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| Bahá’í News | May 1984 | Bahá’í Year 141 |
of
World Religion Day
in
Sri Lanka
Bahá’í News[edit]
A U.S. State Department survey cites persecution of Bahá’ís in Iran | 1 |
Bahá’í Audio-Visual Centre sponsors media conference in Florida | 2 |
A brief account of Enoch Olinga’s pioneering efforts in West Africa | 4 |
Sri Lanka Bahá’í community holds 4th World Religion Day observance | 10 |
A loving tribute to Yvonne Cuellar, the “Spiritual Mother of Bolivia” | 12 |
A photographic record of a five-month teaching trip to Africa and India | 13 |
Around the world: News from Bahá’í communities all over the globe | 14 |
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 the Periodicals Office, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, U.S.A. Changes of address should be reported to the Office of Membership and Records, Bahá’í National Center. Please attach mailing label. Subscription rates within U.S.: one year, $12; two years, $20. Outside U.S.: one year, $14; two years, $24. Foreign air mail: one year, $20; two years, $40. Payment must accompany order and must be in U.S. dollars. Second class postage paid at Wilmette, IL 60091. Copyright © 1984, National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. World rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.
United States[edit]
State Department cites Iran persecutions[edit]
The persecution of Bahá’ís in Iran is mentioned in a U.S. State Department document, “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1983,” which was submitted in February to the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
“Persecution of the Bahá’ís,” the report says in its survey of Iran, “has increased to the point that Iran’s Prosecutor General effectively banned all Bahá’í religious and institutional activities in August 1983.
“His order provides the legal basis on which the regime can move against all Bahá’ís in Iran if it chooses to do so.”
Iran’s human rights record under the current regime, the report notes, “remains one of the worst in the world, but, with the important exception of increased persecution of the Bahá’ís, there was some improvement in 1983.”
The State Department report was released less than a month after the Universal House of Justice announced the martyrdom of three more Bahá’ís in Iran, bringing the known total of those executed since the Islamic revolution of 1979 to more than 160.
In that same message, dated January 17, the House of Justice reported the arrest since last November of more than 250 Bahá’ís in all parts of Iran, some 70 of whom were detained between December 31 and January 3.
An estimated 600 Bahá’ís are now in prison in Iran.
In his statement last August, Iran’s Prosecutor General ordered that the Bahá’í administration in that country be abolished.
In response, the National Spiritual Assembly of Iran immediately disbanded, as did the more than 400 Local Assemblies there.
The move was accompanied by an “open letter” from the National Spiritual Assembly to the government of Iran denying in the strongest possible terms the allegations of spying and other misdeeds leveled against the Bahá’í community and setting forth clearly and unequivocally the Bahá’í principles of loyalty to government and non-interference in politics.
The letter then demands, in the name of the Bahá’ís of Iran, an end to the persecutions, the restoration of those human rights of which the Bahá’ís have been deprived, an end to restrictions on their ownership of property, the release from prison of all innocent believers, the restoration of Bahá’í cemeteries, and a guarantee of freedom of religion for all Bahá’ís including the right of burial, marriage, and all other acts of worship.
Media response to the State Department’s report on Iran has included a full-page article entitled “Slow Death for Iran’s Bahá’ís” in the February 20 issue of Time magazine and a lengthy interview with Dr. Firuz Kazemzadeh, secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly, in the March 2 edition of the national newspaper USA Today.
Earlier this month, Dr. Kazemzadeh was scheduled to take part in a second Congressional hearing in Washington on the plight of the Bahá’ís in Iran.
A similar hearing, held in May 1982 by the House Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Organizations, was the first in which the Bahá’ís were able to present comprehensive testimony to a government body in this country concerning the persecution of their co-religionists in the Cradle of the Faith.
Among its results was a resolution condemning the persecutions which was passed by the Senate on June 30, 1982, and by the House of Representatives in September of that year.
Last May 22, President Ronald Reagan issued a statement in which he deplored “the persecution and severe repression of the Bahá’ís in Iran” and appealed to the Ayatollah Khomeini and the rest of Iran’s leadership not to carry out the death sentences imposed on believers in that country.
Less than a month later, on June 16, six Bahá’ís were hanged in Shiraz, and on June 18 another 10 Bahá’ís, all of them women including three teen-agers and three others in their early 20s, were hanged, also in Shiraz.
On June 28, Dr. Kazemzadeh appeared at a congressional human rights caucus in Washington to present an update on the situation in Iran.
His testimony, coupled with the mounting evidence of increased pressure on the Bahá’ís in Iran, led in November to the passage by the Senate and House of a second resolution condemning the Khomeini government for its brutal repression of the Faith and calling on President Reagan to work with other nations in drafting an appeal to save the Bahá’ís from further persecution.
On December 9, in an official proclamation marking the 35th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the President cited the persecution of Bahá’ís in Iran as one of the most serious violations of human rights in the world today.
Dr. Kazemzadeh, asked by USA Today whether such measures as congressional resolutions help the cause of believers in Iran, replied:
“A lot is intuitive. But we have evidence from Iran that silence only assists the perpetrators.
“There is evidence that the Khomeini regime responds to the pressure of world opinion. We know that even if after publicity one person is executed, if it had not been done, a hundred might have died.”
The Americas[edit]
Audio-Visual Centre hosts conference[edit]
At the request of the Universal House of Justice, the International Bahá’í Audio-Visual Centre, which is headquartered in Ontario, Canada, invited 50 Bahá’ís from throughout the Americas to a meeting February 17-19 in Florida to consult about the needs, opportunities and resources in the audio-visual media field.
Before the meeting got under way, the House of Justice cabled its prayers that the “zeal, enthusiasm participants institute will produce innovative, fruitful proposals (to) promote increasing use (of) audio-visual messages (and) materials, achieve teaching goals.”
Four Counsellors for the Americas—Lauretta King of Alaska, Shapoor Monadjem of Brazil, Ruth Pringle of Panama and Donald Witzel of Venezuela—lent an invigorating spirit to the deliberations, keynoting sessions and speaking candidly about the pressing need for audio-visual materials and
... the House of Justice cabled its prayers that the ‘zeal, enthusiasm participants institute will produce innovative, fruitful proposals (to) promote increasing use (of) audio-visual messages (and) materials, achieve teaching goals.’
messages that are more appropriate and meaningful to the people in rural and indigenous areas.
By the close of the meeting the spirit of genuine affection which animated the stimulating flow of ideas and suggestions prompted the Audio-Visual Centre’s executive committee to cable the House of Justice:
“AV Media Institute wonderful success. Counsellors’ leadership, enthusiasm participants 11 national communities including representatives key agencies resulted innovative proposals, new level hemispheric cooperation. Many collaborative projects launched, others proposed appropriate institutions. Bahá’í professionals offered service greatest needs Plan. Spirit of love, unity (and) action released (to) exploit AV media materials (and) messages appropriate diverse populations Americas (and) world.”
The vital necessity of applying marketing techniques, of researching carefully the audience, or, better, of involving one’s intended audience or population in the planning and creation of programs, and of undertaking the painful but glorious task of experimenting in the field with various styles of messages, audio-visual materials, slide shots and editing, were among the many topics discussed at length by participants.
Coming from Alaska, Canada, the United States, Hawaii, Haiti, Antigua, the Netherlands Antilles, Panama, the
One hundred forty-five Bahá’ís from 10 countries and territories were present February 24-26 in Daytona Beach, Florida, for the Bahá’í International Health Agency’s third Conference on Health. The conference featured a stellar array of health professionals who addressed the over-all conference theme, “Health: Whose Responsibility?” In addition to lectures on a wide variety of topics, the conference included simultaneous Friday afternoon workshops on “Ethics in the Field of Health,” “Health Delivery Systems,” “Health and Nutrition,” and “Sexuality.” The aims and objectives of the Bahá’í International Health Agency were addressed Saturday morning by Dr. Hossain B. Danesh, chairman of the agency’s administrative committee, and its executive secretary, Dr. Ethel Martens. The health agency was created in 1982 at a conference in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Since then it has become established as an integral part of the Centre for Bahá’í Studies in Ottawa. Attendees at the February conference came from American Samoa, Antigua, Barbados, Bermuda, Canada, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, the United Kingdom, the United States, and West Germany. |
Virgin Islands, Venezuela and Brazil, participants represented distribution centers, national proclamation and teaching committees, and production houses privately owned and operated by Bahá’ís.
A number of professional broadcasters and producers also attended.
Susan McLaren of CIRBAL, the Bahá’í media production and distribution center for Latin America, reported on the great need for managers, technicians and other Bahá’ís with broadcasting experience at radio stations that are presently operating or in the planning stages.
Dr. Glen Eyford, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Canada who is active in the field of social and economic development, spoke about the value of the media not only in teaching and consolidation but also
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in development work.
Representatives of the U.S. Bahá’í Publishing Trust, the Canadian Bahá’í Distribution Service, and privately owned distribution centers such as Images International of Virginia were able to bring participants up to date on some of the economic challenges presented by limited market sizes for audio-visual materials.
A number of those attending were able to meet informally to discuss possible ways in which to collaborate and share expertise and production facilities with teachers and others in the field.
Faced with the urgent and extraordinary opportunities in television and radio broadcasting, in the use of films, filmstrips, slide programs, posters and audio and video cassettes, the a-v media institute gave promise that there are many Bahá’ís with skills and interests who are eager to begin taking advantage of those opportunities.
Among the participants at the media conference February 17-19 in Florida sponsored by the International Bahá’í Audio-Visual Centre were Counsellors for the Americas (left to right) Shapoor Monadjem of Brazil, Ruth Pringle of Panama, Lauretta King of Alaska, and Donald Witzel of Venezuela. A number of professional broadcasters, producers and publishers were joined at the conference by representatives of Bahá’í publishing trusts and distribution services.
Dominica[edit]
The national Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds of Dominica, in the capital city of Roseau, was acquired last October in fulfillment of a goal of the Seven Year Plan. The National Spiritual Assembly of Dominica was formed at Riḍván 1983.
Biography[edit]
Enoch Olinga: The pioneering years[edit]
“What does it mean to “teach” the Bahá’í Faith? To “pioneer”? What are the qualities a pioneer should cultivate to be successful in his or her service to the Cause? What effect does a pioneer have on the lives of those he or she teaches?
When we look at the lives of some of those who have sacrificed a great deal to further the Cause of God, when we examine the way in which these devoted servants have touched the lives of those they taught, we gain some insight into what ‘Abdu’l-Bahá must have been promising when He said, “Whensoever holy souls, drawing on the powers of heaven, shall arise with such qualities of the spirit, and march in unison, rank on rank, every one of those souls will be even as one thousand ...”1
Enoch Olinga was probably the best known African believer throughout the whole Bahá’í world. He was a Hand of the Cause of God, the only person from Africa to have been elevated to that honor by the beloved Guardian. The Bahá’í world was shocked and saddened when he was slain under tragic circumstances at his home in Kampala, Uganda, in 1979.2
Limbe (formerly Victoria), Cameroon, an oceanside town with a humid, tropical climate in which Enoch Olinga settled in 1953 when he (with the Nakhjavání family) opened what was then known as the British Cameroons to the Faith.
Enoch Olinga was a Ugandan, from Teso, and as a relatively new Bahá’í himself, he arose and traveled
| This brief biographical sketch of some of the pioneering efforts of the Hand of the Cause of God Enoch Olinga in West Africa is part of a more extensive work being planned by Don Addison, an ethnomusicologist who specializes in African studies, a field he has pursued for the last 15 years. Mr. Addison, who has been a Bahá’í for 23 years, is a graduate of the University of Oregon and of the University of California at Los Angeles, and a musician who has lectured and performed for 20 years in countries all over the world. From 1981-83 he was a faculty member at the University of Nigeria in Nsukka and served during that time as an assistant to the Auxiliary Board. Mr. Addison is presently pursuing a doctoral degree in the U.S., after which he plans to return to Africa. |
thousands of miles from his home, a most difficult journey, up into West Africa, to open Cameroon to the Faith, for which he was designated a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh by the Guardian.
Despite his 10 years as a pioneer in Cameroon, Nigeria and Ghana (1953-1963), and his subsequent numerous travels throughout the Bahá’í world, little has been written about this period, and about his extensive pioneering services.
The author spent three years (1981-83) in West Africa, interviewing many of those who knew Mr. Olinga well, and it seemed appropriate to document some of the heroic services he so willingly rendered for the Cause and to record some of those inspiring events. This aspect of the establishment of the Faith in West Africa will one day be immortalized by future historians, and designated, undoubtedly, as one of the most important and thrilling episodes in the annals of the Faith on the African continent.
The Universal House of Justice wrote: “Africa ... has reached its present stage of growth through countless feats of heroism and dedication.”3 As incidents in Mr. Olinga’s pioneering years unfold in the accounts of those who knew him, we see he was one of those who contributed greatly, in the
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David and Esther Tanyi. Mr. Tanyi
worked as a clerk at the Presbooks
store (see below) where he and his wife
met Enoch Olinga. Both accepted the
Faith, with Mrs. Tanyi being the first
woman in Cameroon to do so. The
Tanyis remain to this day pioneers to
Ghana.
form of “countless feats of heroism and dedication”—deeds that are destined to inspire future generations to further heroic service. Such deeds, Shoghi Effendi promised, would “no doubt encourage other timid, would-be pioneers to follow in their footsteps.”4
Several West African believers, taught in those early years of the 1950s, arose in turn to carry the Faith to other virgin areas, and some of these believers were also designated Knights of Bahá’u’lláh. A few of them, even after some 30 years, are still at their posts, actively engaged as the beloved Guardian promised, as “veritable beacons and towers of strength through having placed their trust in God, having arisen to proclaim His Message.”5
When one strives, however, to appreciate how strong are the cultural ties that bind an African to his traditional society, and to his indigenous culture (and hence, to his very identity), it becomes all the more clear what an amazing example Enoch Olinga must have been to others when he set out for Cameroon. Most Africans in their whole lives never travel more than a few miles from their home areas (isolated cases for education or business being the most notable exception), let alone to other countries, so the feat that Mr. Olinga accomplished by settling in West Africa was, in and of itself, truly inspiring.
Limbe (see photograph) was then called Victoria, and it was here, in an enchanting ocean front paradise with enormous palm trees, that Mr. Olinga became acquainted with some of the residents, some of whom were later to become Bahá’ís.
Two of those who lived in Limbe, David and Esther Tanyi, were quite impressed by Mr. Olinga’s ways. He never complained, and even his eating the local food, prepared by Esther, drew her closer to the new religion being discussed by Mr. Olinga, even though she had been an active Christian. She became the first woman in what was then known as the British Cameroons to accept the Faith.6
Her husband was a clerk at the Presbooks store, and according to Samuel Njiki, the entrance door used to be situated between the store’s two windows, which are covered with bars, on the ground floor, but has since been walled up. To the immediate left of the shorter of the two windows was the now famous door through which ‘Alí Nakhjavání passed when he arrived with Mr. Olinga to purchase some antimalarial medication.7
Oscar Njang was a frequent visitor to that same book store; he and Mr. Tanyi were close friends, both of them being Bayangi tribesmen and devoted Christians. According to Mr. Njang, who was at the shop when Mr. Olinga subsequently returned, Mr. Tanyi sent Mr. Njang to fetch Mr. Olinga’s bags
The former Presbooks store where Mr. Olinga first met Mr. and Mrs. Tanyi (photo at top of page) and Oscar Njang. The book shop has since been moved to another nearby location.
[Page 6]
to move him from temporary quarters
to another more permanent residence.
The book store has since moved to
another nearby location, but this important site still stands, although it is
now a residence for local Christian
clergymen and their families.
The Tanyis, taught by Mr. Olinga and Mr. Nakhjavání, became devoted Bahá’ís and have been teaching the Faith ever since those early days in Cameroon. After about six months of local Bahá’í activity, and while still essentially newly declared believers, the Tanyis left in 1954 to open Togo, and in 1957 pioneered to Tamale, Ghana.8 Having withstood numerous difficulties along the way, the Tanyis are still pioneering for the Cause of God. They, and others like them, seem to be recipients of the power Bahá’u’lláh mentions when He promises: “For whosoever standeth firm and steadfast in this holy, this glorious, and exalted Revelation, such power shall be given him as to enable him to face and withstand all that is heaven and on earth. Of this God is Himself a witness.”9
Although Oscar Njang did not accept the Faith while in his native Cameroon, he did know Enoch Olinga there. Mr. Njang identified himself with the Cause upon his arrival a short time later in the Calabar area of Nigeria, and, in effect, Mr. Olinga deepened Mr. Njang’s knowledge of the Faith through a steady stream of correspondence and personal visits. These letters and memories, says Mr. Njang, are his most treasured possessions. He lives today in Ikot Uba, Akpabuyo Local Government Area, not far from Calabar, where he is an Auxiliary Board member for propagation in Cross River State and a dedicated and active teacher of the Cause. His wife, the late Elizabeth Idang Njang (see Bahá’í News, July 1983, p. 12), was the first woman in Nigeria to embrace the Faith. She was from a royal Efik (tribe) family and was widely known as a marvelous Bahá’í teacher.
Mr. Njang clearly remembers Mr. Olinga’s precious visits to his home, and points out that even in the smallest details of his daily life, Mr. Olinga was an ideal teacher, a pioneer whom all could emulate. He recounts one touching incident in which Mr. Olinga, on a visit to Mr. Njang’s village, was walking in a heavy rainstorm on a teaching project with a number of local Bahá’ís. None of them had rain coats, so Mr. Olinga took his coat off, explaining that if they got wet, so would he, as this was the day of unity and equality.10
The first person to accept the Faith in Cameroon, barely hours before Mr. Tanyi, was a youth, Jacob Tabot Awo, who now lives in Kumba, Cameroon.11 He often went teaching with Mr. Olinga, and even though Mr. Awo was occasionally beaten and otherwise persecuted for having accepted the new religion, since he was so young, he remembers that Mr. Olinga, by contrast, commanded such deep respect, in the firm yet loving manner in which he carried himself and taught the Faith, that no one ever attempted to harm him on these trips.12
Above: The author with Oscar Njang, who accepted the Faith in Nigeria and is now an Auxiliary Board member in Cross River State, Nigeria. Below: Samuel Njiki, who as a new Bahá’í was sent by Mr. Olinga to open French Cameroon, for which he was designated a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh.
“Repose not yourselves on your couches,” Bahá’u’lláh exhorts His followers, “nay bestir yourselves as soon as ye recognize your Lord ... Unloose your tongues, and proclaim unceasingly His Cause.”13 Samuel Njiki, only a few weeks after his acceptance of Bahá’u’lláh, discerned that a momentous event would take place at Riḍván, April 1954, but was surprised and elated as Mr. Olinga read that history-making cable from the Guardian requesting the opening to the Faith of yet other new territories in West Africa. In his soft and gentle manner, Mr. Njiki looks back upon those unique times, saying how unaware the local friends were then of the deep significance of the Guardian’s call, but adding that they were united in their eagerness to arise and serve.
After the cable from the Guardian was read, five people went to open new areas to the Faith. Among them was Mr. Njiki who moved to Douala, in what was then the French Cameroons, an act for which he was subsequently designated a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh. Mr. Njiki, who was the first Bamiliki tribesman to become a Bahá’í, now lives with his family in a modest home behind the local Bahá’í Center in the New town section of Limbe, Cameroon.
Mr. Njiki and Mrs. Meherangiz Munsiff from England opened Douala at the same time, but did not know one another before their arrival. Their prearranged plan was that Mr. Njiki would sit on the post office steps, on the appointed day, holding his Bahá’í prayer book, and thereby Mrs. Munsiff could find him. The story was immortalized by the photograph of Mr. Njiki that appeared soon afterward in the Bahá’í News of India showing him seated with his prayer book, awaiting his fellow pioneer.
During a trip to New Zealand in November 1970, Mr. Olinga mentioned the opening of the British and French Cameroons, saying, “... the Cameroons was opened to the Bahá’í Faith in
[Page 7]
1953 when ‘Alí Nakhjavání, Violette
(that is, Mr. Nakhjavání’s wife) and I
went there for the first time. And then,
of course, there was Mrs. Munsiff
from England ... the French Cameroons was opened to the Bahá’í Faith;
and of course, from that time until
now, the Faith is making very steady
progress in the country.”14
Mr. Olinga lived at one time in a small, simple dwelling while he worked for the Cameroon Development Corporation. A number of his fellow workers became attracted to the Faith, a well as others in the town. One of these was Martin Manga Besong who was also one of that special group of five (mentioned by Mr. Njiki). Mr. Besong pioneered to Tamale, in northern Ghana.15 He now resides in Muntengene, Cameroon (five miles from Limbe).
Richard Ojong Ashu, now living in Muyuka, Cameroon (32 miles from Limbe), was also enrolled by Mr. Olinga, and has children who are pioneering in other countries. His daughter, Alice, taught the Faith to her husband, Gregory Fongod, and they are now actively teaching in Kano, Nigeria. Another daughter, Tahereh, married Zikru’llah Ehtahadu’l-Haq, and they are devoted pioneers in The Gambia. Thus Mr. Olinga’s influence is assured for generations of believers yet to come. His powerful “spiritual presence,” like that of the beloved Bahá’í martyrs in Iran, is very much with us today.
Mr. Ashu’s story gives us deeper insight into pioneering in general and African culture in particular. As a traditional herbal doctor, he treats certain medical ailments with ancient indigenous natural remedies, and is highly respected in his community. It is absolutely imperative for pioneers, especially Westerners, to understand that past religions’ missionaries have discouraged local African traditional culture, such as medicine, arts, music, dance, etc. (as being “superstitious,” “primitive,” “pagan,” “inferior,” and so forth), whereas the uniqueness of this new Day of unity is that the Bahá’í Faith, on the contrary, encourages the preservation of cultural patterns and pursuits and the maintenance of cherished traditions and differences of heritage. Mr. Olinga understood that while modern education and scientific advances are valuable, they should never be permitted to appear so high in a pioneer’s opinion or attitude that it seems these advances have come from a “superior” culture, thus relegating to a “lower” class a developing nation’s culture or heritage. According to Mr. Ashu, this attitude of appreciation for traditional culture was an important factor in understanding Mr. Olinga’s outstanding teaching success.16
Above: This modest building, which still stands in Limbe, Cameroon, is the place where Enoch Olinga worked when he was employed by the Cameroon Development Corporation. Samuel Njiki recalls many never-to-be-forgotten Bahá’í meetings that were held there in the early days of the Faith in Cameroon. Right: Jacob Tabot Awo, the first indigenous Cameroonian to accept the Faith, having been taught by Enoch Olinga while still a youth in 1953.
In the face of misunderstandings, racial animosity, and a few attempts to misrepresent what he was doing in Cameroon, Mr. Olinga remained firm and loyal to the Cause. He never let temporary setbacks deter him from his ultimate objective.
Mr. Ashu recounts a fascinating story concerning a police investigation of Mr. Olinga, inspired by a jealous European at one of the places where Mr. Olinga was employed. Not only was Mr. Olinga proven innocent of any political intrigue whatsoever, but the detective assigned to the case, Mr. Takang, became a Bahá’í. As a result of his report, Mr. Olinga’s activities were no longer hindered in any way.17
Loneliness and tests also visit a pioneer, but in this, as in so many other respects, pioneers such as Enoch Olinga serve as models worth emulating. “He was really a man without the mask that most of us wear,” writes Dr. Hushmand Ta’eed of Dominica, West Indies, who accompanied Mr. Olinga on a teaching trip in Mauritania, West Africa. “He was plain, sincere and patient. Most of us are actors and act, but he was just pure gold—unassuming—and never did he give you a feeling that you are small.”18
Stephen Takow felt, even as a child, that Mr. Olinga was truly someone special. Although he could not fully
[Page 8]
Left photo: Martin Manga Besong,
who was taught the Faith by Enoch
Olinga and later pioneered to Tamale,
Ghana. He now lives in Muntengene, Cameroon. Center: Mrs. Ursula Samandarí of Buea, Cameroon, who has
pioneered with her husband, Counsellor Mihdí Samandarí, for many years in many parts of Africa. Right:
Counsellor Friday Ekpe, his wife, Mrs.
Offiong Ekpe, and their daughter,
Tahereh Edu.
grasp the deeper spiritual significance of those days (as he does now), Mr. Takow, and the other children of his neighborhood in Limbe, loved Mr. Olinga who once performed what Mr. Takow, in his youth, considered a “real miracle.”
Stephen was told at school to bring six pence (a large sum of money to a young man in those days) to school on the following day; he was, he says, so poor he had no idea where to acquire it. As he walked sadly past the local Bahá’í Center Mr. Olinga called to him. When Stephen approached, Mr. Olinga quietly and promptly placed six pence in his hand without having been told of Stephen’s need. In Africa, it is a traditional practice for an older person to send a child to the market with money to buy him something, and the child must do it. Stephen waited for Mr. Olinga to make his request, but to his surprise, Mr. Olinga lovingly explained that the money was simply a gift for him. Stephen’s problem was solved, and he was amazed: “How could he have known?” he thought. Years later, Mr. Takow became a devoted and active Bahá’í, and he presently serves as a member of the Spiritual Assembly of Limbe.
Mrs. Ursula Samandarí had the bounty of being the only other pilgrim, resulting from a unique series of events, at the World Centre in February 1957 when Enoch Olinga made his historic pilgrimage and met with the beloved Guardian. She and her husband, Counsellor Mihdí Samandarí, live in Buea, Cameroon, and have devoted much of their lives to serving the Cause in Africa.
“I don’t think an evening passed,” Mrs. Samandarí says of that pilgrimage, “when he (the Guardian) didn’t mention Mr. Olinga, and he would say, ‘Mr. Olinga is very pure-hearted,’ or ‘Mr. Olinga has a luminous face,’ or ‘Mr. Olinga is very modest. I said to him, “Mr. Olinga, you are the first Bahá’í of Uganda,” and he replied, “One of the first, beloved Guardian.” ’ ”19
When she and Mr. Olinga were to leave the Holy Land, Mrs. Samandarí says she sensed something new and unique about his condition:
“He wouldn’t eat anything, he wouldn’t even drink a cup of tea or coffee. Then he told me that the beloved Guardian had asked him to acquire a Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds for Victoria.”20 This was the place that later became the local Bahá’í Center in Limbe.
Regarding Mr. Olinga’s special title, Mrs. Samandarí says, “This is the time when the beloved Guardian gave him the title, and I was one of the first people to hear it: ‘Abu’l-Futúh’—the ‘Father of Victories’—he announced it there (on the pilgrimage).”21
Today there are hundreds of Bahá’ís in the Afikpo district of Imo State, Nigeria, an area inhabited mostly by the Igbo people. A renowned anthropologist and his wife, Dr. and Mrs. Simon Ottenberg, drew international attention to Afikpo through the monumental work they both had done there. Since that time, many people in the region have become Bahá’ís.
It was the teaching work begun in Cameroon by Mr. Olinga that really started the Bahá’í expansion there, many years ago, although (to the best of anyone’s knowledge) Mr. Olinga never visited Afikpo. Today, the great teaching successes in Afikpo are among the victories Mr. Olinga fostered, and are the pride of Nigeria’s national Bahá’í community.22 Among the believers Mr. Olinga taught in Cameroon was Samuel Bakare, a Nigerian and Igbo tribesman. After leaving Cameroon, Mr. Bakare returned to Afikpo, and the teaching work there began in earnest. The late Hand of the Cause of God Raḥmatu’lláh Muhájir had visited Afikpo and stayed at Mr. Bakare’s home. The simple bed in which he slept is one of Mr. Bakare’s
[Page 9]
prized possessions.23
A new and impressive Bahá’í Center was recently raised in Calabar, Nigeria, a project dear to the heart of Counsellor Friday Ekpe, another of Mr. Olinga’s “spiritual children.”
Mr. Ekpe recalls the time when he (an Ibibio by tribe and Christian by upbringing) befriended another young Nigerian, Master Saibo Layani (a Yoruba by tribe and Muslim by religion) in 1955 when both were students in Limbe, Cameroon. One day at school his friend told Mr. Ekpe he had met someone who loved children and had taught him a new religion, the Bahá’í Faith. On his next visit to his new friend, Mr. Ekpe came with him. The future Counsellor was taught the Faith basically through Mr. Olinga’s great love for children. He always encouraged children’s classes.24 By 1960 Mr. Ekpe had returned to Nigeria and was residing in Lagos; since then he has traveled to many countries to serve Bahá’u’lláh, and the teaching work he has helped to inspire in Nigeria and West Africa has steadily expanded to undreamed of proportions.
Africa has achieved so much in its grand sweep toward its spiritual destiny, and future victories are already in the making. On August 19, 1982, the Universal House of Justice paid glowing tribute to the friends in Africa in its message to the International Bahá’í Conference in Lagos, Nigeria: “Today, after the lapse of a little over three decades, we stand in awe as we view with admiration one of the most valiant contingents of the Army of Light, guided by its own Board of Counsellors, led and administered by 37 National Spiritual Assemblies and 4,990 Local Spiritual Assemblies, privileged to serve an eager and radiant community of believers drawn from 1,152 African tribes residing in 29,000 localities.”25
Many goals have yet to be won. Let the willing souls arise and follow in the hallowed footsteps of Enoch Olinga to achieve them.
- Selected Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 260.
- See U.S. Bahá’í News, May 1980, pp. 2-7.
- Message to the International Bahá’í Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, 1976, published in The Spiritual Destiny of Africa, National Spiritual Assembly of Nigeria, 1982, p. 4.
- The Power of Divine Assistance, National Spiritual Assembly of Canada, 1982, p. 53.
- Ibid.
- Correspondence from Mrs. Ursula Samandarí, March 16, 1983, from Buea, Cameroon.
- Samuel Njiki in a recorded interview, December 27, 1982, at Limbe, Cameroon.
- From remarks made to the author at the International Bahá’í Conference in Lagos, Nigeria, August 19-22, 1982.
- Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh (1976), p. 330.
- Oscar Njang in recorded interviews, June 27, 1981, at Ikot Uba, Akpabuyo Local Government Area, Cross River State, Nigeria, and May 21, 1983, at Benin City, Bendel State, Nigeria.
- Correspondence from Mrs. Ursula Samandarí, March 16, 1983, from Buea, Cameroon.
- Jacob Tabot Awo in a recorded interview, January 2, 1983, at Limbe, Cameroon.
- Gleanings, p. 330.
- Hands of the Cause of God, Visits to New Zealand, compiled by the National Archives Committee, courtesy of the National Spiritual Assembly of New Zealand (date unknown), pp. 165-66.
- Martin Manga Besong in a recorded interview, January 1, 1983, at Muntengene, Cameroon.
- Richard Ojong Ashu in a recorded interview, January 1, 1983, at Muyuka, Cameroon.
- Ashu, Ibid.
- Correspondence from Dr. H. Ta’eed, May 1, 1983, from Dominica, West Indies.
- Mrs. Ursula Samandarí in a recorded interview, December 31, 1982, at Limbe, Cameroon.
- Samandarí, Ibid.
- Samandarí, Ibid.
- See feature story in the U.S. Bahá’í News, September 1981, p. 16.
- Samual Bakare in a recorded interview, December 16, 1982, at Afikpo, Imo State, Nigeria.
- Friday Ekpe in a recorded interview, November 20, 1982, at Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria.
- U.S. Bahá’í News, December 1982, p. 2.
All photographs were taken in West Africa by the author.
Left photo: Stephen Takow in front of
his electrical store in Limbe, Cameroon. Mr. Takow, who was a child
when he met Enoch Olinga, remembers
clearly the special relationship Mr.
Olinga had with children who truly
adored him. Right photo: Samuel Bakare, an Igbo from Afikpo, Nigeria, who became a Bahá’í after being
taught by Enoch Olinga in Limbe and who brought the Faith, and Mr. Olinga’s memory, back to Nigeria where he
now serves the Cause as an assistant to
the Auxiliary Board for protection in
Imo State.
Sri Lanka[edit]
The 4th World Religion Day observance[edit]
The audience at the fourth annual observance of World Religion Day held January 15 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, was described by The Island, one of the newspapers chronicling the Bahá’í-sponsored event, as “a large gathering of the capital’s spiritual, intellectual and social leadership ...”
In an article published the day before the observance, the Daily News, Colombo’s leading English-language daily paper, described the event as “... the most important annually held interfaith observance in Sri Lanka ...”
Speakers representing Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Islam and the Bahá’í Faith addressed the over-all theme, “Society’s Challenge to Religion.”
The observance was chaired by the Hon. Victor Tennekoon, the former chief justice of Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court.
This year’s observance achieved a unique distinction in the form of a message of praise for World Religion Day and the sponsoring National Spiritual Assembly from the President of Sri Lanka, His Excellency J.R. Jayewardene.
“This unique message,” said a representative of the National Spiritual Assembly, “has obviously enabled the Faith to reach the stage of recognition as a religion by the chief of state himself.
“The Prime Minister’s message, too, was more powerful than the one he sent to the observance last year,” the
| Message from the President of Sri Lanka:
The imperative of the hour for all of us is national reconciliation. To emphasize and underscore the essential oneness of all religions is the most laudable purpose of World Religion Day, sponsored annually by the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’í Faith in Sri Lanka. Interdependence of peoples and nations is now an established fact and in Sri Lanka we must put aside all that had tended to separate and divide us and instead tread the path of oneness of man regardless of one’s race or creed. I wish the Spiritual Assembly of Bahá’í Faith in Sri Lanka and its co-workers of other religions, all success. Message from the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka: All the great religions have been founded for the redemption of all mankind, irrespective of race and other considerations. However, the general practice has been to emphasize some aspects of their exclusiveness. There is a tendency to proclaim the superiority of our version of the Truth. Instead of stressing what unites and harmonizes, we tend to give attention to what divides and separates. During the past year we have had occasion to regret the fact that some of us at least had not paid due recognition to this sacred truth. As a result, our country suffered a great loss both materially and spiritually. If we are to survive as a great nation we have to once again reaffirm, in word and deed, our faith in the unity and equality of mankind. Perhaps no better day can be named for this act of dedication than World Religion Day. Let the message of oneness that goes out from this Assembly be echoed and re-echoed in the hearts of all the people who inhabit this land. |
National Assembly’s representative added. “These messages and the symbol of World Religion Day, which has also become the symbol of interfaith unity in the land, all prominently written up in the newspapers and shown on television, have now brought the Faith into great prominence, and it continues to receive praise from the eminent leaders of society for its efforts.”
‘Great impulse’[edit]
The speakers at this year’s observance were A. Gunanayagam, president of Thiruneri Tamil Manram, representing Hinduism; Siri Perera, president of the Sri Lanka Federation of Representatives of Buddhist Associations; the Rev. Kenneth Fernando, director of the Ecumenical Institute, representing Christianity; M.A.M. Hussain, a retired district judge, representing Islam; and Mrs. Neil Dharmawansa, representing the Bahá’ís of Sri Lanka.
Not only did the observance receive what was described as “tremendous publicity” in newspapers and on radio and television, but another “first” was the following reference which appeared in the editorial column of the Daily News:
“With the great impulse of World Religion Day stirring people of varied
[Page 11]
Mrs. Neil Dharmawansa, who represented the Faith at the fourth annual
World Religion Day observance January 15 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, lights
the welcoming lamp to open the meeting as other participants look on. They
include (left to right) the Hon. Victor Tennekoon, former chief justice of the
Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, who
served as program chairman; M.L.C.
Chandrasekara, secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of Sri Lanka,
who was a program coordinator; M.A.M. Hussain (partially hidden behind Mrs. Dharmawansa), who represented Islam; Siri Perera, the Buddhist
speaker; the Rev. Kenneth Fernando,
representing Christianity; and A. Gunanayagam, the Hindu speaker.
faiths, humanity may again see the need to accept the universality of some basic spiritual and moral values.”
In his closing remarks, Jamshed Fozdar, chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of Sri Lanka, referred to the recognition the annual event has received from the country’s president and prime minister, recognition that has helped make it in the space of only four years the most important annual interfaith event in Sri Lanka.
Mr. Fozdar expressed the hope that the government soon will declare the third Sunday in January as World Religion Day and commemorate that declaration by issuing a special postage stamp bearing the interfaith symbol of World Religion Day.
The Hon. Victor Tennekoon, former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, receives a garland of flowers prior to delivering the opening address at the fourth annual World Religion Day observance January 15 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Mr. Tennekoon was chairman of the event, which is sponsored by the National Spiritual Assembly of Sri Lanka.
Bolivia/United States[edit]
‘Spiritual Mother of Bolivia’ dies at 87[edit]
| TO THE BAHÁ’ÍS OF BOLIVIA
SADDENED LEARN OF DEATH YVONNE CUELLAR, LOYAL AND FIRM SERVANT BAHÁ’U’LLÁH, FOREVER DISTINGUISHED AS FIRST DECLARED BELIEVER IN BOLIVIA. OFFER PRAYERS AT HOLY THRESHOLD FOR THE PROGRESS OF HER SOUL IN THE ABHÁ KINGDOM. THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE
NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY
BAHÁ’ÍS OF BOLIVIA |
A world citizen she was. Yvonne Cuellar, the “Spiritual Mother of Bolivia,” exemplified love, devotion and a fervent Bahá’í spirit during her lifetime while tirelessly teaching the Cause on several continents.
Born March 11, 1896, in Paris, she began her world travels while still a young woman. Her indomitable spirit and firm ideas about justice, the equality of men and women, and the independent investigation of truth prepared the way for her acceptance of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.
When at last she heard the word “Bahá’í,” while living in Bolivia with her husband, Arturo Cuellar, she immediately fell in love with the Message of Bahá’u’lláh and soon afterward became the first declared Bahá’í in Bolivia.
Mrs. Cuellar was a flame of fire in her teaching efforts, igniting many souls and opening the door of search and acceptance for many believers in the years to follow.
It wasn’t long before her loving Bahá’í presence moved the first two Indians in Bolivia to accept the new teachings and take up the banner of Bahá’u’lláh. So great were her efforts in serving the Faith that the beloved Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, bestowed upon her the title, “Mother of Bolivia.” Her fervent cry always was “teach, teach, teach,” and her vibrant energy lit many candles as she marched from door to door and city to city proclaiming the truth of the new Revelation.
After teaching in Bolivia for more than 20 years, the Cuellars moved to the United States in 1969 to live near their daughter. They settled in Littleton, Colorado, and made their home a center of Bahá’í activity where many declarations occurred, many elaborate programs were lovingly and carefully prepared, and firesides, deepenings and prayer sessions were always memorable.
Such occasions always served to increase Mrs. Cuellar’s awareness of the tremendous needs and responsibilities of the Faith, and she strived constantly to reach out, to teach, to pray and to serve, meanwhile searching always for those souls who might be receptive to the Message of Bahá’u’lláh.
| This brief tribute to Mrs. Yvonne Cuellar, the “Spiritual Mother of Bolivia,” was written for Bahá’í News by Dorothy Stewart of Denver, Colorado. |
Yvonne Cuellar died December 7, 1983, at the age of 87, leaving an indelible legacy of love, sacrifice and devotion for the many Bahá’ís and other friends who knew and loved her. Over a period of many years she had contributed her help and dedication to the establishment of many Bahá’í localities and helped to strengthen a large number of Spiritual Assemblies in Colorado and elsewhere.
Her love for Bolivia never waned, and she dreamed always of returning. As a tribute to her memory, the Bahá’ís of Bolivia ordered an engraved plaque to be placed on her grave, mentioning that she was the spiritual mother of that country.
Mrs. Cuellar expressed her deep love for the Faith through constant service and total devotion in teaching the oneness of religion, of God’s Messengers, and of mankind.
Africa/India[edit]
Visiting Bahá’í helps teaching institutes organize to deepen many new believers[edit]
The photographs on this page were taken during a trip through Africa and India from October 1983 to February 1984 by Dr. Faramarz Ettehadieh of Linz, Austria. The purpose of his trip was to help Bahá’í teaching institutes in planning, organization, motivation and control. Top photo: Dr. Ettehadieh (standing second from right) with Bahá’ís near Zambia’s capital city, Lusaka. Right: Children perform during a deepening institute in West Kenya. Below: A meeting with Bahá’ís at the home of Counsellor Oloro Epyeru (seated at left) near Mbale, Uganda. Seated at right in front is Mr. Ismai, secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of Uganda. Dr. Ettehadieh reports that there is a great need for more teachers and administrators to help deepen the thousands of new Bahá’ís who have accepted the Faith in Africa and India.
The world[edit]
Benin completes all its teaching goals[edit]
Early last November, the National Spiritual Assembly of Benin announced the successful completion of that country’s teaching goals.
Dr. Ezzat Tai, a traveling teacher from France, returned from Benin’s Borgou Province with news of the formation of six new Assemblies in the Nikki region.
One hundred-fifty upper level students and teachers attended a Bahá’í meeting at a regional secondary school in Nikki, the result of which was the recognition of Bahá’u’lláh by the school’s director.
In Parakou, the district chief and 40 high-ranking civil servants were present for a public meeting.
Benin’s recent teaching activities include the enrollment of more than 5,000 new believers in some 250 localities. More than 100 Local Spiritual Assemblies have been formed with reports being received of new Assemblies being formed almost daily.
Denmark[edit]
The Hand of the Cause of God Ugo Giachery (front row, second from left) met last August with some of the friends at the Bahá’í National Center in Copenhagen during Mr. Giachery’s visit to Denmark.
Norway[edit]
A member of Norway’s delegation to the United Nations mentioned the persecution of Bahá’ís in Iran at the 38th session of the UN General Assembly last December.
The delegate, speaking on behalf of the Norwegian government, said, “We are especially concerned with the evidence of summary or arbitrary executions, torture, and religious intolerance and persecutions (in Iran). This also concerns the fate of the Bahá’ís ...”
The delegate went on to urge Iran to respect and ensure individual rights as outlined in the international covenant on civil and political rights.
The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a news release in connection with the government’s presentation at the General Assembly session.
Guyana[edit]
Five regional Youth Conferences were held in Guyana on December 18. Participating were members of the National Spiritual Assembly of Guyana who asked that the youth discuss the recent message from the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’í youth of the world.
The importance of young people acquiring the education and skills to prepare them for a life of Bahá’í service was also discussed at each conference in connection with the Universal House of Justice’s letter to youth dated June 10, 1966.
One of the workshop topics was courtship and the Bahá’í marriage laws.
Counsellor Peter McLaren spoke at a national conference in Guyana last January 2 which focused on Bahá’í marriage and family life.
Many of the 40 participants were Bahá’í youth.
Transkei[edit]
The National Spiritual Assembly of Transkei reports that 34 teaching trips to various districts were undertaken during a two-month period that followed a National Teaching Conference last July 9.
The goal is to form at least one new Spiritual Assembly in each of Transkei’s 28 districts before Riḍván 1984.
Panama[edit]
Representatives of the Spiritual Assembly of Panama City, Panama, receive a sheet of postage stamps that feature a photograph of the Bahá’í House of Worship in Panama from an unidentified postal clerk (left). The Bahá’ís are (left to right) Raguel de Constante, Alan Pringle and Verisimo Castillo.
The first nine months of an intensive teaching campaign in the Guaymi region of Panama have demonstrated the extraordinary abilities of the Guaymi people to expand the Faith in neighboring communities and to consolidate the new Spiritual Assemblies that have been formed.
The campaign in the Guaymi area has been under the complete control and management of the Guaymi Bahá’ís.
Activities have included a family-to-family teaching effort; “Ruhi Institutes” held at the Muhájir Institute in Boca de Soloy; two conferences and a deepening institute especially for women; nine tutorial schools; two-month extension teaching projects in Tolé and Bocas del Toro; and a census of inhabitants of the area whose dual purpose is to become acquainted with them and to learn of their opinions and needs.
The Guaymis say that one of the goals of the planned Guaymi Cultural Center is that “all the Guaymi area become Bahá’ís so that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s words may be fulfilled.”
Thirty-two Guaymi residents of Panama’s Tolé area including one of the zone’s three highest ranking chiefs became Bahá’ís last October after they were contacted by members of a traveling teaching team composed of Guaymi Bahá’ís.
Continental Counsellor Ruth Pringle (fourth from left) and fellow Bahá’í Rosemary Baily (left) welcome the Israeli ambassador to Panama, his family and first secretary during their recent visit to the Bahá’í House of Worship in Panama City. The ambassador, Yosef Haseen, and his wife, Mira, are standing on either side of Counsellor Pringle. The ambassador’s daughter, Eleonor, is at the right, and first secretary Moty Amichai is second from the left.
Gabon[edit]
Pictured here are participants in the third annual National Teaching Conference held last December 24-25 in Libreville, Gabon.
Twenty-five Bahá’ís attended Gabon’s third annual National Teaching Conference last December 24-25 at the national Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds in Libreville, a handsome one-story building that was acquired two years ago with the help of the Bahá’ís of Qatar.
The conference program included presentations on the Fund, teaching, and living a Bahá’í life; stories about the Central Figures of the Faith; and information about the National Convention and the election of delegates in preparation for the election at Riḍván 1984 of the first National Spiritual Assembly of Gabon.
By Riḍván 1983, Gabon’s small but active and growing Bahá’í community had surpassed the country’s goals for the Seven Year Plan.
An intensive teaching campaign last July reinforced the Bahá’í community in Libreville, and all four Spiritual Assemblies in Gabon have been actively involved in extension teaching.
Samoa[edit]
One hundred-ten people from Upolu, Savaii and Tutuila, Samoa, attended a Rural Development Conference last October 15 at Lelata. The conference was sponsored by the National Spiritual Assembly of Samoa.
The conference theme, “World Food Day,” was addressed by non-Bahá’í speakers from the Rural Development Office of the government of Western Samoa who showed a friendly spirit of cooperation.
Present at the conference were two Auxiliary Board members, Afemata Chang and Ruth Mogbelpour, and two Bahá’ís from Canada, Professor Jameson Bond and Mrs. Gale Bond.
The National Spiritual Assembly plans to sponsor similar gatherings in the future.
Last November 22, concrete was poured for the Greatest Name symbol in the cap of the dome of the House of Worship in Western Samoa.
On that date, the architect’s representative cabled the World Centre to report that concreting was completed on the entire dome of the first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of the Pacific Islands.
South Pacific[edit]
The Faith was mentioned last December 30 in Pacific Stars and Stripes, a daily newspaper for American military and civilian personnel in South Korea, Japan, Guam and the Philippines.
The references to the Faith appeared in an article about Sara Hatch, a pioneer to Korea from the United States who is an artist and who teaches English at Keimyung University in Taegu.
Guatemala[edit]
An international team of five Bahá’ís spent 17 days in Guatemala last September and October as a part of the “Trail of Light” (Camino del Sol) campaign.
The team was composed of a Mapuche Indian from Chile, a Quechua from Peru, a Bri-Bri from Costa Rica, and two Guaymis from Panama.
Some initial disappointment with the results of direct teaching was offset by an excellent radio interview in Quezaltenango and a productive visit to Mazetenango.
During the team’s stay in San Juan Chamelco and Alta Verapaz, public meetings were held in a high school, at a sports club, and in the city hall. Team members also took part in a 20-minute radio interview.
A public meeting was held at the Bahá’í National Center in Guatemala City on the last night of the team’s stay.
Everywhere, two principal themes stressed by the team aroused sympathy and interest: the urgent need for world unity, and the need to preserve indigenous cultures in the Americas.
United Kingdom[edit]
Auxiliary Board member Keith Munro was among those who were asked to speak at a series of meetings which took place in January through March 1984 in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, at the University of Ulster’s Institute of Continuing Education.
The series theme was “1984-2000 A.D.—Religion in Ulster.”
Other speakers were senior church men from the various Christian groups and the chief rabbi of Ireland.
Dr. Munro was asked to address the topic “A non-Christian view of Christianity.”
Madagascar[edit]
Twenty-one Bahá’í volunteers from all areas of Madagascar took part in team teaching trips last September and October that followed the holding of three regional institutes.
By the end of October, the teachers had re-established seven non-functioning Spiritual Assemblies and brought one new Assembly into being.
India[edit]
Six hundred children from 38 Bahá’í tutorial schools in India’s Uttar Pradesh State attended a “Bal Mela” (Children’s Fair) last October in Malhousie.
With Olympic-like pageantry, the children were grouped in teams of 15 to 20 members to compete in exercise drills in the morning and games in the afternoon.
Among the observers were two members of the Continental Board of Counsellors in Asia and all nine members of the National Spiritual Assembly of India.
The event was opened with the release of four doves by Counsellor Zena Sorabjee and the reading of a prayer by a five-year-old boy.
One Bahá’í observer recorded the Children’s Fair on video tape.
Within a month following a three-week proclamation campaign in Hubli,
Karnataka State, India, last year, 127
people had become Bahá’ís.
Forty Bahá’ís from various parts of the state took part in the exhibition and proclamation last September 1-20 in the city of 350,000.
The event was publicized through the distribution of 17,500 invitations and pamphlets, three banners, and slides shown at 10 local theatres.
Publicity also was obtained through announcements in several newspapers.
Each morning, groups of Bahá’ís met at the exhibition center to read prayers, then went out to distribute invitations.
The proclamation included one large public meeting held September 8.
Following the proclamation, deepening classes were held to help the new Bahá’ís.
Pakistan[edit]
More than 300 people including about 70 non-Bahá’ís attended a symposium on Ṭáhirih (Qurratu’l-Áyn) that was held last September 2 at the Bahá’í National Center in Karachi, Pakistan.
The speakers included Dr. Sahar Ansari, a professor of Urdu at the University of Karachi; Zahida Hina, a prominent poetess who is editor of the Ahlemi Digest; and Riaz Ahmad Shirazi, secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of Pakistan.
Among those in the audience was John Elia, a well-known poet in Pakistan,
The symposium capped a week of proclamation in Karachi during which more than 200 copies of the books Ṭáhirih the Pure and Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era were distributed to a wide range of prominent citizens in that city.
Finland[edit]
“The Message of Bahá’u’lláh: A Call to Transformation” was the theme of the 1983 Finnish Bahá’í Winter School, held last December 28-January 1 in Vaasa, a predominantly Swedish-speaking area of the country.
Topics discussed included individual transformation, collective transformation, the role of the Bahá’í community in the age of transition, and a spiritual history of Europe.
Counsellor Betty Reed was among the more than 100 people who attended the school.
Fiji[edit]
Twenty-one children between three and five years of age have been enrolled in a new Bahá’í school in Lomaivuna, Fiji.
Official recognition of the school from the department of education is now being sought.
Dominican Republic[edit]
A group of young women attending the Bahá’í Winter School last December in Barahona, Dominican Republic, present a special dance during an entertainment period.
The National Teaching Committee of the Dominican Republic organized week-long teaching campaigns in four goal areas last December immediately following that country’s Winter School.
The goal areas were Elías, Piña, Monte Plata, and Oviedo.
Seven Bahá’ís who were visiting from Puerto Rico volunteered their help during the campaigns, which were financed in part by the Continental Board of Counsellors in the Americas.
Three of the four Spiritual Assemblies needed to win the goal of establishing an Assembly in every province of the Dominican Republic were formed during the campaigns, with what was described as “a good start” toward an Assembly formation in the last remaining goal area.
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