generic portraits of respective sovereigns in profile. The works of art on display also emphasize the high cultural level of the Islamic courts responsible for spreading knowledge of Ancient Greece to the west via translations in Arabic.

The exhibits are divided into three large sections. The central section is devoted to The Qur’anic Faith while the other two guide viewers through various Islamic courts using as a metaphor a journey in two stages –From Cordoba to Damascus and From Baghdad to Delhi.

Since former vice-president Dick Cheney made the most of the New York Times headline of May 21, using US Defence Department statistics to suggest that one in seven Guantanamo graduates had “returned to terrorism or militant activity”, there has been a huge row about whether this is true and, if it is, why it is. Might it not be the case, for example, that an innocent person put through the Guantanamo experience might become radicalised and decide to join the ranks of jihad for the first time?

The latter explanation is certainly not true for several of the recidivists who have been positively identified; we do know the past and present of some of these characters. On my visit to Guantanamo, I was given a list – admittedly containing only 11 names – of former Taliban militants such as Abdullah Mehsud, detained in February 2002 and released in March 2004, who later killed himself rather than surrender to Pakistani security forces. If it is an offence to justice to hold people who may have been victims of mistaken identity or of vendettas by other factions, then it is also an offence to justice to release psychopathic killers who believe they have divine permission to throw acid in the faces of girls who want to attend school.

Yet if we think it probable or possible that a man would mutate into such a monster only after undergoing the Guantanamo experience, then I can suggest one reason that may be. Nothing prepared me for the way in which the authorities at the camp have allowed the most extreme religious cultists among the inmates to be the organisers of the prisoners’ daily routine. Suppose you were a secular or unfanatical person caught in the net by mistake. You would still find yourself being compelled to pray five times a day (the guards are not permitted to interrupt), to have a Koran in your cell and to eat food prepared to halal (or sharia) standards. I suppose you could ask to abstain but, in such a case, I wouldn’t much fancy your chances.

The officers in charge were so pleased by this ability to show off their extreme broad-mindedness in respect of Islam that they looked almost hurt when I asked how they justified the use of taxpayers’ money to create an institution dedicated to the fervent practice of the most extreme version of just one religion. To the huge list of reasons to close down Guantanamo, add this: It’s a state-sponsored madrasah, or Muslim religious school.

The same near-masochistic insistence on taking the extreme as the norm was also present in Obama’s smoothly delivered speech in the Egyptian capital. Some of what he said was well-intentioned, if ill-informed. The US should not have overthrown the elected government of Iran in 1953, but when it did so, it used bribed mullahs and ayatollahs to whip up anti-communist sentiment against a secular regime.

The John Adams administration in the 1796 Treaty of Tripoli did indeed proclaim that the US had no quarrel with Islam as such (and, even more important, that the US itself was in no sense a Christian nation), but the treaty failed to stop the Barbary states from invoking the Koran as permission to kidnap and enslave travellers on the high seas, and thus Thomas Jefferson was later compelled to send a fleet and the marines to put down the trade.

One hopes that Obama does not prefer Adams to Jefferson in this regard.

Any person with the smallest pretence to cultural literacy knows there is no such place or thing as the Muslim world or, rather, that it consists of many places and many things. (It is precisely the aim of the jihadists to bring it all under one rulership preparatory to making Islam the world’s only religion.) But Obama said nothing about the schism between Sunni and Shi’ites, or about the argument over Sufism, or about Ahmadi and Ismaili forms of worship and practice. All this was conceded to the umma, the highly ideological notion that a person is first defined by their adherence to a religion and that all concepts of citizenship and rights take second place to this theocratic diktat. Nothing could be more reactionary.

Take the single case in which the President touched on the best-known fact about the Islamic world: its tendency to make women second-class citizens. He mentioned this only to say that Western countries were discriminating against Muslim women! And how is this discrimination imposed? By limiting the wearing of the headscarf, or hijab (a word that Obama pronounced as hajib; imagine the uproar if George Bush had done that). The clear implication was an attack on the French law that prohibits the display of religious garb or symbols in state schools.

Indeed, the following day in Paris, Obama made this point even more explicitly. I quote from an excellent commentary by an Algerian-American visiting professor at the University of Michigan law school, Karima Bennoune, who says: “I have just published research conducted among the many people of Muslim, Arab and North African descent in France who support that country’s 2004 law banning religious symbols in public schools which they see as a necessary deployment of the ‘law of the republic’ to counter the ‘law of the Brothers’, an informal rule imposed undemocratically on many women and girls in neighbourhoods and at home and by fundamentalists.” (See http://img.slate.com/ media/22/CHAP5. Bennoune.Headscarves.pdf)

But to the women who are compelled to dress according to the requirements of others, Obama had nothing to say at all, as if the only right at stake were the right to obey an instruction that is, in fact – if it matters – not found in the Koran.

In Turkey, too, headscarves are outlawed in some contexts. Is this, too, Islamophobia? Does the president think that the veil and the burka are also freely chosen fashion statements? This sort of naivety is worrying, and it means that among the global Muslim audience, the wrong sort of people were laughing at us, while the ones who ought to be our friends and allies were shedding a disappointed tear.

Christopher Hitchens is a columnist for Vanity Fair and online magazine Slate, where this column first appeared. He is the Roger S. Mertz media fellow at the Hoover Institution in Stanford, California.
Source:http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25626971-7583,00.html

OTTAWA – Canada will grant the Aga Khan honorary citizenship for what Prime Minister Stephen Harper describes as his exemplary humanitarianism and long friendship with Canada.

Born in Geneva, Shah Karim al-Hussayni is the 49th hereditary imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims and is widely recognized for his work against poverty and his promotion of tolerance.

Now 72, he is the founder and chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network, which works in Asia and Africa and is one of the world’s largest private development networks.

Harper told the House of Commons the Aga Khan is “a beacon of humanitarianism, of pluralism and of tolerance throughout the entire world.”

The Aga Khan was in Edmonton on Tuesday to receive an honorary doctor of laws degree from the University of Alberta.

He gave an impassioned speech that touched on several global issues, including what he described as “faltering instruments of government in many countries of Asia and Africa.”

“We have learned that simplistic systems don’t work, whether built around the arrogance of colonialism, the rigidities of communism, the romantic dreams of nationalism or the naive promises of untrammeled capitalism.”

The Aga Khan also spoke at length about ethics, not only in government but in all areas of society and the need for leaders and academics to provide an ethical example for people to follow.

“We know from recent headlines about scoundrels from the American financial scene to the halls of European parliaments – and we can certainly do without either,” he said.

“When a construction company cheats on the quality of materials for a school or a bridge, when a teacher skimps on class work in order to sell his time privately, when a doctor recommends a drug because of incentives from a pharmaceutical company, when a bank loan is skewed by kickbacks, or a student paper is plagiarized from the Internet – when the norms of fairness and decency are violated in any way, then the foundations of society are undermined.”

The Aga Khan also mentioned last week’s landmark speech in Cairo by U.S. President Barack Obama who reached out for a fresh start with the Islamic world.

“It continually amazes me…how little is understood about the Muslim civilizations and cultures in the non-Islamic world and how little is taught,” he said.

“When President Obama described the richness of that history in his Cairo speech, he was telling a story which is unfamiliar to many in the West.

“As the world shrinks and as contact among diverse peoples increases, some would argue that we face an inevitable clash of civilizations. My own conviction, however, is that we face today a clash of ignorances.”

Honorary Canadian citizenship is bestowed by the governor general and requires the unanimous approval of all voting MPs.

It has been given to four others: Swedish diplomat and Holocaust hero Raoul Wallenberg (posthumously in 1985); former South Africa president and Nobel laureate Nelson Mandela (2001); the Dalai Lama (2006); and pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi (2007), a Nobel laureate who has spent most of the last 20 years under house arrest in her native Myanmar.

-With files from Jim Macdonald in Edmonton
Source: http://www.metronews.ca/toronto/canada/article/
242814–aga-khan-to-receive-honorary-canadian-citizenship

As volunteers sweat on hot spring days, they’re also forging relationships to overcome barriers during the first interfaith build in the 24-year history of Tacoma/Pierce County Habitat for Humanity.

Muslims, Christians and Jews are working side by side during weekends over four months to build the two-story house for a Catholic family.

After nailing down laminate shingles on a recent Saturday, Ali Banani climbed down from the roof for the volunteers’ lunch of Indian food.

“The more we work together, the more we get to know each other,” said Banani, 58, a Muslim who lives in Federal Way. And once people know each other, he said, then they can talk about their faiths and beliefs.

Ali was one of about 15 workers building bonds this day, one nail at a time.

Nillofur Jasani said the interfaith build, called “Under One Roof,” dispels stereotypes. And it’s a way to understand the differences and similarities the faiths have.

“We all worship one God,” said Jasani, with house sponsor One Nation: Liberty and Justice for All. “We have different ways of practicing our faiths.”

One Nation, a Gig Harbor group promoting pluralism and awareness of Muslims, is paying $65,000 for building materials. Founded by local businessman George Russell, the group hopes the project will result in better understanding of Muslims, said Jasani, a Muslim and program manager for One Nation.

“When people get to know each other, they understand each other,” she said.

Building a house – not religious diversity – was foremost on Laurie Lasky’s mind as she cut plywood with a table saw for window frames on May 30.

“We’re here for the common good,” said Lasky, 49, who is Jewish and a member of Tacoma’s Temple Beth El. “There’s one God.”

There are key differences between the three Abrahamic faiths. Jews don’t accept Jesus as the messiah. Muslims believe Jesus was a prophet but not the divine son of God.

Christians believe Jesus is the divine son of God.

There are different groups within each faith as well. Some of those building were Shia Ismaili Muslims. Others were Sunni Muslims.

Whether Sunni or Shia, Muslims have sought to dispel negative stereotypes surrounding Islam since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The biggest falsehood is that Islam teaches violence, Jasani said. “Islam is a religion of peace,” she said.

Henry Izumizaki, a Buddhist who works as chief executive officer of One Nation, said the group hopes to sponsor similar interfaith builds with Habitat for Humanity across the country. They hope to spread their work with a green component; the house under construction will be the local Habitat affiliate’s first with solar panels.

The religious bridge-building for the project involves more than hammers and nails. Muslims, Christians and Jews participated in an interfaith Passover Seder in March at Temple Beth El. An interfaith comedy show was held Sunday in Tacoma. A salmon bake is planned for July.

By the end of July, volunteers are expected to finish building the four-bedroom, 1,295-square-foot house for Patricia and Noe Gabriel, and their four children, ages 4 to 15. The Gabriels will move from their 10-by-50-foot mobile home in South Tacoma where they pay $470 a month for their lot and electricity.

Their house is one of 12 to be built by several volunteer groups in Habitat’s Larabee Terrace project on East Gregory Street Court on Tacoma’s East Side. Monthly mortgage payments will range from $500 to $880 a month, depending on the family’s income.

Three houses already have been completed. The Gabriels’ house will be the 162nd that Habitat, a Christian-based housing ministry, has constructed in Pierce County.

Habitat sells homes at no profit with no interest to people with low incomes. Each family must work a total of 500 hours on its own or other Habitat homes.

Maureen Fife, chief executive officer of Tacoma/Pierce County Habitat for Humanity, said the timing was right for the interfaith project. She said the goal is to build relationships and break down barriers. Over the four months, an estimated 250 volunteers – including some American Indians – will work on the house.

Lan Ma was in the minority on the interfaith building site. She doesn’t have a particular religion.

“I’m none and I’m all,” said Ma, of Sammamish. She wasn’t bothered that people of different faiths were working around her.

“It doesn’t matter so long as they don’t force any ideas on me,” Ma said. “I just want to help.”

One of the ground rules for volunteers is no proselytizing.

Ma took turns pounding one nail at a time with Habiba Karim, a Muslim from University Place. Ma pounded once, then Karim pounded the same nail.

Amir Abdul-Matin said a blessing at lunchtime for more than 80 volunteers working on several houses in Larabee Terrace. He thanked God for an “environment that is conducive to inclusion.”

Abdul-Matin, 59, said the interfaith project unites people to work together.

“A Muslim isn’t going to hammer a nail any different than a Jew or a Christian,” said Abdul-Matin, president and imam of the Islamic Education and Community Center in Tacoma. Sonja Miller, of Agnus Dei Lutheran Church in Gig Harbor, called the build a miracle as she swept up sawdust inside the framed house.

“We have these differences but we won’t let them divide us or make us anything less than God’s family working together for the common good,” said Miller, 70.

“To me, this is what life is all about: just helping to make life better for other people,” Miller said. “It’s what makes you rich.”

Steve Maynard: 253-597-8647
steve.maynard@thenewstribune.com
Source: http://www.thenewstribune.com/topstory/story/772236.html