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- By Kimball Bennion
- Trail Staff Writer
El Hadji Fall wears three prominent pieces of jewelry — one ring and a bracelet on his right hand and another ring on his left. At first glance, it may only look like a few inconsequential ornaments. But to Fall, they mean much more.
One ring is from his mother, the other from his father. The bracelet is from his grandfather. There are no diamonds, platinum or gold plating, just simple metal rings and a bracelet.
What makes them stand out the most is their size. Each has a rather large casing on top.
“In these,” says Fall, “I’ve got some prayers from the Koran. Actually, they’re in there.” He opens the cylinder casing atop one his rings and displays a small piece of paper rolled into a ball. It’s no larger than a pebble.
“This one is a big one,” he says, referring to his bracelet. “Even the guy who was supposed to make the jewelry and the bracelet, he was like…‘Wow.’” His grandfather had a lot of prayers for him.
These prayers were taken from the Koran, the authoritative canon of the Islam religion. Fall’s home is the African country of Senegal.
In Senegal, a place where the population is 95 percent Muslim, Fall’s beliefs place him in the majority. But as a student at Northwest College in Powell, Wyo., where the nearest Muslim mosque is in Denver, Fall is very different.
“(People) always ask me questions, and that’s a good thing,” says Fall, “When somebody asks you a question they want to know…I like that. That makes me more comfortable.”
With 95 percent of the population Muslim, the religion of Islam is very influential in Senegal. Every Friday at 2 p.m., people take a one-hour break from their daily routine in order to go to the mosque and pray. A mosque is the center in which Muslims gather for religious purposes. These prayers at this particular time are required for followers of Islam.
Despite the distance to the nearest mosque in Denver, Fall still manages to find ways to practice his beliefs in a town where the dominant faith is Christianity, but must adjust to circumstances.
“The main stuff I do,” he says, “is I go pray in my home whenever I have time.” Muslims also follow a diet in which pork products are prohibited. “Sometimes when I go to the food service,” says Fall, “they will have pork on the menu, but if they’ve got all pork on the menu, they will cook something else for you. So you don’t have any trouble getting something to eat.”
In large part, the religious diversity found on the NWC campus is due to the international students that the college recruits every year. Harriet Bloom-Wilson, the school’s international student recruiter and adviser, is responsible for bringing these students to Powell from places all over the world. Part of her job is to travel to different countries and hold study fairs, in which prospective college students can get information regarding different schools. Part of what attracts international students to NWC is its low cost and the greater opportunity to learn English.
In the 10 years she has been involved recruiting international students, Bloom-Wilson feels most of the international students learn to treasure their identity and heritage when their differences make them a minority.
“If you’re an international student in New York or California,” she said, “you’re one of hundreds and thousands from your country, whereas in Powell, you might be the only one…I feel like, ‘Wow, what an opportunity you have to make a difference, to make an impact, to share something that other people might not be aware of.’ ”
She said that she is drawn to international students partly because she can relate to being in the minority when it comes to personal beliefs. Bloom-Wilson is from New York City, where she was raised in a Jewish home.
“Judaism is as much an identity as it is a religion. If your mother is Jewish, you’re Jewish. It’s not something you necessarily choose,” she said. “We weren’t very religious, but it just informed who I am.”
“There’s so many Jewish people in New York, it’s just kind of taken for granted.” She added that during the holidays, it wasn’t uncommon to see houses with a menorah rather than a Christmas tree. “Coming here, where I felt very much in a minority, it slowly made me feel even more interested in preserving that part of my background and in sharing it with the community to anyone who’s interested…I felt like I had a contribution to make.”
Among the 42 students recruited this year, those from Asian countries are the largest group. The beliefs of these students range from Catholicism, Latter-day Saint, Buddhism, Shintoism or perhaps nothing at all.
Takeshi Shoda and Shuhei Kasahara are both from Japan, where the religious climate is very different than that of their new home in Powell.
“My country is not very religious,” says Kasahara, “We are not religious, especially young people…We don’t say ‘Oh, I’m Buddhist’…we never say that.”
The two largest belief systems in Japan are Buddhism and Shintoism. Often, because there is no set dogma or organized religious system to them, the spiritual identity of many Asian students is very different from those of Christian or Muslim backgrounds.
“It’s part of your background,” said Bloom-Wilson regarding the traditional spiritual views of Asian countries. “I think the difference is a religion is almost like you agree to become that…as part of a group. But I think from my understanding like with Buddhism or Shintoism, it’s very personal…you don’t have to say, ‘Yes, I am a Buddhist’ or something.”
Kenny Vo, a student from Vietnam, does not consider himself a Buddhist, but observes that the Buddhist philosophy is common in his country. “Buddhism is flexible,” he says, “People believe in Buddha, but it’s not like we must go to pagoda (a Buddhist shrine) or something. It depends on if you like.”
Vo notes that Buddhism is “not exactly a religion,” because Buddhists are able to believe in other faiths. He says that most Buddhists “believe in something higher, something that we cannot see in front of us.”
Shintoism is a belief system native to Japan, and is also ingrained in the culture and traditions of many Japanese students, whether they really believe in it or not.
“Everything is god,” says Kasahara regarding Shinto beliefs, “like water, fire, air. There’s so many gods.”
Before the end of World War II, Shinto was the state religion of Japan. When the war ended, it waned in popularity, but its influence can still be seen in the traditions and culture of Japan. For example, many Japanese people revere nature, an idea that is a part of Shinto beliefs.
“I kind of believe Shinto,” says Shoda. “The Shinto people believe that nature is god so we are not even, human nature is not even and nature is higher.”
Although it may be difficult to pinpoint one religion or set viewpoint among Shoda, Kasahara and Vo, all three share a common belief in their ancestors.
“Our ancestors mean the most to us,” says Vo, “We don’t really come to the pagoda and believe in some gentleman in the sky.” Ancestors who have passed on play a big role in the spiritual lives of many Asian people. They believe that they watch over and protect. When they pray, those prayers are usually directed to their ancestors.
Even among the Christian faith itself, there are many different views and beliefs that are not native to Powell. One example is the Orthodox sect of Christianity. Milan Stenojevic of Serbia is of the Serbian Orthodox faith. He has celebrated Christmas his whole life, but on a different date.
According to the Orthodox calendar, Christmas is celebrated on Jan. 7, and New Year’s Day on Jan. 13. “The city where I live in Serbia…45 percent (of the) people are Catholics, so we used to celebrate both…I have a lot of friends, they celebrate two Christmases,” says Stenojevic.
While living here, he says he will celebrate Christmas with everyone else on Dec. 25, but it won’t mean much to him. “It’s kind of hard,” says Stenojevic about celebrating Christmas here. “You can’t do anything about that.”
A Christmas celebration in Serbia involves a fast before Christmas Eve, a dinner free of meat or animal products of any kind and a night mass in an Orthodox temple.
“We have kind of temples,” says Stenojevic, “little temples and bigger temples. That’s what we call church…people pray there.” The mass includes praying, singing and lighting candles for family and loved ones, both living and dead.
In a place where, for at least 20 years, most people celebrate a country Christmas with all the trimmings, many are unaware of the religious diversity that NWC’s international students actually provide. Most of them enjoy the atmosphere that Powell provides, and are learning to live in a foreign environment which may seem familiar to most.
“Powell is a great town, because you’ve got the small community,” says Fall. People have a chance to get to know you, and they will have a chance to take care of you.”
“I think when you’re a campus or an institution that is not affiliated with any particular religion…,” says Bloom-Wilson, “one viewpoint shouldn’t dominate…I think it’s a perfect venue for dialogue, but dialogue means that you listen as well as talk.”