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Bahá’í News

June 1985

Bahá’í Year 142

Special media issue

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Bahá’í News

WLGI Radio in South Carolina holds gala grand opening ceremony	1
Canadian Bahá’í’s produce first music video, ‘Mona and the Children’	3
An insider’s analysis of success of Radio Bahá’í in Otavalo, Ecuador	4
Costa Rica’s Bahá’í Music Conference draws talent from 14 countries	10
In Caribbean, a long-running Bahá’í TV program proclaims the Faith	12
A new film from Dallas, Texas, recounts story of young Bahá’í martyr	14
A pictorial overview of Radio Bahá’í operation in Caracollo, Bolivia	15
Around the world: News from Bahá’í communities all over the globe	16

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. Second class postage paid at Wilmette, IL 60091. Copyright © 1985, National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. World rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.

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WLGI Radio holds opening ceremony

By DAVID E. OGRON

About 600 people including Bahá’ís from Georgia and the Carolinas; listeners to WLGI-FM, the first Bahá’í-owned and operated radio station in North America; and a number of non-Bahá’í dignitaries were present March 23 for the WLGI grand opening ceremony at the Louis G. Gregory Bahá’í Institute near Hemingway, South Carolina.

Among those who attended were Ruth Pringle, a member of the Continental Board of Counsellors in the Americas; all nine members of the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly; Auxiliary Board members Dr. Carole Allen and Elizabeth Martin, and the six members of the U.S. National Teaching Committee.

The ceremony, held in a large tent erected on the Institute property, was broadcast live over WLGI.

The keynote speaker, Wallace Brown Sr., director of South Carolina’s Division of Rural Improvement, was introduced by the mayor of Hemingway, the Hon. William B. Harmon.

During his address on “Radio: Its Role in Education,” Mr. Brown quoted from the Bahá’í writings.

Judge James F. Nelson, chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly, served as master of ceremonies.

Four members of the National Assembly, Dr. Dwight Allen, Dr. Alberta Deas, Dr. Robert Henderson and Dr. Firuz Kazemzadeh, also spoke during the ceremony.

Dr. Deas, the outgoing director of the Gregory Institute, was honored for her four and one-half years of service in that capacity. She was presented a framed portrait of the Hand of the Cause of God Louis Gregory, for whom the Institute is named.

Earlier in the day, the members of the National Assembly and special guests had attended a luncheon at the Institute during which Dr. Roy Jones of Charleston, the incoming director of the Gregory Institute, was introduced.

Among the guests who attended the luncheon and grand opening ceremony were South Carolina State Rep. John Snow; Judge Arthur McFarland, chief municipal court judge in Charleston; representatives of the National Conference of Negro Women; officials from the Georgetown (South Carolina) Hospital, and the director of food services at the Medical University of South Carolina’s Medical Center.

All had an opportunity to tour the WLGI studios, which are located in a large trailer on the Institute property.

They were greeted by WLGI management team members Dell-Anvar Campbell and Mark St. Clair who answered the visitors’ questions about the station.

During the grand opening ceremony, each of the distinguished visitors was introduced by Dr. Henderson, the secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly.

Dr. Henderson also spoke of the significance of WLGI:

“In this age,” he said, “when so few are struggling to accomplish so much, (the station) is the highest hope and the best gift that the Bahá’ís in the U.S. and in South Carolina can offer to the people of this state—that somehow, what Louis Gregory’s life stood for, the principles and goals for which he struggled so hard and so long, can live on and can multiply through the programs broadcast on WLGI.”

“You have not only a great trust in what you now undertake,” Mr. Brown said in his prepared remarks, “but you also have a great opportunity and thus a great responsibility to those who will listen to your broadcasts.

“ ‘Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value,’ ” he continued, quoting Bahá’u’lláh. “ ‘Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its

[Page 2] Above: Pedetha Arrington sings ‘The Queen of Carmel’ under the tent at the WLGI opening ceremony. Right: One of the younger observers holds a WLGI balloon while listening to the presentations.

treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom ...’

“This statement of mission,” said Mr. Brown, “tells me that you have considered well what you are undertaking to do.”

Later in his address, the representative of the governor of South Carolina repeated the quotation from Gleanings about the importance of education.

He asked the Bahá’ís to urge their listening audience to value education as much as they value freedom.

“Remind them,” he said, “that we must learn the skill of reasoning together. ... Radio can be and is a great tool in the educational process.”

At the close of the program, a group of balloon-carrying children was ushered into the tent where they sang for the enjoyment of those present and those listening on WLGI Radio.

Later, the balloons, bearing the inscription “WLGI, Bahá’í Radio, 90.9 FM,” were released in the area around the Institute.

Refreshments were served under smaller tents set up on the Institute grounds, and shortly after sunset members of the National Assembly were present as Dr. Deas cut the first piece from a three-tiered dedication cake.

The National Spiritual Assembly warmly praised the work of the ad hoc committee that was appointed to plan the grand opening ceremony. Its members were Carol Yetken of Oak Park, Illinois; Alonzo W. Nesmith Jr. of Charleston; Carolyn Fulmer of Clemson, South Carolina; and Dr. Deas.

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Music video pays tribute to young martyr

A music video—the first of its kind produced by Canadian Bahá’ís—portraying the arrest, interrogation and final moments of a youthful Iranian martyr, 16-year-old Mona Mahmúdnizhad, is soon to be released across the country.

A wave of media attention accompanied its production, bringing news of “Mona and the Children” to hundreds of thousands of Canadians including many Bahá’ís who heard of it for the first time on national TV.

The genesis of the idea

Composer Jack Lenz, who is highly respected in the music business in Canada, and song writer Doug Cameron, who wrote “Mona and the Children,” conceived the idea for a video while attending a recent International Audio-Visual Conference in Florida. Jack worked out many of the details and brought the idea to the National Spiritual Assembly who encouraged this private enterprise and offered its advice.

Producer Alex Frame and cinematographer Rodney Charters were also struck by the idea and offered their services. A momentum of enthusiasm quickly began to build and brought musicians Seals and Crofts and Dan Seals, of England Dan and John Ford Coley fame, into the production. Internationally renowned singer and songwriter Buffy St. Marie was so touched by the idea that she asked to play the role of one of the 10 martyred women. Unfortunately, a conflict of engagements allowed her only a brief appearance in the video. A Bahá’í actor, Alex Rocco, best known for his role as a casino owner in “The Godfather,” agreed to play the role of the Mulla who interrogated and sentenced Mona.

This article is taken from the April-May 1985 issue of Bahá’í Canada, a publication of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Canada.

It was the involvement of these people and their willingness to do whatever they could for the Bahá’ís in Iran that helped attract the extensive publicity. National television programs such as “Canada AM,” “Midday,” “What’s New” (a youth-oriented program on CBC) and the radio show “Morning-side” all ran segments on the production. Regional programs such as Toronto’s “News Hour,” “News Final,” “City Pulse” and “The Morning Show” and Ottawa’s CJOH news carried the item as well. Nancy Ackerman, public information officer for the National Spiritual Assembly, says that the media has been waiting for visual material related to Iran, which has thus far been limited. Aside from generating publicity itself, excerpts from the new video can now be used in other news reports on the Iran crisis as it develops.

CTV National News and CBC’s “The Journal” indicated plans to do in-depth pieces on the video upon its release, which was scheduled for June 18, the second anniversary of the hanging of Mona and nine other Bahá’í women in Shíráz, Iran.

The story line and images

The video is a series of visual images illustrating the four-minute, updated version of “Mona and the Children” first recorded on the “If You Only Knew” tape released for the International Youth Conference in London, Ontario. The video begins in a destroyed Bahá’í cemetery in Iran as revolutionary guards finish a burial in an unmarked grave. Their contempt is evident. As they leave, singer Doug Cameron enters the graveyard. He pauses at the graveside and looks up to see an image of Mona, played by an Iranian Bahá’í chosen for her resemblance to Mona. The scene shifts to Mona teaching children in her home. Armed soldiers burst in and take her away to prison where she is greeted by her friend Rúhí Jahánpúr (who plays herself) and the other Bahá’í women already imprisoned.

The next scene shows her interrogation where the hatred of the Mulla is countered by her calm, patient and resolute love. Finally, scenes of her execution are portrayed. These events are interspersed with scenes of Doug singing at her graveside, first joined by the children she taught and finally by a host of people of all races and walks of life. He is joined in the chorus by Jim Seals, Dash Crofts, Buffy St. Marie and Dan Seals. Flowers are piled high on the grave site giving, in the video, the tribute Mona was denied in Iran.

Special production for Bahá’í use

While “Mona and the Children,” both as a video and a recorded single, is a private commercial venture, to be distributed through the usual music industry channels, a second video, “The Making of Mona and the Children,” will be released for use by Bahá’ís in their teaching work. The video will include interviews with the principals as well as show behind-the-scenes footage.

The Bahá’í information office at the National Center in Canada and the National Youth Teaching Committee will be coordinating the use of the videos within the Bahá’í community. Special support materials will be produced and distributed, such as photographs of Mona and copies of her biography and the significance of her life. Mona was chosen as a symbol of the martyrs in Iran. Her life and actions will be used to help understand the nature of their service and provide a deeper understanding of our own.

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Radio Bahá’í: behind the success story

In an effort to combat the negative influences of dominant media systems on the rural populations of the Third World, the United Nations has sponsored several media conferences to promote “popular participation” in the media. UNESCO’s International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems stated that:

The idea of participation is corollary to (i) the search for remedies to the many distortions in communication; (ii) the trend toward transforming information processes into communication processes; (iii) the shifting of the emphasis from the information monologue into the communication dialogue or even “multilogue,” from the vertical flow of messages to a system of horizontal communication.¹

The movement toward “popular participation” in the media can also be seen as the result of another trend in communication theory. Promoters of “participatory media” oppose the traditional view of communication as a “vertical” process, a process characterized by the one-way transmission of information, typically for the purposes of persuasion and propagandizing. James Carey calls this the “transmission view” of communication:

Our basic orientation to communication remains grounded, at the deepest roots of our thinking, in the idea of transmission: communication is a process whereby messages are transmitted and distributed in space for the control of distance and people.”²

This article, “Popular Participation in Rural Radio: Radio Bahá’í, Otavalo, Ecuador,” appeared originally in Studies in Latin American Popular Culture, Vol. 3 (1984). It was written by Dr. Kurt Hein, a Bahá’í who is presently a member of the Radio Language Arts Project of the U.S. State Department’s Academy for Educational Development in Nairobi, Kenya.

A family of Indian Bahá’ís listens to one of the daily broadcasts on Radio Bahá’í in Otavalo, Ecuador.

Carey proposes viewing communication not as “the extension of messages in space but (as) the maintenance of society in time; not the act of imparting information but the representation of shared beliefs.”³

This view corroborates UNESCO’s assertion that culture and communication are inseparable: “The cultural impact, content, and message of communication is of such crucial importance that communication as a whole becomes one of the main vehicles of cultural development.”⁴ Concepts such as dialogue, consensus and participation are essential elements of this view of communication as a “vehicle of cultural development.” The challenge is to translate such concepts into tangible applications.

As a first step, the UNESCO conference in Yugoslavia in 1977 attempted to clarify what is meant by “participation” in the media. It determined that there are three distinct types or, better, levels of participation:

Access refers to the use of media for public service. It may be defined in terms of the opportunities available to the public to choose varied and relevant programs, and to have a means of feedback to transmit its reactions and demands to production organizations.

Participation implies a higher level of public involvement in communication systems. It includes the involvement of the public in the production process, and also in the management and planning of communication systems.

Participation may infer no more than representation and consultation of the public in decision-making. On

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the other hand, self-management is the most advanced form of participation. In this case, the public exercises the power of decision-making within communication enterprises and is also fully involved in the formulation of communication policies and plans.⁵

A number of studies have examined individual programs and short-term, experimental projects, but there is little evidence that much progress has been made toward establishing participatory media systems in the Third World.⁶

A notable exception can be found, however, in Otavalo, Ecuador. Initiated in 1977, Radio Bahá’í has come perhaps the farthest of any rural radio station in realizing the conference’s objectives of providing “access, participation, and self-management.”

Radio Bahá’í, owned by the Bahá’í community of Ecuador, is a community station, established to serve the interests, needs and tastes of the community in which it is located (selected for its high number of Bahá’ís). The Bahá’í Faith, based on the teachings of the nineteenth-century prophet, Bahá’u’lláh, promotes the oneness of mankind, the elimination of prejudice, and the common foundation of all religions.⁷ There are Bahá’ís in more than 100,000 places around the world.⁸ Rural Indians comprise the majority of the Bahá’í communities of Ecuador and the neighboring Andean countries. Situated in Otavalo, Ecuador, an Andean town of approximately 10,000 known for its colorful Indian market, the station’s primary audience is the rural Indians of the two major valleys surrounding Otavalo.⁹

Typical of rural traditional societies, the Otavalo Indians are a people whose way of life is increasingly being eroded by the incursion of twentieth-century technology and values. Villages are experiencing a serious decline in population as young men and women leave for jobs in the urban centers; cultural values are being displaced by the heavy saturation of mediated messages and products from the urban centers; even the traditional artisan craft of weaving is undergoing a radical transformation due to the introduction of mechanized looms, synthetic fibers, and mass marketing.¹⁰ In the middle of this pressure are the more than 300,000 campesinos (rural indigenous peasants) whose principal activity is subsistence farming. Obviously, owing to their limited economic resources, the Otavaleñans are not a group to whom commercial radio stations direct their broadcasts.

Recognizing these factors, the Bahá’ís built the station for several reasons: first, to promote and maintain the value, dignity and significance of the rural people and their popular indigenous culture; second, to promote education, the delivery of social ser-

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Composed primarily of campesinos, the Bahá’í community of Ecuador does not have an abundance of funds on which to draw. Instead, they rely on the dedicated, even self-sacrificing service of the staff, all of whom, essentially, are volunteers ...

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vices, and the dissemination of basic development information; third, to serve as a voice for the community, enabling villagers within a 50-mile radius to exchange information, make announcements and share news about important activities and events in the region.

To accomplish these objectives, several significant decisions were made. First, it was decided that Radio Bahá’í would broadcast in both Spanish and Quichua, becoming the first Ecuadorian station to broadcast a major part of its programming in the Indians’ native language. (Indigenous people comprise more than 50 percent of Ecuador’s total population.¹¹) At first, the station broadcast approximately 35 per cent of its programming in Quichua. That has now increased (in 1983) to 50 per cent, with a goal of 80 per cent by 1985.

The second significant decision was to recruit staff members from the local population. The majority of the staff are local residents, including the station’s 25-year-old general manager, a native of Otavalo.

Approximately half of the staff are indigenous, coming from nearby villages to work regularly at the station. Only two of the indigenous staff are literate, and only one of them received any schooling beyond the first grade. Nonetheless, all staff members have been trained to create, produce and edit their own programs. Each staff member, male or female, literate or not, knows how to operate all the studio equipment, including tape recorders, cart machines, turntables, microphones and mixing consoles.

Programming decisions are made by the station staff. Each staff member makes regular visits to the campo (countryside) to conduct formative evaluation of the programming, sometimes spending several days in a community to establish a good relationship with the audience and receive information about listeners’ needs and preferences. Final programming authority rests with a three-member “Radio Commission” which includes an illiterate woman from a distant farming community. She has become somewhat of a local celebrity, and has represented the station as the mistress of ceremonies for Otavalo’s two largest annual festivals, one in celebration of the annual corn harvest, the other an indigenous music festival sponsored by Radio Bahá’í (see below). She also produces and moderates the station’s most popular cultural program, a four-hour weekly show devoted to music, legends and information of interest to the rural audience.

Surprisingly, the station is able to broadcast 19 hours a day, seven days a week, on a budget of approximately U.S. $40,000 a year. Composed primarily of campesinos, the Bahá’í community of Ecuador does not have an abundance of funds on which to draw. Instead, they rely on the dedicated, even self-sacrificing service of the staff, all of whom, essentially, are volunteers, receiving only a nominal subsistence allowance. Members of the staff usually cite the “intangible” reward of serving their people as the primary motivation for working at the station.

The equipment at the station is modest; most of it is used, outmoded equipment acquired from the United States. In fact, the original transmission facilities attracted the attention of the National Frequency Board, responsible for licensing the station, because of the unconventional equipment. The original design of the antenna utilized inexpensive aluminum irrigation pipe used in local agriculture. Despite initial skepticism, the broadcast license was awarded when the government engi-

[Page 6] neers found it to be the most efficient 1,000-watt transmitter in the country.

As a result of these policies, the station authentically reflects the values, tastes and sounds of the people for whom it is intended. The result is a large, loyal and responsive audience. Specific programming innovations also have contributed to the station’s popular appeal among the campesinos.

One of the programs inspiring listener loyalty is “El Noticiero Local” (The Local News). Because the station’s purpose is to serve the rural farmers and to focus on their needs and interests, traditional news stories, such as those provided by the wire services, are avoided. Instead, the station has initiated a twice-daily news broadcast designed to enable villagers to communicate local events to one another. Most of the villages are without electricity and are accessible only by footpath, making widespread communication virtually impossible. Therefore, a typical “El Noticiero Local” program will include stories about lost children, lost identification papers, lost livestock, community dances, and mingas (community work parties). These announcements are broadcast both in Quichua and Spanish and have proven to be one of the region’s most popular radio programs.

Radio Bahá’í broadcasts these messages free of charge; all that is required is that the individual deliver his message to the station or to the station’s news office in the region’s other major town. The most common means of delivering these announcements is in person, meaning that some people may spend half a day or more walking to the station. It is common to see several campesinos sitting outside the station offices, having traveled together to deliver their messages and to greet the station staff. It is also common to find livestock on the grounds, awaiting the arrival of their rightful owner! In a recent year, more than 2,000 messages were delivered to the station in this manner, representing virtually every community within the station’s 50-mile (80-kilometer) broadcast reach.

The news program serves many of the communications needs of the audience. It is also an effective vehicle for disseminating development-oriented messages, especially for short-term campaigns. Because of the program’s popularity, many civic agencies ask to have messages broadcast throughout the day; but the messages achieve their greatest impact when incorporated into “El Noticiero Local”:

—During an outbreak of hoof-and-mouth disease, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock asked Radio Bahá’í to produce a spot announcing to farmers the nature of the disease and the availability of vaccine. After two weeks, more than 250 head of cattle had been treated, compared to seven in the month prior to the news feature.

—A national campaign was inaugurated to provide identity cards to illiterate campesinos, people who previously had been denied this important document. The local Civil Registry reported that the campaign in Otavalo was one of the most successful in the country because it had been promoted on “El Noticiero Local.”

—Doctors from a rural health center

Pictured is one of the posters used to publicize the broadcasts of Radio Bahá’í in Otavalo, Ecuador.

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requested help in promoting their offer of free eye care. They returned to the station shortly after the spot began to be aired in the news program to request that the spot be terminated. More than 450 people had come to the clinic the day after the first announcement, more than the clinic could accommodate.

In 1980, Radio Bahá’í was awarded a small matching-funds grant by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). The purpose of the grant was to augment Radio Bahá’í’s cultural and agricultural programming. Research indicated a disparity between the information and services offered by agencies such as the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock and the farmer’s knowledge about and utilization of those services. Radio Bahá’í staff found that the farmers seldom listened to Ministry announcements broadcast on the government station, did not understand them, and were unable to act upon the information provided in them. In addition, many of the topics being targeted by the Ministry were not perceived as relevant or urgent by the farmers.

On visiting the Ministry, the agricultural program production team from Radio Bahá’í was told of the difficulties frequently faced by agents in the field: they live in provincial centers, far from the villages; they visit the villages only occasionally; many experience language barriers; they are viewed with suspicion and distrust. Even under the most favorable circumstances, agents are often solicited to supply the seeds, fertilizers and equipment that farmers desire but cannot afford.

Given these problems, the radio staff saw an opportunity for the station to serve as an intermediary between the Ministry and the farmers. They wanted to produce a program that both expressed the farmers’ needs and provided answers to those needs. A 17-year-old indigenous youth (a graduate of the local agricultural training school) was recruited to serve as the program producer. He enlisted the assistance of two other Otavaleñans, one an older woman, the other an elderly farmer (both come from a remote village, are illiterate, and had neither formal training nor previous experience in radio).

The musical group ‘Los Andes’ performs during Ñucanchic Tono, the annual music festival sponsored by Radio Bahá’í in Otavalo, Ecuador.

Using a mobile van provided by the CIDA grant, the production team visits villages in the region. Portable tape recorders are taken to homes and fields, and farmers and their families are invited to discuss and record their concerns. In this manner, farmers from a number of communities are able to express and share their concerns with other farmers in the region. The two older radio staff serve as the moderators for the discussion sessions and provide continuity when the sessions are later edited for inclusion in programs.

Having identified and recorded some of the farmers’ major concerns, the staff then visit local Ministry offices and interview experts about the issues raised by the farmers. Segments recorded on the farms and at the Ministry offices are combined with scripted materials and music into a daily 30-minute program in Quichua entitled “Tarpucpac Yuyay” (The Thought/Knowledge/Opinion of the Farmer). Motivated by the program’s innovative approach, one Ministry official has started writing short, informational scripts for inclusion in the broadcast.

The program airs between 5:30 and 6:00 a.m., the period chosen as “optimal” by the farmers themselves. Both the farmers and the Ministries have responded enthusiastically. It provides the farmers with a means of communicating with each other and with the Ministries. It is also providing the Ministries with a means by which their assistance can be made more relevant and credible. When first approached by the Radio Bahá’í staff, the experts offered information on how to plant wheat and barley. However, discussions with the farmers had revealed that their most pressing concern was the elimination of a plague among their chickens and pigs. When the staff presented this concern to the experts, appropriate and relevant information was provided immediately to the farmers via the radio. In this way, the program is helping to reverse the “vertical” process by which the agriculture development professionals had been addressing rural problems. “Tarpucpac Yuyay” serves as a credible change agent by ensuring that the development messages it broadcasts are appropriate and relevant to the needs of the audience.

The staff at Radio Bahá’í are aware of the station’s important role as an educator and disseminator of development messages, but they also are conscious of the need to maintain the station’s primary role as the voice of the campesino. This role is realized effectively through the use of Quichua, indigenous staff members, and programming that promotes the dignity and value of the indigenous people and their culture. Special emphasis also is given to promoting the role of women in community life and to the education of children. While such policies demonstrate the station’s commitment to its audience, the programs’ effectiveness is wholly dependent upon the creation and maintenance of a large and

[Page 8] María Perugachi (right), an indigenous Bahá’í who serves on the National Spiritual Assembly of Ecuador, sends greetings in Quechua over Radio Bahá’í while Alfonso Tulcanazo operates the tape recorder.

loyal listenership. Perhaps the most significant factor thus far contributing to Radio Bahá’í’s success, and the main reason for its popularity, has been its commitment to playing indigenous music.

Radio Bahá’í has played a significant role in revitalizing traditional music among the Indians of the Otavalo region, both through its programming and its sponsorship of what has become Ecuador’s most popular festival of traditional music.

Music is unquestionably the primary attraction of radio for the campesinos. This audience prefers national and indigenous musical selections to the “pop music” most often identified with Western stars. The most popular tunes among the campesinos are the pasillos, albazos and sanjuanitos, which utilize a variety of instruments, all of which are associated with Andean music. The stringed instruments are usually the guitar and the charango (often likened to a ukulele, using an armadillo shell as the resonating chamber). Wind instruments include the cane flute and the rondador, which is a series of pipes bound together.

At the time Radio Bahá’í initiated its broadcasts, in 1977, indigenous music was experiencing a serious decline. This was due largely to the fact that commercial radio stations, the primary source of music programs, aim at the wealthier white and mestizo markets. The powerful Quito stations broadcast predominantly “pop music,” which the smaller, rural stations increasingly were imitating. This offered the campesinos little opportunity to hear the kinds of indigenous and regional music that most appealed to them.

Their lack of air time also had a negative impact on the popularity of indigenous groups and their recordings. By the late 1970s about the only place one could hear traditional music forms in Ecuador was at major festivals and at tourist-oriented nightclubs.

As part of its conscious attempt to serve the campesino, Radio Bahá’í decided that it would broadcast indigenous music exclusively. This decision has been carried out in two ways: First, the great majority of programming on Radio Bahá’í (estimated at 60 per cent) is music. All music programs on the station are pre-recorded, drawing on the station’s extensive, continually expanding library of recordings from the Andean region (including Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and Chile).

Second, beginning with the festival celebrating its inauguration, Radio Bahá’í has sponsored an annual festival of indigenous music, “Ñucanchic Tono” (Our Music). The first year of the festival, only 13 groups that played indigenous music could be located in the Otavalo region, and several of these had been formed to participate in the competition. Nonetheless, about 700 people attended that inaugural festival. The festival’s popularity grew rapidly. In 1982, more than 35 groups registered to participate. This necessitated holding preliminary “elimination rounds.” The staff decided that the best place to conduct the preliminary rounds was in rural villages. Community leaders were approached by station staff and formal requests were

[Page 9] made to conduct “mini-festivals” in the community. For most of the communities, it was the first time such an event had been brought to their village.

On the day of a preliminary festival, portable sound equipment and a stage were loaded onto Radio Bahá’í vehicles and transported to the campo, where local groups performed in front of members of their own community. Six such festivals were held, with a total attendance of more than 3,500. Twelve groups were selected to perform in the finale, held in Otavalo. It was attended by more than 7,000 people, the great majority of them campesinos from the rural villages. “Ñucanchic Tono” has become one of the largest festivals of indigenous music in all of South America.

Additional steps have been taken by Radio Bahá’í to promote indigenous music. Each of the rural festivals was recorded by station staff. These recordings were later edited and incorporated into the station’s regular programming. In addition, the finale was broadcast live over Radio Bahá’í. Each year, Radio Bahá’í arranges to take the winning group to Quito, where they are given the opportunity to perform on national television.

Evidence of the increasing popularity of the music can be found in several places. As witnessed by the increase in festival participants, many more music groups are performing in the Otavalo region. Several of the groups that were formed in response to the festival have turned professional and have made recordings. Music store owners in the Otavalo region report increased sales of both albums and traditional instruments. Perhaps most telling, many radio stations in Ecuador have increased the amount of air time they devote to indigenous music.

Broadcasting in Quichua, playing traditional music exclusively, reporting news of local interest, and airing programs aimed at maintaining traditional values has made Radio Bahá’í the most popular station in the region. A recent survey conducted by the author indicated that a remarkable 94 per cent of the potential audience listens regularly or occasionally to Radio Bahá’í. This is especially impressive in light of the fact that more than 30 stations can be heard in Otavalo.

The broadcasting model developed by the Bahá’í community of Ecuador has proved so successful that it is now being replicated in several other countries. Radio Bahá’í del Lago Titicaca (Lake Titicaca’s Radio Bahá’í) in Puno, Peru, initiated broadcasting in November 1981. The response of the Quichua and Aymara people of the region was so positive that 30 music groups and more than 3,000 campesinos were in attendance at that station’s inaugural festival. The festival, originally scheduled for one hour’s duration, lasted more than 12 hours. Additional stations are being developed to serve campesinos in Oruro, Bolivia, and Temuco, Chile.

Perhaps the greatest indicator of the model’s success is that, contrary to the typical diffusion pattern of communication models from North to South, the Radio Bahá’í model, developed in rural Ecuador, is being adapted to a recently constructed station in rural South Carolina, in the United States.

NOTES

1. International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems, “Interim Report on Communication Problems in Modern Society” (Paris: UNESCO, 1978), p. 51.
2. James W. Carey, “A Cultural Approach to Communication,” Institute of Communication Research, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 1973, pp. 3-4. (Mimeographed) Published in Communication Research, 2 (1975): 1-22.
3. Ibid., p. 7.
4. International Commission, “Interim Report,” p. 52.
5. UNESCO, “Meeting on Self-Management, Access, and Participation, Belgrade, Yugoslavia, 18-21 October 1977—Final Report” (Paris: UNESCO, 1978), p. 52.
6. For example, see Juan Díaz Bordenave, Communication and Rural Development (Paris: UNESCO, 1977).
7. The standard reference work on the Bahá’í Faith is J.E. Esslemont, Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era (London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1923; Third revised ed., Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1970; also in paperback edition by the same publisher, 1982).
8. Interview with Douglas Samimi-Moore, Bahá’í Office of Public Affairs, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, Illinois, 2 April 1982.
9. Unless otherwise indicated, all data on Radio Bahá’í Ecuador derives from on-site research conducted by the author during the period 5 September 1980 to 7 January 1982.
10. Steven Weinstock, “The Adaptation of Otavalo Indians to Urban and Industrial Life in Quito, Ecuador” (Ph.D. dissertation, Cornell University, 1973), pp. 76-80.
11. Ibid., p. 45.

Pictured is one of the many outstanding groups who performed during the fourth annual Radio Bahá’í music festival in 1981.

[Page 10]

Conference promotes use of music

Musicians from 14 countries met last February in San José, Costa Rica, at an International Conference for Bahá’í Musicians co-sponsored by the National Spiritual Assembly of Costa Rica and CIRBAL.

The purpose of the conference was to promote the composition and production, and increase the use, of high-quality music in all aspects of Bahá’í activity.

Charles Wolcott, a member of the Universal House of Justice who is himself a professional musician and composer, attended the conference. Mr. Wolcott addressed the participants on “The Place of Music in the Bahá’í Community” and “Moral and Ethical Considerations for Bahá’í Musicians,” and took part in various workshops and discussion groups.

The workshop topics ranged from such broad themes as excellence in music and legal considerations for Bahá’í musicians to “how-to’s” such as guitar technique and choral directing.

A session on indigenous music included compositions from French Guiana, Peru and Suriname as well as an exhibition of traditional dances and songs by a group of Talamanca Indian Bahá’ís from Costa Rica.

An especially moving talk by Counsellor Hidáyatu’lláh Ahmadíyyih entitled “We Cannot Fail Them” outlined plans for international musical teaching trips dedicated to the martyrs in Iran, and resulted in offers from five musicians to undertake such trips.

As a gift from the conference, participants visited a children’s hospital, an orphanage and a school to play for the children and staffs, a service that was especially well-received. A free concert at a local theatre in which 14

Pictured are many of the participants in the 1985 Bahá’í International Music Conference held in February at the University of Costa Rica’s school of music. In the front row center (behind the number ‘1985’) is Charles Wolcott, a member of the Universal House of Justice. The conference, which brought together musicians from 14 countries, was co-sponsored by the National Spiritual Assembly of Costa Rica and CIRBAL.

[Page 11] Bahá’í musicians presented a program of classical, modern, jazz and folk music was an enormous success with more than half the large audience non-Bahá’ís, many of whom inquired about the Faith.

Wayne Newitt, a sound engineer for Seals & Crofts who came to the conference to help with recording, declared his belief in Bahá’u’lláh during the final session. Mathilde Duffy of Sarasota, Florida, also declared her faith during the conference.

A large amount of new music was composed and recorded including original music submitted prior to the conference itself. Tapes of songs, radio spot beds, background music for the media, and music based on the Holy Texts will be available in the near future from CIRBAL.

Charles Wolcott (left), a musician and composer who is a member of the Universal House of Justice, discusses music at the Costa Rica conference with Jim Seals and Jim’s wife, Ruby.

Dominica

Ezra Dalrymple, vice-chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of Dominica, turns a shovelful of earth during the groundbreaking ceremony last September 23 for that country’s first District Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds in Roseau as some of the local Bahá’ís look on. Standing in the center of the picture with hand on hip is Artemus Lamb, a member of the Continental Board of Counsellors for the Americas.

[Page 12]

Bahá’í television makes a beginning

Barbara Joyce, who is originally from the United States, pioneered 12 years ago to the island of St. Maarten in the Netherlands Antilles. She has produced a weekly Bahá’í radio program for more than 11 years and a regular television program for the last eight and one-half years. She also serves on the National Spiritual Assembly of the Leeward Islands and has traveled and taught in the Caribbean and Africa. Before settling in the Caribbean, Ms. Joyce worked as an actress in New York City.

In February 1984, she spoke about how she and other Bahá’ís have produced regular television programs in St. Maarten.

With no funds or resources, and a Bahá’í television program to prepare on a weekly basis, Ms. Joyce faced a large challenge. One of the first series of programs she ever broadcast relied on the film “Step by Step” which was presented on four separate shows with the host introducing the film. At the end of each program, she invited viewers to tune in for subsequent showings. Reliance on Bahá’í films continued in the early programs. “Lamp Unto My Feet,” “Give Me That New Time Religion,” and a number of other Bahá’í films produced in the late ’60s and ’70s were shown.

Pilgrimage slides and traveling teachers provided other materials for broadcast. When Counsellors, Auxiliary Board members or other traveling teachers came to visit, they were interviewed, often for more than one program. At one point, the Hand of the Cause of God Enoch Olinga visited and was taped for four different

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Ms. Joyce stressed during her workshops how important it is to develop the feeling of friendship and intimacy with the camera. This manner of relating to the camera results in a feeling of intimacy and friendship with the viewers.

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shows. Former Counsellor Rowland Estall and his wife, Vivian, did many shows with Ms. Joyce.

She also used the Teaching Book with its many pictures as well as blackboards on occasion to assist in explaining the Faith. Children’s classes were held in front of the camera for other broadcasts.

These television programs did not rely on written scripts because everyone involved in the programs was an amateur and often, in Ms. Joyce’s experience, people who are not familiar with the use of written scripts come off more stilted or wooden than they do when they speak naturally. She developed a technique of asking those Bahá’ís on the program, local believers in many cases or traveling teachers, to talk about what they were interested in. Ms. Joyce and her guests would then talk as if they were at a fireside. One point of importance in this style of programming was to encourage those participating in on-camera discussions to relate to the camera as if it were another individual interested in hearing more about the Faith. It was important, too, Ms. Joyce pointed out, that the Bahá’ís relate to each other on the air in a warm and loving manner. This style of on-air fireside conversations was like a basketball game in which everyone had a chance to throw the ball.

Ms. Joyce stressed during her workshops how important it is to develop the feeling of friendship and intimacy with the camera. This manner of relating to the camera results in a feeling of intimacy and friendship with the viewers. Television programming is, after all, directed at one or two viewers, not at a large crowd. On some occasions Ms. Joyce, as hostess, would introduce her guests, then, as the camera moved to the guests, she would run around to ask questions while standing right beside the camera. This technique served to encourage the guests to speak and to answer questions directly to the camera.

In the early years of Bahá’í television programming on St. Maarten the shows were prepared at the studio. Four 15-minute programs were taped in close to an hour’s time. More recently the professional equipment from the studio has been borrowed on weekends and programs are taped at Ms. Joyce’s home.

After so many years, and so many programs broadcast, she feels the most important lesson is: “Talent is not nearly so important as perseverance.” Frequently, invited guests would not arrive on time for taping, or other mishaps would occur which prevented a prepared program from going ahead. It is always wise, she says, to have a back-up program ready in case the intended program is not able to be taped when scheduled.

This article about Bahá’í television is reprinted from the November 1984 Newsletter of the International Bahá’í Audio-Visual Centre in Thornhill, Ontario, Canada.

There is considerable advantage, according to Ms. Joyce, in having a producer and a host/interviewer rather than letting one individual attempt to combine the two functions. A producer, or someone who will make sure that all the details are looked after, that everything is pulled together for each program, that everyone who is participating has been informed, in-

[Page 13] vited, and brought to the studio or place of recording, is the key person in sustaining regular Bahá’í radio or television programming. If the interviewer, host or announcer has to do that job as well, the frustration may well tell on the host’s face or in his or her voice.

A direct style of proclamation broadcasting has characterized many of the programs on St. Maarten; however, Barbara Joyce is now trying to put the teachings of the Faith into more concrete, applied situations. One of the most important jobs at this stage, she said, is for Bahá’ís to try and develop real-life situations on radio and television programs where the teachings are applied so that they come to life for the listener or viewer. The teachings or principles, stated in an abstract or theoretical way, without reference to particular circumstances encountered in life, are not nearly so appealing or comprehensible to the listener as stories, interviews about people’s lives, or the description of situations in which the teachings are applied. Some of the Bahá’í books which relate stories of the Faith can provide such material, but a certain amount of research or imaginative thinking is required to produce program outlines, scripts or treatments which exemplify the teachings and principles of the Faith.

Bahá’í marriage and discussions of how to educate and raise children, said Ms. Joyce, are the kind of topics which demonstrate the meaning of the Faith in one’s life and which appear to be relevant in the Netherlands Antilles. Through television, people can come to know the facts about the Faith but often cannot see how or why they should join the Bahá’í community; they don’t understand how their own personal situations and lives can fit into the Faith. Programs that touch the heart are, therefore, very important, according to Ms. Joyce, as are programs that relate to the strong Christian background of the Netherlands Antilles residents. Music is especially valuable, she feels. However, since there were no Bahá’í musicians who could play on the program, the decision was made early to restrict the program to 15 minutes so that viewers would not be bored. (Some stations, of course, have facilities for using prerecorded music; but this is not the case in the Netherlands Antilles.)

Barbara Joyce and former Counsellor Rowland Estall who appeared on some of the early Bahá’í television programs on the Caribbean island of St. Maarten.

Bahá’í films or tapes produced elsewhere can be used on Bahá’í television programs. Frequently, film length does not correspond to 15 minutes, 30 minutes, or the hour-long duration of the television program. A host can often introduce the film and appear at the end of the program to remind viewers to tune in for a continuation of the film the following week. Usually, films can be “broken” or interrupted between sequences, especially when certain sequences relate to a particular subject. This has been tried with some success for short, 15-minute television programs.

Barbara Joyce and the Media Committee of the Netherlands Antilles have made particularly effective use of the television series from Hawaii that features the Hand of the Cause of God William Sears. These programs were produced in the ’70s by Mr. Sears and Robert Quigley, with music directed by Russ Garcia. (They are still available for sale for $100 in 3/4-inch format from the Hawaii National Bahá’í Library, 3264 Allen Place, Honolulu, Hawaii 96817 U.S.A.)

In listening to Barbara Joyce talk about the history of Bahá’í television on her Caribbean island, it became clear that the regular Bahá’í television program had been quite effective, not because large numbers of residents had enrolled in the Faith, but because wherever one goes on the island the words “Bahá’í” and “Bahá’u’lláh” are recognized. Many of the teachings and central principles of the Faith are also well-known. Thus, one can say that television has been an effective way to move the entire population closer to Bahá’u’lláh and to begin gradually to weave the spirit of the Faith into the day-to-day and week-by-week life and rhythm of the island’s residents.

[Page 14]

New film imparts message of hope

“Today the overriding need is unity and harmony among the beloved of the Lord, for they should have among them but one heart and soul ...”—‘Abdu’l-Bahá

•

For many months now, a group of Bahá’ís in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, area have been devoting their time and their hearts to a special project for the national Persian/American Affairs Committee.

These friends are bringing to life a screenplay written by Dorothy Freeman, the author of From Copper to Gold, a biography of the Hand of the Cause of God Dorothy Baker.

“For a Drop of the Lover’s Blood” is the story of a Persian girl who, while in prison awaiting martyrdom, recalls a visit to the U.S. a few years earlier.

Through flashbacks, the film portrays her impressions of the diversity and freedom that we as American Bahá’ís experience.

At the same time, the young girl senses the difficulties and occasional friction that such diversity can produce.

As she is about to die for her faith, she dreams that the differences in America have been resolved and that the light of unity has indeed enveloped this community.

The decision to make the film was only the first step in a long process. Next, a producer and director had to be located and a script written.

The Persian/American Affairs Committee contacted Manoutchehr Kazemzadeh who agreed to become the film’s executive producer.

Clare Menking then offered to serve as producer/director, and when Dorothy Freeman heard about the project she volunteered to write the script.

Once the initial story line had been determined, months were spent writing the script which was then sent to the Persian/American Affairs Committee for its approval.

A cameraman prepares to shoot a ‘jail scene’ for the film ‘For a Drop of the Lover’s Blood,’ produced for the U.S. National Persian/American Affairs Committee by Bahá’ís in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, area.

In January, Manoutchehr and Clare introduced the project to the Bahá’ís in the Dallas area. Twice as many people as expected came to the initial meeting.

Since that time more than 100 people have become involved (including a cast of 50). The friends have put in many long hours, but the complaints have been few.

The confirmations of the Blessed Beauty have also been amazing. For example, when the cast and crew arrived at an empty warehouse to shoot a prison scene, they were surprised to find a piano there.

No one knew where it had come from; it had not been there when the warehouse was inspected earlier.

The presence of the piano enabled Farzad Khozain, the Bahá’í musician who has devoted his time and talent to composing original music for the film, to use the inspiration of the moment to write the score for that scene on the spot.

On another occasion a scene was to be taped at the Bahá’í Center. On the day of the taping it was found that additional furniture would be needed to create the proper atmosphere.

Quite unexpectedly, one of the friends arrived and offered the use of a great deal of furniture and lovely rugs from her home. They were immediately brought to the Center and the work proceeded on schedule.

[Page 15]

A pictorial overview of Radio Bahá’í

Left: Staff member Ramón Nina tapes a program in the studios of Radio Bahá’í in Caracollo, Bolivia. Above: The front entrance of Radio Bahá’í photographed from the antenna in July 1984. Below: The musical group ‘Nur,’ winner in the native music competition sponsored by Radio Bahá’í-Bolivia in July 1984 at the time of the station’s inauguration.

[Page 16]

Trinidad host to gala children’s party

One hundred-seventy children from a number of ethnic backgrounds and from all parts of Trinidad took part last February 23 in an Ayyám-i-Há children’s party at the Langmore Health Foundation and the adjacent Palmyra District Bahá’í Center in South Trinidad.

The party began when the children, singing songs and wearing banners bearing the names of their villages, marched along the road from the Langmore compound to the Palmyra Center.

The program, which was planned by the National Education Committee, had as its theme “All People Must Be Educated.”

Groups of children from various villages came on stage to speak about the lives of Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and to sing songs and present a puppet show.

Meherangiz Munsiff, a traveling teacher from the United Kingdom, spoke to the children about the importance of prayer and their own importance in the Bahá’í family.

The party ended with refreshments and a magic show by “Clara the Clown.”

* * *

A Bahá’í prayer was read during the formal opening ceremony last March 30 of a Holistic Health Festival in Palmyra, Trinidad.

Among those present was His Excellency Ellis Clarke, president of the Republic of Trinidad. The Langmore Holistic Health Foundation, site of the festival, was founded by Dr. Harry Collymore, chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of Trinidad and Tobago.

At the close of Mr. Clarke’s remarks, two Bahá’í youth spontaneously asked him to autograph a copy of Some Answered Questions as confirmation of his support for Bahá’í youth activities during International Youth Year 1985. The president accepted the request with the utmost kindness.

Later, Maryam Rahimi, a Bahá’í child, presented Mr. Clarke a prayer book.

* * *

Three Bahá’í youth took part last March 17 in an inter-faith service at Queen’s Hall in Port of Spain, Trinidad, in honor of International Youth Year.

One of them, Patricia Coward, quoted from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh during her presentation on the opportunities presented by International Youth Year.

Taiwan

Pioneers to Taiwan from England, Germany, Iran, Malaysia, the Philippines and the United States were among those attending a recent pioneer conference in Taipei, Taiwan. Seated (front row, third from right) is the guest speaker, Counsellor Yan Kee Leong. Other speakers were Auxiliary Board member Kit Yin-Kiang, himself a pioneer to Taiwan for 15 years; and Yip Kim-fook, who has been a pioneer to Taiwan for about five years.

India

The Bahá’í community of Madras City in Tamil Nadu state has adopted a slum village about 400 meters (440 yards) from the Bahá’í Center as a goal for social development.

Women and girls in the village are being taught literacy through the local Bahá’í Womens Committee along with sewing classes requested by the girls.

Money has been contributed and invested toward social and economic development activities and toward building a small hall to replace the more informal outdoor meeting area under some coconut trees behind the Bahá’í Center.

[Page 17]

Mauritius

Recent proclamation efforts in Mauritius have centered around the Mobile Teaching and Audio-Visual Institute.

A public exhibit with materials prepared for the institute is being organized in various localities using the theme “The Earth Is But One Country and Mankind Its Citizens.”

A representative of the Spiritual Assembly of Vacoas presented a brief description of the Faith during the institute’s opening ceremony which was attended by the mayor of Vacoas.

The mayor expressed his pleasure with the initiative taken by the Bahá’ís in organizing the traveling exhibit, and added his hope that other religious organizations in Mauritius would follow their example.

The mayor of Vacoas, Mauritius, cuts the ribbon during the opening ceremony for a Bahá’í-sponsored exhibit that is scheduled to travel to several localities in that country as a part of the Mobile Teaching and Audio-Visual Institute.

* * *

A representative of the Bahá’í community of Mauritius participated in a national prayer meeting held by that country’s government at the hour of the funeral for Indira Gandhi, the late prime minister of India.

The Bahá’í representative expressed the sympathy of the believers and read a prayer during the memorial meeting, which was attended by many people including members of the diplomatic corps and other public figures.

The event was broadcast live on radio and included on an evening television news program.

* * *

When the government of Mauritius decided recently to grant public and private sector employees two more holidays each year, the National Spiritual Assembly of Mauritius wrote to the government requesting that Bahá’í workers be given the dates of March 21 and April 21 as their additional holiday dates.

Korea

For the first time a Korean news agency, unsolicited, has reported on the persecution of Bahá’ís in Iran.

In a survey of religious persecutions around the world, an evening television program broadcast last June 30 in Seoul reported the killing of 150 Bahá’ís in Iran and quoted a recent article on the subject that appeared in Newsweek magazine.

United States

‘Heartbeat,’ a group of Bahá’í musicians from Illinois and Wisconsin, won an award of excellence for their cassette tape Loving Hands at the 1985 Angel Awards ceremony in Los Angeles sponsored by Religion in Media. Members of the group are (left to right) drummer Rudi Fox, vocalists Susan Engle (front) and Jean Marks, bassist Michael Moutrie, keyboard player Andy Marks, and guitarist (seated) Charles Nolley. When performing, ‘Heartbeat’ also uses a mime, Sandra Magestro, to illustrate its songs visually. Loving Hands is available from the U.S. Bahá’í Publishing Trust.

[Page 18]

from the Bahá’í Publishing Trust

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The extraordinary story of how the Bahá’í Faith was brought to North America and how the early Western Bahá’ís survived the disaffection of their first teacher and became firmly grounded in the Covenant

THE BAHÁ’Í FAITH IN AMERICA Origins 1892-1900 VOLUME 1

ROBERT H. STOCKMAN

Secret meetings, inaccurate explanations, the seeking of personal gain through the promulgation of half-understood teachings—these are some of the factors that lead to the conversion before 1900 of almost 1,500 North Americans from 25 U.S. states and at least one Canadian province. Many fell away when their leader broke the Covenant. But the strong and dedicated group of Bahá’ís who remained steadfast would build Bahá’í institutions that would become models for Bahá’ís everywhere. Read about such early Bahá’ís as the wealthy PHOEBE HEARST (mother of William Randolf Hearst); ROBERT B. TURNER (the first black Bahá’í in North America); Canadian-born PAUL DEALY (who was appointed Chicago’s first Bahá’í “teacher”); EDWARD GETSINGER (one of the many persons from the medical field attracted to the Bahá’í Faith); LUA GETSINGER (destined to become one of the greatest teachers of the Faith); and THORNTON CHASE (an insurance executive designated by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as “the first American believer.”)

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Trace your own roots by reading about the earliest Bahá’í communities in North America.

ROBERT H. STOCKMAN, who became a Bahá’í in 1973, holds a bachelor’s degree in geology and archaeology from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut; a master’s degree in planetary geology from Brown University; and a master of theological studies degree from the Harvard Divinity School. At the present time he is teaching astronomy at Bentley College, in Waltham, Massachusetts, while he is pursuing a doctorate of theology in the history of religion in America at the Harvard Divinity School.

xxix + 277 pages, including appendix, notes, annotated bibliography, indexes 23 photographs	$1995*

*Available from Bahá’í Distribution Service
Wilmette, IL, U.S.A., at prices listed plus 10% for
postage and handling.

Available from

Bahá’í Distribution Service
415 LINDEN AVENUE, WILMETTE, IL 60091 ■ TEL. 1-800-323-1880