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| Bahá’í News | May 1981 | Bahá’í Year 138 |
The Rabbani Bahá’í School
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Contents[edit]
Rabbani School |
|
Growth, progress hallmarks of India’s ‘second’ Bahá’í school | 2 |
Around the world |
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News from Bahá’í communities in every corner of the globe | 10 |
Cover
A dramatic scale model view of the proposed campus at the Rabbani Bahá’í School near Gwalior, India, shows the core of the school revolving around the future House of Worship. The pond and canal are to be farmed for fish and/or water plants. Trees will be either fruit or nut bearing or will produce fodder for dairy cattle; all waste materials will be recycled to create a semi-closed ecocycle. The Rabbani School, whose present buildings were purchased in 1964 by the National Spiritual Assembly of India, reopened its doors in 1977 after a seven-year hiatus and has grown to serve the needs of 127 students in grades six through nine (for the 1980-81 school year). A complete report of the Rabbani School’s background, growth, present status and future prospects begins on Page 2.
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Second class postage paid at Wilmette, IL 60091. Copyright © 1981, National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. World Rights Reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.
Bahá’í News is published monthly by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States, as a news organ reporting current activities of the Bahá’í world community. Manuscripts submitted should be typewritten and double spaced throughout; any footnotes should appear at the end. The contributor should keep a carbon copy. Send materials to: Bahá’í News Editorial Office, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091, U.S.A.
RABBANI[edit]
India’s growing Bahá’í School at Gwalior sends forth a steady stream of deepened, competent Bahá’í teachers under the loving guidance of the Universal House of Justice
The Rabbani School at Gwalior stands today as the second distinguished contribution of the Bahá’í community of India toward the development of full-time Bahá’í educational institutions. The first, the New Era School at Panchgani, was established in 1945. Both schools follow in the footsteps of the famous Tarbiyat Bahá’í schools in Írán.
The Rabbani School, which reopened its doors in 1977 after a seven-year hiatus, is being developed under the loving and careful guidance of the Universal House of Justice and the National Spiritual Assembly of India.
Its purpose is unique. The House of Justice stated, in a letter of July 28, 1974, that “... the primary purpose for establishing the Rabbani School, beyond offering needed services to many Bahá’í families, is to assist the teaching and consolidation work in India through training potential village teachers.”
The school’s fundamental aim is thus to train a substantial number of staunch and deepened Bahá’í teachers. Toward that end, the curriculum has three major aspects: academic, vocational, and Bahá’í.
In the words of the Universal House of Justice, the students, after their years at the school, “... will have had the opportunity to achieve competence in the required academic subjects and will also have participated in a supervised work plan which will have provided real experience in valuable skills. In addition, during this period they will have become imbued with Bahá’í moral principles, will have been exposed to the Bahá’í life of worship and service as observed in
The author, who is principal of the Rabbani School, with his wife, Sherman, and daughter, Amelia, in a photo taken in 1979.
[Page 3]
the school, and will have become involved in direct
Bahá’í teaching.”
The development of the Rabbani School was included as one of India’s goals during the Five Year Plan, and its further development is a goal of the Seven Year Plan.
The Rabbani School is located on the plains of north-central India just outside the city of Gwalior. Its 72 acres of farm land, a large main building, and several auxiliary buildings were purchased in 1964 by the National Spiritual Assembly of India. The property had previously belonged to the Maharaja of Gwalior and is quite beautiful, with large trees and many date palms that make it a virtual oasis amidst the surrounding scrub forest.
The school was established near Gwalior because continuous teaching efforts begun in that area in 1962 have resulted in a large Bahá’í population. Nearly 3,100 Local Spiritual Assemblies exist in this region of northern Madya Pradesh State. Therefore, most students are selected from this area, although as the school’s reputation grows, students who can study in the Hindi medium are beginning to come from other States such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Haryana.
Bahá’í environment[edit]
The most distinctive feature of education at the Rabbani School is that boys live for six years in a Bahá’í environment that helps them to become members of “a new race of men” of high moral fibre, strength of character, and resourcefulness. They rise each morning with Bahá’í prayers, and live according to the Bahá’í calendar of Holy Days, Feasts, the Fast, and other festivals and observances.
They learn how to conduct Bahá’í meetings and to consult properly, study Bahá’í administration extensively, and experience first-hand its functions in mock Assembly meetings, on school committees, and in actual Riḍván elections. With their memorization of
Harvesting grain is an important part of the Rabbani School’s agricultural program.
Above: The school’s jeep has seen yeoman service since the school reopened in 1977.
Above: Counsellor Shirin Boman (seated center) visits the school on a Bahá’í Holy Day in 1979. Below: The main school building (the ‘Kothi’) which was once the residence of the Maharaja of Gwalior.
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Bahá’í passages and prayers, as well as important excerpts from other holy scriptures, they will have a
wide range of knowledge as well as songs, literature
and teaching albums to take to their villages. Their
personal experience of Bahá’í community life is invaluable, and hard to match in conferences and at institutes.
As it has developed, the school has undertaken more Bahá’í activities including teaching trips, children’s classes, deepening institutes, and other conferences at the school. An extension services program is evolving that will coordinate the efforts of staff and students to travel for Bahá’í work while offering technical skills to the villages, especially the all-Bahá’í villages.
Foe the students, the result of these areas of training should be to assist them to become deepened, experienced Bahá’í teachers of good character who have sufficient skills at their disposal to help in the development of their villages both technically and spiritually.
The vocational emphasis at the school derives from the mandate letter from the Universal House of Justice (July 28, 1974) that specifies that the school “... will ultimately be strongly vocational in its atmosphere and curriculum.”
Papaya trees grow in abundance in the area around the Rabbani School.
This is especially appropriate in this area, since the school aims primarily to train village boys to return to their villages. The vocational curriculum includes agriculture, animal husbandry, poultry and fish farming, sanitation, village technologies, and basic building trades. Interested students may also be trained in small-scale industrial skills. These skills are taught in several hours of practical work per week to complement the theory taught in class. For example, boys will take responsibility for a small plot of land, where they grow and harvest crops, or for a small poultry unit where all aspects of work are under their supervision.
This aspect of incorporating practical training (the vocations) within the academic and theoretical program is being emphasized in such a way as to make Rabbani a self-help school; that is, it will “... embody a self-help component whereby the village students will undertake a measure of the work of farm and school, such work to be planned as practical education in modern farming methods and skills useful in village development,” as envisioned by the Universal House of Justice.
The practical self-help aspect integrates important aspects of the vocational thrust of the school with Bahá’í concepts as they relate to character formation; for example, creating self-reliant individuals who have strengths and skills to respond to the many challenges at hand. The self-help aspect will help provide each student with the resources needed for rural development, will enable a boy to earn a part of his schooling, as most of the students can’t afford to pay for a boarding school education, and will enable the school to help meet its operating costs through the sale of products or produce. The boys also are able to bridge more easily the gulf between home life and school life by remaining involved to some extent in the practical aspects of daily living.
Growing pains[edit]
The operation of the Rabbani School has not been continuous since its purchase by the National Spiritual Assembly on February 20, 1964, from Maharaja Scindia of Gwalior. It wasn’t until July 1967 that the Rabbani Boarding School opened its doors to boys from villages in the area and from neighboring states. Each year thereafter the number of students increased.
During these years the school was blessed by visits from four Hands of the Cause of God: Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum in 1964, Enoch Olinga accompanied by Mrs. Olinga in 1968, Dr. Adelbert Mühlschlegel in 1969 (accompanied by Hooshmand Fatheazam, a member of the Universal House of Justice), and several visits by the Hand of the Cause Raḥmatu’lláh Muhájir, the last in 1978.
By 1970 enrollment at the school had grown to approximately 70 students, 16 of whom were from Tibetan refugee families. Regular academic activities were
[Page 5]
held in standards (grades) 5 through 9. From 1970 onward, however, the school ceased to function, and the
boys were taken to a boarding hostel in Gwalior. They
received academic training at other schools and moral
training at the hostel. In 1974 the hostel was shifted to
Indore for one year with the 12 remaining students.
During the period from 1970-74, the National Spiritual Assembly supervised a subcommittee that studied the requirements for re-establishing the Rabbani School and clarifying its objectives.
Also during this time, because of the urgent need to find a qualified Bahá’í to serve as the school’s director, contact was made with two American believers, Stephen Waite and his wife, Sherman. Mr. Waite visited the school in April 1974, and he and Sherman decided to accept the challenge of its restoration. They arrived to stay in December 1975, shortly after Mr. Waite completed work on his doctoral thesis in education at the University of Massachusetts.
The Waites were joined at that time by Ray Betts, a 71-year-old pioneer from the U.S. and Belize who had years of experience in tropical agriculture. Mr. Betts spent nearly a year at the Rabbani School improving the soil and fruit trees, introducing composting and the use of natural fertilizers and mulching. With great humor, he persevered through the trials of inspection by curious villagers, and of being hard of hearing, which made learning a new language quite difficult. Mr. Betts recently passed on to the Abhá Kingdom.
Before the school could reopen, there were the problems of obtaining electricity, plumbing, and adequate living space. By organizing the villagers to make agricultural proposals for electricity, and helping them to arrange for bank loans, it was possible to obtain an electrical connection that had been sought unsuccessfully in that area for five years.
In addition, a work crew came from Panchgani, site of the New Era Bahá’í School, to help build a new shower and toilet facility, dining hall, gobar gas plant to produce methane, and to install all the plumbing. Nearly 16,000 feet of the main building were repainted.
The dining hall at the Rabbani School is a combination of the old and the new.
Above: Fish are harvested from the Rabbani School’s fish pond using a very large net. Below: A class in agricultural theory. Instruction at the school is mostly in Hindi.
Early in 1977, I.P. Singh of Malhausi came to the school, and was joined in August of that year by a pioneer family from the United Kingdom, Feroz and Elizabeth Dallas and their two children. Mr. Dallas was named director of agriculture; Mrs. Dallas served as the school nurse. Mr. Dallas’ knowledge of Hindi, revived from his childhood days in Bombay, coupled with his extensive training abroad, made him uniquely qualified for the position as director of agriculture. Under his guidance, and with Mr. Singh’s experience, a poultry farm was established, and new acreage was brought under cultivation. As the need for agriculture classes and practical training for the boys grew, they began to prepare the agricultural curriculum. Some progress in supporting the school was made by nearly doubling its agricultural income between 1977 and 1979.
The Rabbani School was reopened in July 1977 with 47 boys at the 6th level. All students then were housed in the main building, together with classrooms,
[Page 6]
The Rabbani School’s nine-member ‘Children’s Assembly’ for 1979-80. The ‘Assembly’ is elected annually by secret ballot according to Bahá’í electoral procedure. The group elected for 1979-80 included representatives from every grade at the school.
offices, and staff rooms. In the present school year (1980-81) there are 127 students in classes 6-9 with eight full-time teachers plus an agricultural staff and Mrs. Sitara Vasudevan, a half-time teacher who also serves as vice-principal of the school. It is expected that the student body will number nearly 140 next year.
Potatoes are another important agricultural crop at the Rabbani School.
During the initial years of the school’s operation, existing buildings have been modified to meet school needs. For further expansion, an over-all master plan for the school is being developed so that growth might take place in a more orderly fashion. Through the dedicated efforts of two Bahá’í architects, Allen Washatko and Tom Kubala of the University of Illinois in the U.S., layout plans have been prepared and are being considered.
Toward self-sufficiency[edit]
The Universal House of Justice has indicated that over a period of years the school should become self-sufficient; that is, not depend on the Bahá’í Funds for support. This is a challenging goal because the cost of educating students cannot be entirely recovered through fees, as many families have insufficient funds. Therefore, the parents pay only about 15 per cent of the cost of an education at Rabbani.
In addition, at this time of growth and development, the costs of building and land development are highest. However, in its two and one-half years of operation, the Rabbani School has become relatively less dependent on help from the National Fund. The many friends who have contributed to the scholarship fund or the building program are largely responsible for this progress, and the school relies heavily on the constant flow of donations, large or small, to help it operate. At a conference two years ago, an amount sufficient to build the needed new dormitory was pledged.
A further step toward self-sufficiency has been
[Page 7]
taken through the increase in agricultural production
and sale of produce. Dramatic progress has been made
in reclaiming acreage—the land under cultivation has
more than tripled in two years, yields have doubled,
and continual progress is being made.
The House of Justice noted this forward movement in a letter of June 13, 1979: “The House of Justice is very pleased with the progress made at the school during this past year and extends its wholehearted congratulations to the staff for its dedicated efforts. As you are aware, it is vital that institutions of this type become increasingly self-supporting, and your summary indicates that you are making great strides in this direction.”
It should be noted, however, that in 1979-80 the progress toward self-sufficiency was slowed considerably. Two main factors were involved: First, the upheavals in Iran and the persecution of the friends in that country meant that many of the Rabbani School’s staunchest supporters no longer were able to continue that support; and second, the worst drought in more than 70 years led to a severe reduction in the school’s agricultural productivity.
Nevertheless, the intention is for the school to press forward, ever mindful that the Universal House of Justice has placed great emphasis on its continual development. As its letter of April 15, 1977, points out, “The Universal House of Justice considers the Rabbani School an important aspect of the development of the Faith in India.”
The importance of the school can be seen in three main areas: first, in its great potential for placing in the field of service large numbers deepened indigenous believers each year; second, in its helping to develop a substantial Bahá’í community comprised of deepened, resourceful individuals whose energies can be tapped to help establish programs in the villages; and third, in its potential to train adult believers in the Teachings and in other useful skill areas.
Students at the Rabbani School enjoy a game of volleyball after classes.
Already, tangible progress has been made toward the accomplishment of these wide-ranging goals. Students are now being trained to help in direct teaching and deepenings sponsored by the school, with basic reference materials for organizing children’s classes and presenting talks. Although the faculty and staff remain few in number, a high level of interest in the school and its goals is present. A series of highly successful deepening institutes, sponsored by the National Teaching Committee of India and directed by
Above: The Hand of the Cause of God Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum speaks to students during a visit to the Rabbani School. Counsellor Shirin Boman translates into Hindi. Below: A tractor helps prepare more land at the school for cultivation.
[Page 8]
Students and faculty at the Rabbani School are shown in front of the school before its opening in 1979-80. Rabbani reopened in 1977 after having been closed for seven years.
Feroz Dallas, who served as agricultural director at the Rabbani School for 2 1/2 years, with his wife, Elizabeth, and their children, Galan and Susie.
Mrs. Sherman White, has been held at the school.
Presently, the needs and interests of a student population of 127 are being served, while various communities are being served indirectly. Parents of the students are now in contact with the school, and a careful nurturing of this potential relationship has been undertaken. Further, various communities are being taught and consolidated through a teaching program that is being carried out by the students themselves. This level of activity and service however, represents insufficient utilization of the potential of a stable Bahá’í institution in the middle of a large area in need of consolidation. Therefore, plans are being made to expand the role of the Rabbani School in four areas:
- The over-all program for boys at the school.
- A new program entailing much greater parent involvement and participation, and involving their communities as well.
- A development program specifically for Bahá’í villages as a whole, where within a long-term relationship the village will receive Bahá’í deepening, the Assembly will be given specific training, and the village economy will be assisted to become more stable, with its agricultural base diversified and expanded, small-scale industries added, alternative energies introduced, and educational facilities improved (all of these areas will be dealt with through extension of the resources of the school into the villages, and will involve a comprehensive set of goals for village development).
- The addition of various social services such as a health care center for primary health maintenance, emphasizing maternal and child preventive health measures, and a center for adult literacy training.
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Expansion into each of these areas of service will require considerable time, careful planning, the dedicated efforts of many experts in various fields, and the
accumulation and proper channeling of financial resources.
Under the guidance of the Universal House of Justice and the National Spiritual Assembly of India, the Rabbani School promises to perform a unique and valuable function, not only for India’s Bahá’í community, but as a model for similar institutions that will develop elsewhere in the years to come. Such educational institutions represent an exciting new threshold for the Bahá’í community in its continuing effort to serve the needs of all humanity.
Above: A scale model of the proposed new dormitory courtyard at the Rabbani School indicating a platform between the student rooms and staff house where everyone can gather to socialize, seek advice, or maintain a feeling of security through contact with their surrogate parents. Right: An individual dormitory cluster that will house 48 to 72 students. The staff home is on the left, classroom and pedestrian street to the right. Each courtyard will include trees for shade and a fountain for drinking and washing.
Above: The late Ray Betts, the Rabbani School’s first agricultural director. Below: An eighth-grade class conducted by Mrs. Waite studies the words of the Báb.
Around the world[edit]
Central African Republic[edit]
Three Local Spiritual Assemblies were formed, 10 locations were opened to the Faith, and 72 residents of the Central African Republic became Bahá’ís as the result of a three-week teaching trip last October by a group of eight believers.
The team members included Canadians, Iranians and Central Africans. Dividing themselves into groups of two or three, each team spent a few days in each village. The traveling teachers visited a total of 25 localities in the Central African Republic.
In the majority of villages they visited, the teachers were warmly received. The head of the village, the villagers or the local friends offered hospitality.
The villagers, most of whom are illiterate, asked for Bahá’ís to live in their villages to deepen them in the Faith.
Approximately 150 students at a school where an Iranian pioneer is on the faculty attended a special proclamation meeting and asked questions about the Faith for more than an hour. Some teachers also attended the meeting and they, too, posed questions.
Pakistan[edit]
United Nations Human Rights Day was observed by Bahá’ís in all of the major centers of Pakistan.
A well-attended public meeting last December 10 in Karachi was planned to make people aware of the need and importance of human rights and to proclaim the Faith.
UN Representative Safdar Barlas congratulated the Bahá’í community on having arranged the meeting. He explained the UN Charter of Human Rights and described duties of the Commission for Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities.
More than 60 people from various areas of Punjab attended the Human Rights Day program last December 12 at the Lord Hotel in Lahore, Pakistan. Reports of this Bahá’í-sponsored meeting were published in the Pakistan Times and in Emroz.
Believers in Gujrat, Chakwal, Murree, Rawalpindi and Abbottabad also arranged Human Rights Day meetings that were attended by large numbers of people.
Elimination of prejudice was the
topic of a well-attended public
meeting last November 28 in
Karachi, Pakistan, that was sponsored by the Bahá’í Teaching
Committee of Karachi.
Speakers included Romin Habibi, a Bahá’í; Professor Iyyar of the Superior Science College in Karachi, and John Elia, a well-known literary personality and co-editor of Aalimi Digest.
Afterward, Bahá’ís mingled with guests for information discussions about the Faith and its principles concerning the elimination of prejudices.
A part of the audience at the Bahá’í-sponsored observance of UN Human Rights Day last December 10 in Karachi, Pakistan.
Speakers at a public meeting last November 28 in Karachi, Pakistan, sponsored by the Bahá’í Teaching Committee of Karachi were (left to right) Riaz Ahmad Shirazi, Bahá’í chairman of the public meeting; John Elia, a well-known literary personality, and (at the podium) Professor Iyyar, a faculty member at the Superior Science College in Karachi.
Finland[edit]
Continental Counsellor Hartmut Grossmann was among the participants at the Finnish Bahá’í Winter School in Joensuu, Finland. Also participating in the four-day session were members of the National Spiritual Assembly of Finland and the Auxiliary Board.
Laos[edit]
The first in a series of four deepening institutes planned for this year was held January 24-25 at the National Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds in Vientiane, Laos.
Eight of the nine members of Vientiane’s Bahá’í Children’s and Youth Committee participated along with two visiting teachers from the Paksane area of Laos.
One purpose of the two-day meeting was to consult on ways of improving the quality of Bahá’í education for children. With this goal in mind the committee adopted lesson plans incorporating a number of visual aids developed by the National Spiritual Assembly of India.
Deepening sessions at the institute focused on Bahá’í history and administration as well as the importance of consultation.
The institute closed with an evening of social activities attended by Bahá’í and non-Bahá’í parents along with some members of the Spiritual Assembly of Vientiane. All of the parents expressed their appreciation for the Sunday children’s classes. Non-Bahá’í parents made suggestions on how to increase the attendance of non-Bahá’í children at the classes.
‘Living the Bahá’í Life’ was the focus of a teaching conference last November in Tornio, Finland. A special guest at this weekend gathering was Auxiliary Board member Maija Pihlainen.
Ecuador[edit]
Maria Perugachi, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Ecuador (left), is introduced to an audience of 5,000 last September at ‘Yamor,’ Otavalo, Ecuador’s most important folk festival, as ‘Miss Maria Perugachi of Radio Bahá’í.’ Her introduction reflects the increasing prestige of Radio Bahá’í and its identification with Quechuan culture and its preservation. Miss Perugachi was invited to serve as mistress of ceremonies in the selection of the queen of the Quechua-speakers’ festival.
Bermuda[edit]
Continental Counsellor Sarah M. Pereira, accompanied by Auxiliary Board member Adrienne Reeves and Dr. Reeves’ husband, William, paid a visit to the Bahá’í community of Bermuda last November 20-23.
Dr. Pereira was the featured speaker at an Auxiliary Board Team Conference held at the Bahá’í Center in Hamilton that was planned in cooperation with the Bahá’í Teaching Committee of Bermuda.
Counsellor Pereira was interviewed on Bermuda television and radio during her visit. In addition, she was the honored guest at an informal reception and fireside that was attended by several prominent non-Bahá’ís and reported on two newscasts the following day.
Drs. Pereira and Reeves were invited to the Government House where they had a 45-minute visit with the governor’s wife, Lady Ramsbotham.
While they were in Bermuda the Teaching Committee announced the pending formation of another Spiritual Assembly. The Spiritual Assembly of Warwick Parish was formed on November 25, bringing to six the number of Assemblies in Bermuda.
Other Bahá’í visitors to Bermuda last November included Dr. Hamilton Niss of Indianapolis, Indiana, and three believers who together came to dedicate 10 days of teaching to the memory of the seven martyrs of Yazd, Iran—Auxiliary Board member Hormoz Bastani and Vahid Hedayati from Texas, and Sheri Dressler from Florida.
Auxiliary Board member Adrienne Reeves (left) and Continental Counsellor Sarah Pereira (right) pause in the gardens of Bermuda’s Government House during their 45-minute visit with Lady Ramsbotham, the governor’s wife. Drs. Pereira and Reeves were invited to Government House during their November 20-23 visit to Bermuda.
Traveling teachers (left to right) Vahid Hedayati, Sheri Dressler and Auxiliary Board member Hormoz Bastani prepare to leave the Bahá’í Center in Hamilton, Bermuda, during their 10-day teaching effort last November that was dedicated to the memory of the seven martyrs of Yazd, Iran.
Believers attending the Auxiliary Board Team Conference last November 23 at the Bahá’í Center in Hamilton, Bermuda, gathered on the steps of the Bahá’í Center following the conference that was sponsored by visiting Continental Counsellor Sarah Pereira and Auxiliary Board member Adrienne Reeves.
Canada[edit]
An estimated two million Canadians watched a television program broadcast last October 26 that included a testimony to the valor and sacrifice being made by Bahá’ís in Iran.
The Canadian Television Network’s public affairs program “Iran’s Secret Pogrom” made a powerful indictment against the enemies of the Faith in Iran. A videotape of the program was sent to the World Centre.
Ghana[edit]
Thirty-three Spiritual Assemblies were formed as a result of a teaching project last July 9-October 20 in the Upper Region of Ghana.
Thirteen chiefs and one paramount chief became Bahá’ís during the “Entry by Troops” project that was dedicated to the Hands of the Cause of God Enoch Olinga and Raḥmatu’lláh Muhájir and sponsored by the National Spiritual Assembly of Ghana with the support of the Continental Board of Counsellors.
Deepening institutes for newly-formed Assemblies and a Bahá’í wedding of two believers from Sirigu in the Upper Region highlighted the consolidation phase of the project. The Bahá’í wedding was the first ever held for indigenous believers in that region.
Japan[edit]
Three members of the Japanese Bahá’í community met last November 20 with the president of Japan Women’s University as part of the National Spiritual Assembly’s current efforts to proclaim the Faith to those prominent in Japanese society. Daryoush Yazdani and his wife (standing) along with Barbara Sims of Tokyo (seated at left) visited Japan Women’s University President Dr. Kimiyo Michi (seated in center) and Professor Rikutaro Fukuta, a faculty member at the university who is a well-known author and poet. The university’s archives includes a notebook from its founder in which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote a prayer when they met in London in 1912.
Fiji Islands[edit]
The Bahá’í International Community was represented last October 30-November 3 at the subregional meeting for Pacific Women in Suva, Fiji Islands, sponsored by the World Conference of the United Nations Decade for Women.
The Bahá’í speaker, Irene Williams, presented a paper highlighting the role of women in the worldwide Bahá’í community and its administrative bodies. She pointed out that Bahá’í women have been elected to serve on 12 national-level bodies in Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia.
Mrs. Williams spoke of the increasing cooperation within Bahá’í communities between women from urban areas and villages as well as of the aspirations of the Bahá’í community in the education of women.
El Salvador[edit]
Approximately 250 people from El Salvador, Costa Rica and Guatemala attended a Bahá’í summer school last December 30-January 4 at the Poli-technical Institute of Central America in Santa Tecla, El Salvador.
Ten people declared their belief in Bahá’u’lláh during the session that featured members of the National Spiritual Assembly, assistants to the Auxiliary Board, and members of the National Teaching Committee.
Classes focused on a wide range of subjects including the Seven Year Plan, the Station of the Central Figures of the Faith, Bahá’í engagement and marriage, Bahá’í elections, and child education.
The five-day program included children’s classes, a talent show and recreational activities.
Participants at a Bahá’í summer school last December 30-January 4 in Santa Tecla, El Salvador, pause for lunch between classes that covered a variety of topics. Approximately 250 people from El Salvador, Guatemala and Costa Rica attended. Ten people accepted the Faith during the summer school.
Trinidad/Tobago[edit]
The 55 participants at Trinidad and Tobago’s annual Bahá’í Youth Camp last December 13-16 gathered for this group photograph. The camp, sponsored by the National Youth Committee, included classes on Bahá’í history, teaching, prayer, and the role of Bahá’í youth. Two new localities were opened during village teaching near the camp site.
More than 120 children from 18 localities in Trinidad and Tobago, along with 30 adults and six youth, attended the National Bahá’í Children’s Conference last November 23 at the Bahá’í Center in Palmyra Village, Trinidad. The attendance was the largest in the history of the annual event.
Groups of children accompanied by their instructors each presented a 15-minute program. Presentations included songs, some of which were composed for the conference; poems; chanted excerpts from the Writings, and stories about outstanding believers.
Bahá’í children from Mt. Grace, Tobago, presented a dance that portrayed some aspects of love and unity. The children of Febeau Village, Trinidad, presented a skit that demonstrated how prejudice can be overcome, while children from Port of Spain, Trinidad, presented the story of Bahá’í followed by a presentation on the Bahá’í ringstone symbol.
At the conclusion of the conference, the children enjoyed refreshments and a social period.
A group of traveling teachers participating in the month of teaching activities in Trinidad and Tobago last December 15-January 18 gathered with their children for this group photograph in Valencia Village, East Trinidad.
Approximately 70 believers attended a national teaching conference sponsored by the Continental Board of Counsellors for the Americas January 31-February 1 at the Palmyra District Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds in southern Trinidad.
Speakers included Counsellor Donald Witzel who stressed the urgency for teaching, especially at this point in history. He referred to the various stages of the Faith’s development as outlined by Shoghi Effendi.
A member of the National Assembly of Trinidad and Tobago related recent developments in Iran and the continuing persecution of believers in that country.
Other presentations focused on Spiritual Assemblies, the Fund, Bahá’í Centers and youth activities.
Participants spread through the countryside in teaching teams during the weekend conference. Later, they gathered to discuss their teaching experiences. In one village a Spiritual Assembly was elected during an afternoon of team teaching.
United Kingdom[edit]
A special offer on the new book, The Unfolding Destiny: The Messages From the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith to the Bahá’í Community of the British Isles, is being made to Bahá’ís who were registered in the British Isles during the lifetime of Shoghi Effendi.
Those believers who were members of the Faith in the British Isles at that time may obtain one copy of this remarkable 552-page book for only £10 NET, postage free, home or abroad. It ordinarily sells for £18.
In addition to the messages to the Bahá’í community and to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United Kingdom, The Unfolding Destiny includes important letters to Local Spiritual Assemblies and excerpts from letters to individual members of the British Bahá’í community. There is also a section giving appropriate biographical notes.
The book includes a foreword by the late Hand of the Cause of God Ḥasan M. Balyúzi and a preface by David Hofman, a member of the Universal House of Justice.
All orders for the book should be sent to the Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 2 South St., Oakham, Leics LE15 6HY, England.
Norway[edit]
Participants at a Lapland Bahá’í Conference last fall in Tromso, Norway, gathered for this group photograph outside the conference site. Among those present was Auxiliary Board member Pauline Rafát of Norway. Believers traveled to the conference from the northern areas of Norway, Sweden and Finland.
Argentina[edit]
Continental Counsellor Athos Costas (second from left in back row) and 30 believers including three members of the National Spiritual Assembly of Argentina gathered for this photograph during a farewell party for Mr. Costas in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Counsellor Costas and his family were about to leave Argentina for a pioneering post in Bolivia.
Guyana[edit]
More than 50 people attended a two-day Women’s Conference last September at the Bahá’í Center in Georgetown, Guyana.
The conference was opened by Marijke Van Lith, an Auxiliary Board member from Surinam, whose topic was “The History of Women’s Role in Religion.”
The conference program included a workshop during which women shared their views on the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on the role of women.
Other topics presented were skin problems of the tropics, cleanliness, physiotherapy, and the Children’s Rehabilitation Center.
A skit performed during the conference suggested ways to arrange household finances to allow for maximum contributions to the Bahá’í Funds.
Hawaii[edit]
Trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie (left), who is a Bahá’í, and alto saxophonist Gabe Baltazar, a former member of the Stan Kenton orchestra, perform for an audience of more than 150 last February 7 at the Honolulu Bahá’í Center during a special program arranged while Mr. Gillespie was visiting Hawaii for a concert appearance.
More than 150 people including many non-Bahá’ís attended a musical proclamation February 7 at the Bahá’í Center in Honolulu that featured trumpeter John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie and other musicians, Bahá’í and non-Bahá’í.
Auxiliary Board member Michael Woodward, a noted Honolulu entertainer, served as master of ceremonies for the quickly-arranged presentation.
Mr. Gillespie, a Bahá’í who is one of the world’s best known jazz musicians, composed a song entitled “Side By Side” especially for the occasion.
Entertainment also included a performance by the Hawaii Bahá’í Chorus.
A presentation of the Faith by Craig Quick and Elizabeth Habermann, members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Hawaiian Islands, following the music resulted in some declarations and expressions of interest in the Faith by several other persons.
Four members of the Bahá’í community of Koolaupoko in Honolulu County are present as Eileen Anderson, Honolulu’s recently-elected mayor, proclaims January 18 as World Religion Day. Prior to the proclamation signing, the believers offered the mayor brief descriptions of the Faith and World Religion Day. Mayor Anderson praised the Bahá’ís for their high ideals and for their sense of world unity. Those present for the proclamation signing are (left to right) Florence Csigi, Susan Frietas, Mayor Anderson, Dr. Larry Beers, and Ann Dusseault.
Ten-year-old Jennifer Morrison
of Kauai, Hawaii, joined her father,
Gary Morrison, a member of the
National Spiritual Assembly of
Hawaii, in a series of teaching
events last October 10-13 on the
Big Island.
Crowds of children turned out to see two slide presentations of Israel and the Bahá’í Holy Places by Jennifer, who had recently returned from a Bahá’í pilgrimage with her grandmother, Mrs. Corale Borges.
Young Jennifer also showed her scrapbook and collection of dolls from the various countries she had visited.
Twenty children attended her first presentation, while 15 children and 11 adults were present at the second, held at the Kamuela public library.
Meanwhile, Mr. Morrison was speaking at firesides in North Kona, Kamuela, and the Bahá’í Center in Puna.
India[edit]
Varqa, a children’s magazine that was published for eight years in Iran, is now being produced on a bi-monthly basis in India in three languages: Persian, English and Hindi.
The republication of the magazine is dedicated to the memory of the Hand of the Cause of God Abu’l-Qásim Faizí who love children and did much to encourage their Bahá’í education.
The yearly subscription price for Varqa is $12 (U.S.) for air mail and $8 (U.S.) for surface mail.
Checks should be made payable to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of India (a/c Varqa). Please send to Sahba, P.O. Box 19, New Delhi 11001, India.
Kenya[edit]
A unit on the Bahá’í Faith has been introduced into a course in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Kenyatta University College in Nairobi, Kenya.
The 140 students enrolled in the class are training to be teachers of religious education in secondary schools. They will receive seven lecture hours and two to three tutorial hours which, according to the course prospectus, will involve reading and research in most of the major works on the Faith published in English.
The course’s unit on the Faith is taught by Professor H.T.D. Rost, an American who has been pioneering in Africa since 1970.
Barbados/Windward Is.[edit]
Meherangiz Munsiff (right) presents Maurice Bishop, the prime minister of Grenada, with a copy of Volume XVI of The Bahá’í World on behalf of the National Spiritual Assembly of Barbados and the Windward Islands. Mrs. Munsiff visited the prime minister last November 11 during a tour of Caribbean island nations.
Zimbabwe[edit]
Several teachers and students at the Sodbury School near Salisbury, Zimbabwe, became Bahá’ís during a proclamation effort at the school last October 4-5.
The school’s headmaster, who is a Bahá’í, invited believers in Salisbury to participate in a weekend sports festival that included participation by 16 schools from throughout the country.
The Bahá’ís conducted a morning prayer session during which Bahá’í Writings on peace, justice and unity were read. This was followed by talks in English and the Shona language.
An evening program during the sports festival included a showing of the movie “Step By Step” that describes Bahá’í activities in Central America. Bahá’í pamphlets were distributed during another presentation to the Association of Teachers.
Many of the other schools participating in the festival invited the believers to visit their schools and present talks about the Faith.
Upper Volta[edit]
More than 100 Bahá’ís from Ghana, Ivory Coast, Benin, Mali, Nigeria, Niger and Upper Volta attended an inter-regional conference last September 4-7 in Ouagadougou, Upper Volta.
Speakers included Counsellors Thelma Khelghati, who discussed the Local Spiritual Assembly, and Zekrollah Kazemi, whose topic was “The Destiny of Africa.”
Other presentations were made on the life and Station of Bahá’u’lláh, the Universal House of Justice, the Seven Year Plan, teaching, Bahá’í child education, Bahá’í life, and the new World Order.
Two public meetings were held on the final day of the conference. Kiser Barnes, a believer who is a professor of law at the University of Ife, Nigeria, spoke about “A Universal Concept of Justice” to an audience at the Inter-State School for Engineers.
The second public meeting was conducted in a heavily-populated area of Ouagadougou in the Moré language with singing by believers from Ghana and Upper Volta animating the program.
Thailand[edit]
Two Bahá’í youth entertain participants at the January 17 regional conference in Chiang Mai, Thailand, that was attended by more than 60 believers from six areas of northern Thailand.
More than 60 believers from six areas of northern Thailand attended a locally sponsored regional conference January 17 in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Participants memorized the short Obligatory Prayer and participated in a variety of workshop sessions. Topics included Bahá’í elections, Nineteen Day Feast observance, children’s classes, and daily prayer, as well as the importance of teaching and regular deepening.
A Bahá’í couple visiting Thailand from Belgium and another couple from Bangkok were present.
After the conference many participants told their fellow villagers, Bahá’í and non-Bahá’í, about their experiences at the conference and answered their many questions about the day-long gathering.
Winifred Barnum Newman
The Secret in the Garden tells the story of an old woman who sets out to bring happiness to a troubled village—and of the young girl who discovers the secret, wins the villagers’ attention by her deeds, and then helps show, through a multicolored and diversified garden, how unity is achieved.
The warm illustrations, half in color, half in black and white, add layers of meaning and hours of enjoyment to the story. The author’s wit and humor touch the text as well as the tiniest details on each page, delighting not only children but the young of every age. Can you find the sleeping cat who comes awake as the villagers learn about living together and appreciating differences?
The Secret in the Garden is also available as a cassette recording, narrated by Susan Engle, who sings a special song created for the book. The musical background and sound effects are by Collins Trier and Susan Engle.
Ages 5-10 years.
32 pages 5¼ x 8¼ inches
ISBN 0-87743-151-5
| Cloth | 7-53-13 | $5.00 |
| Cassette | 6-32-05 | $3.00 |
| Book/Cassette | 7-53-15 | $7.50 |
Available from
Bahá’í Publishing Trust
523 Green Bay Road
Wilmette, IL 60091
WINIFRED BARNUM NEWMAN, an artist, writer, and designer, is an instructor in the program for the gifted at Trinity University. Her drawings, paintings, sculptures, and murals can be found in private collections throughout the United States and Canada.
