Casa Árabe and the Cáritas training team have organized this course titled “At Cáritas we work with Muslims: approaching ‘otherness’ in terms of culture, religion and identity,” within the framework of the organization’s twenty-ninth Summer School courses.

The goal is to approach Muslim groups from different cultural, religious and identity-related perspectives. We will be discussing key concepts necessary to take part in work with Muslim people and groups with the proper understanding, as part of the services offered by the organization.

The course will be divided into two sessions: the first will provide an introduction to Islam and Muslims in the Arab world [Culture, society and religion] and will be given by Victoria Khraiche Ruiz-Zorrilla, an associate professor of Arabic Language and Literature at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM). The second will be devoted to identity issues and young Muslims in our societies [Processes and experiences] and will be given by Hajar Samadi, president of the Bidaya Muslim Women’s Association.

The course is intended for Cáritas’ staff and volunteers. Registration may be completed through the Meetings application of the confederal Intranet, by contacting the training managers of each diocese Cáritas group.

Victoria Khraiche Ruiz-Zorrilla has a PhD in Semitic Studies from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Arabic Philology and has a Master’s degree in Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language. She has been a lecturer of Spanish at the University of Damascus and a contributing educator at the Cervantes Institutes in that capital city and Cairo. Moreover, she was a teacher of Spanish as a foreign language in the programs given by Asilim (Association for the Linguistic Integration of Immigrants in Madrid) at the Refugee Reception Center (CAR) in Alcobendas, at La Casa Encendida and at its own headquarters. At present, she is an associate Arabic Literature professor at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) and a Spanish language teacher at the Fundación Ortega-Marañón in Toledo, activities which she combines with translation and teacher training for Spanish as a foreign language.

Hajar Samadi is an activist and the president of the Bidaya Muslim Women’s Association. She is a member of the ADOS Commission, which works to fight for peaceful coexistence between the Islamic community and Basque society. She is also a social worker in the field of asylum and international protection.