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| Bahá’í News | January 1989 | Bahá’í Year 145 |
Bahá’í education:
a special report
FULLY ONE YEAR SINCE ACCEPTANCE BAHÁ‘Í FAITH INTO NETWORK ON CONSERVATION AND RELIGION WORLD WIDE FUND FOR NATURE, WE ARE IMMENSELY PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE OUTSTANDING SUCCESS FUND-RAISING BANQUET AND RECEPTION ON 26 OCTOBER IN LONDON CO-SPONSORED BY WORLD WIDE FUND FOR NATURE AND BAHÁ’Í INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY. HELD AT SYON HOUSE, ANCESTRAL HOME OF DUKES OF NORTHUMBERLAND, EVENT LAUNCHED ‘ARTS AND NATURE’ PROGRAM CONCEIVED BY HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS PRINCE PHILIP, DUKE OF EDINBURGH, AS MEANS OF DRAWING ON VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS TO ENLIST PUBLIC SUPPORT OF CRITICAL ENVIRONMENTAL NEEDS AROUND WORLD.
AMATU’L-BAHÁ RÚHÍYYIH KHÁNUM, REPRESENTING BAHÁ’Í INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY, GAVE CAPTIVATING BRIEF ADDRESS IN WHICH SHE APPEALED TO HER DISTINGUISHED HEARERS TO JOIN IN COMMON EFFORT TO CONSERVE NATURE. IN HIS SUBSEQUENT SPEECH, PRINCE PHILIP REFERRED REPEATEDLY TO POINTS SHE HAD MADE. ATTRACTING SOME MOST INFLUENTIAL FIGURES IN BRITISH SOCIAL AND PUBLIC LIFE AMONG ITS 200 GUESTS, EVENT BROUGHT TOGETHER NUMBER OF LEADING EUROPEAN ARTISTS IN PERFORMANCES ON THEME ‘ART AND NATURE,’ WHICH WAS FURTHER HIGHLIGHTED BY DISPLAY AT SYON HOUSE OF WORKS OF ART FROM ROYAL COLLECTION WHICH HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN HAD LOANED FOR THE EVENING.
OUR SPIRITS STIRRED BY POWERFUL INDICATIONS THUS GIVEN OF GREAT POTENTIALITIES FOR SERVICE WHICH BAHÁ’Í COMMUNITY WORLDWIDE CAN AND MUST RENDER IN MAKING ITS DISTINCTIVE CONTRIBUTIONS TO CONSERVATION AND ENRICHMENT PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT OUR BOUNTIFULLY ENDOWED PLANET.
NOVEMBER 3, 1988
Bahá’í News[edit]
Two great losses: Borrah Kavelin, former member of House of Justice | 1 |
... and Edna M. True, a pillar of U.S. Bahá’í community for a century | 2 |
A survey of basic education activities in selected Bahá’í communities | 4 |
Chief Seattle’s memorable reply to an offer to purchase Indian lands | 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 Management Information Systems, Bahá’í National Center. Please attach mailing label. Subscription rates within the U.S.: one year, $12; two years, $20. Outside the U.S.: one year, $14; two years, 24$. Foreign air mail: one year, $20; two years, $40. Payment in U.S. dollars must accompany the order. Second class postage paid at Wilmette, IL 60091. Copyright © 1989, National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. World rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.
United States[edit]
‘Trustworthy, reliable’ Borrah Kavelin[edit]
HEARTS LADEN WITH SORROW OVER LOSS TO BAHÁ’Í WORLD OUR DEARLY-LOVED FORMER COLLEAGUE H. BORRAH KAVELIN OUTSTANDING SERVANT CAUSE BAHÁ’U’LLÁH. INDOMITABLE FAITH, RIGOROUS CONSCIENTIOUSNESS, IRREPRESSIBLE OPTIMISM, UNFAILING RELIABILITY, UNBLEMISHED TRUSTWORTHINESS AMONG BRILLIANT QUALITIES WHICH SHONE THROUGH HIS NEARLY HALF CENTURY MONUMENTAL SERVICES TO CAUSE HE CONSTANTLY PROMOTED AND DEFENDED TO LAST DAYS HIS DISTINGUISHED LIFE. HIS EXTENSIVE INVOLVEMENT BAHÁ’Í ADMINISTRATIVE AFFAIRS BEGAN IN 1941 WITH HIS NINE YEARS ON LOCAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY NEW YORK AND INCLUDED 13 YEARS ON NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY UNITED STATES, TWO YEARS ON INTERNATIONAL BAHÁ’Í COUNCIL FOLLOWED BY QUARTER CENTURY MEMBERSHIP ON UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE. HIS MANIFOLD SERVICES ESPECIALLY MARKED BY HIS DILIGENT ENDEAVORS TO ASSIST DEVELOPMENT EXTERNAL AFFAIRS AGENCIES BAHÁ’Í INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY, HIS DEFTNESS FOR DIGNIFIED PROMOTION FINANCIAL INTERESTS FAITH, HIS LUSTROUS RECORD IN CONNECTION ACQUISITION IMPORTANT PROPERTIES INCLUDING MANSION MAZRA’IH AND HOUSE ‘ABDU’LLÁH PASHÁ.
OFFERING ARDENT SUPPLICATIONS HOLY THRESHOLD THAT HIS NOBLE SOUL MAY BE RICHLY REWARDED ABHÁ KINGDOM AND THAT BLESSED BEAUTY MAY SURROUND HIS BELOVED WIFE FLORE AND DEAR CHILDREN WITH DIVINE MERCY AND ASSISTANCE.
ADVISE HOLD MEMORIAL GATHERINGS IN HIS HONOR ALL HOUSES OF WORSHIP AND THROUGHOUT BAHÁ’Í COMMUNITY.
DECEMBER 19, 1988
H. Borrah Kavelin, who crowned nearly half a century of devoted service to the Cause of God with membership on the Universal House of Justice from its inception in 1963 until his retirement early this year, died December 18 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Mr. Kavelin had returned to the U.S. in October to take part with David Hofman, another former member of the House of Justice, in the 12 “Vision to Victory” conferences called for by the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly to launch a two-year period of commitment and sacrifice on the part of the American Bahá’í community.
After speaking at the conference November 4-6 in Danvers, Massachusetts, Mr. Kavelin traveled to Chattanooga, Tennessee, site of the second conference, but was taken ill and rushed to a hospital before that event got under way.
Although unable to leave his hospital bed, he insisted on video taping a brief address which was shown to those at the conference in Chattanooga and, the following weekend, at the Northwest conference in Seattle, Washington.
Mr. Kavelin remained gravely ill, but was allowed to leave the hospital and return to his home in Albuquerque.
Howard Borrah Kavelin became a Bahá’í in New York City in 1941 and served on the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly from 1950-63 and from 1961-63 on the International Bahá’í Council, the forerunner of the Universal House of Justice.
H. BORRAH KAVELIN
He was chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly from 1958-63.
As a businessman, Mr. Kavelin was executive vice-president of Durand Taylor Company, a nationally known commercial real estate and management organization in New York.
He was involved in the sale of a number of New York landmarks including Ebbetts Field, once the home of baseball’s Brooklyn (now Los Angeles) Dodgers.
In 1952, he was given an award by the New York Title Company for the most ingenious commercial real estate transaction of that year.
While in New York, Mr. Kavelin served for nine years on the city’s local Spiritual Assembly including several as its chairman.
United States[edit]
Edna M. True: 1888-1988[edit]
Edna M. True, whose matchless services to the Cause of God in North America and Europe spanned nearly a century, died peacefully in her sleep December 9 in Wilmette, Illinois, close to the Mother Temple of the West that was so dear to her heart.
Upon learning of Miss True’s passing some four months after her 100th birthday, the Universal House of Justice cabled:
“Her long period outstanding dedicated services Cause, especially illumined by her attainment presence beloved Master and personal acquaintance Shoghi Effendi, comprised wide range historically significant contributions as stalwart pillar American Bahá’í community during critical decades its early administrative development and as single-minded, energetic, resourceful promoter European Bahá’í community whose rise after second World War is forever linked with her extensive activities for 17 years behalf European Teaching Committee.
“Her 22 years on National Spiritual Assembly United States as its recording secretary indicate how intimate was her involvement in shaping Bahá’í community that country.
“Her memorable membership Continental Board of Counselors North America and Trusteeship Continental Fund crowned century-long, exemplary life wholly worthy her illustrious Bahá’í heritage.”
Miss True, who was born July 29, 1888, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, lived most of her life in the Chicago area including the last 59 years in Wilmette.
She was a daughter of the Hand of the Cause of God Corinne Knight True whose valiant work from 1909-25 as financial secretary of Bahá’í Temple Unity was instrumental in building the House of Worship in Wilmette.
Corinne True died April 3, 1961, only seven months short of her 100th birthday.
EDNA M. TRUE
Edna True was formally enrolled in the Faith as a 15-year-old in 1903, the same year in which Orville and Wilbur Wright flew the first heavier-than-air plane at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
Six years later she was graduated from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, where she had excelled in academics and sports and captained the basketball team.
She was a young woman of 23 in 1912 when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá visited Chicago and laid the cornerstone for the House of Worship in a ceremony on May 1 of that year.
Like her mother, Miss True became intimately involved in the completion of that magnificent edifice, serving on its construction committee from 1947-53, lending her expertise to interior design, and helping to plan its formal dedication in 1953.
During World War I Miss True was a part of the Smith College Relief Unit in France, ministering to the needs of U.S. servicemen overseas.
From 1940-46 she was a member of the Bahá’í Inter-America Committee, serving as its chairman in 1941-42 and secretary in 1945-46.
Harry Truman was president in 1946 when Miss True was elected to membership on the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. She served as recording secretary for the next 22 years.
Meanwhile, she served as chairman of the European Teaching Committee for the entire span of its existence (1946-64), putting her organizational skills to work to help form local Spiritual Assemblies and, later, National Spiritual Assemblies in 11 European countries.
Professionally, Miss True was the founder and manager of North Shore Travel Service in Evanston, a position whose many contacts overseas helped greatly in her work with the European Teaching Committee.
In 1968, now 80 years old, Miss True was named by the Universal House of Justice as a member of the Continental Board of Counsellors for the Americas.
She served with distinction as a Counsellor and Trustee of the Continental Fund until 1981 when advancing years (she was then 93) forced her to reduce her activities.
Miss True remained an active member of the Wilmette Bahá’í community almost to her last year, regularly attending Feasts and other gatherings with her longtime friend and companion, Thelma Jackson.
In 1986, Miss True and Miss Jackson
| MAGNITUDE LOSS DEARLY-LOVED, STEADFAST, DEVOTED, HIGHLY RESPECTED MAIDSERVANT BAHÁ’U’LLÁH EDNA M. TRUE PROFOUNDLY FELT. RECALL WITH DEEP APPRECIATION RADIANT, DIGNIFIED COUNTENANCE OF ONE WHOSE EVENTFUL LIFE SPANNED MORE THAN THREE DECADES HEROIC AGE AND SIXTY-SEVEN YEARS FORMATIVE AGE. HER LONG PERIOD OUTSTANDING DEDICATED SERVICES CAUSE, ESPECIALLY ILLUMINED BY HER ATTAINMENT PRESENCE BELOVED MASTER AND PERSONAL ACQUAINTANCE SHOGHI EFFENDI, COMPRISED WIDE RANGE HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS AS STALWART PILLAR AMERICAN BAHÁ’Í COMMUNITY DURING CRITICAL DECADES ITS EARLY ADMINISTRATIVE DEVELOPMENT AND AS SINGLE-MINDED, ENERGETIC, RESOURCEFUL PROMOTER EUROPEAN BAHÁ’Í COMMUNITY WHOSE RISE AFTER SECOND WORLD WAR IS FOREVER LINKED WITH HER EXTENSIVE ACTIVITIES FOR 17 YEARS BEHALF EUROPEAN TEACHING COMMITTEE. HER 22 YEARS ON NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY UNITED STATES AS ITS RECORDING SECRETARY INDICATE HOW INTIMATE WAS HER INVOLVEMENT IN SHAPING BAHÁ’Í COMMUNITY THAT COUNTRY. HER MEMORABLE MEMBERSHIP CONTINENTAL BOARD COUNSELLORS NORTH AMERICA AND TRUSTEESHIP CONTINENTAL FUND CROWNED CENTURY-LONG, EXEMPLARY LIFE WHOLLY WORTHY HER ILLUSTRIOUS BAHÁ’Í HERITAGE.
EXTEND HEARTFELT SYMPATHY HER RELATIVES. ADVISE HOLD MEMORIAL GATHERINGS IN HER HONOR AT MOTHER TEMPLE WEST AND IN LOCAL COMMUNITIES THROUGHOUT UNITED STATES. ALSO ADVISING OTHER COMMUNITIES NORTH AMERICA AND EUROPE HOLD SIMILAR GATHERINGS. UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE
DECEMBER 12, 1988
RÚHÍYYIH
DECEMBER 12, 1988 |
made a pilgrimage to the World Centre in Haifa, Israel, where they visited the Holy Shrines and were entertained by members of the Universal House of Justice.
On her 99th birthday in July 1987, the National Spiritual Assembly presented Miss True a scroll recognizing her many years of service to the U.S. Bahá’í community.
From the National Teaching Committee, she received a framed copy of the commemorative print honoring the 75th anniversary of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s visit to North America.
In return, she presented to 19 young volunteers at the National Center copies of The Dawning Place, Bruce Whitmore’s book about the building of the Mother Temple of the West.
Funeral services for Miss True were held December 15 with burial in the True family plot at Chicago’s Oakwoods Cemetery.
The first of the memorial services in her honor was held two days later during the “Vision to Victory” conference in Chicago. Among those paying tribute to her exemplary life of service were David Hofman, a former member of the Universal House of Justice; Dr. Wilma Ellis, director-general of the Bahá’í International Community; and Judge Dorothy W. Nelson, chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly.
Also presented was a brief audio-visual retrospective of Miss True’s life and services to the Cause of God.
Special report[edit]
Basic Bahá’í education activities[edit]
A Survey of Basic Education Activities in Selected Bahá’í Communities
1. Introduction[edit]
Education of the individual and of society is a primary focus of Bahá’í activity. Bahá’í beliefs impel each individual to strive to develop his or her own capacities and to participate actively in the development of the community; and Bahá’í law requires the community to provide means for the development of its people. These commonly held values and goals create in communities an ideal environment for fostering education. Since their formation in the mid-19th century, Bahá’í communities have encouraged individual and social development, leading not only to high rates of literacy among individuals, but also to significant improvements in all aspects of community life.
The Bahá’ís of Iran, for example, began informal schooling in the 1880s, when compulsory education was only beginning to be accepted in the West, and over the next 50 years built a network of more than 40 schools for girls and boys, some of which were the first modern educational institutions in that country. This community had achieved near total literacy within its ranks by the early 1950s, through a campaign that placed special emphasis on women and those in rural areas.
| This report, “A Survey of Basic Education Activities in Selected Bahá’í Communities,” was prepared at the Bahá’í World Centre to help the United Nations Office of the Bahá’í International Community in its work with the UN Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). |
This same drive for self-improvement and the well-being of the community is evident in the more than 20,000 Bahá’í communities now established around the world. These local communities are systematically extending their capacity to support the educational aspirations of the people they serve, both Bahá’ís and those of other beliefs. Furthermore, national and regional organizations in 148 nations and independent territories facilitate the efforts of local institutions to move themselves and their communities forward and contribute to the unfoldment of a global civilization based on the fundamental principle of the unity of the human race.
2. Promotion of education by the local Bahá’í community[edit]
The educational activities of the local Bahá’í communities may be examined in terms of four interrelated sets of goals and methodologies.
2.1 Creating and sustaining a literate environment[edit]
With the help of regional and national institutions, local communities endeavor to create a literate environment by encouraging their members to read daily as an individual spiritual discipline, to deepen their knowledge and understanding of various topics of study, and to consider the promotion of knowledge and education a personal obligation. By now, reading materials have been produced in many languages and this endeavor continues to be pursued energetically.
The Bahá’í system of community organization stimulates a desire to learn. Each member participates in regular meetings of the community, assists in planning and implementing its programs, and elects and may serve on its governing council. The knowledge that they bear a collective responsibility for the welfare of the community motivates all members to acquire and improve their literacy skills. Some newly elected Bahá’í councils whose members may initially be illiterate arrange literacy and study classes for themselves and their communities. This pattern, established in Iran almost 100 years ago, continues today in the communities of the developing world.
Bahá’í councils enable people to educate themselves. Presently, more than 10,000 locally initiated classes are conducted under the auspices of such councils. These democratically elected institutions strive to consult fairly, to create unity, and to demonstrate a spirit of service. They are responsible for arranging classes for children, youth and adults, irrespective of class, caste, race or religion. Special efforts are made to provide educational opportunities for women, and the education of girls has been a priority since the first girls’ schools were opened in Iran at the turn of the century.
2.2. Moral and spiritual education of children [edit]
The provision of moral and spiritual education for children is a primary focus of Bahá’í activity in basic education, as the inculcation of good character is considered to be fundamental to social progress and individual success. In 1986, 4,295 children’s classes were reported in 165 countries and independent territories; many of these classes were joint efforts by several local Bahá’í councils.
National programs of teacher training and curriculum development help local councils to provide moral education. An international network distributes children’s class curricula across nations and continents. Between 1979 and 1986, 525 institutes for training teachers of children’s classes were held in 77 countries. To help promote the education of children, 209 seminars on this subject were held in 47 countries during the same seven-year period.
The publication of literature for chil-
[Page 5]
dren is another assistance to local Bahá’í councils in their efforts for children. Since 1979, 226 books for children in 36 languages including Maori, Kinyarwanda, Icelandic and Acholi have
been published.
2.3 Community learning centers[edit]
The establishment of a community learning center represents the next level of involvement in education. A learning center is an effort by the community to meet its own educational needs using its own resources. It provides basic education, often to a population not served by official schools.
Some community learning centers concentrate on pre-school education to create a foundation for success in primary school, and some are one-room, one-teacher primary schools. Adult literacy is part of the curriculum of at least one-quarter of all learning centers. Crafts are also taught and guidance to schoolchildren is included in the activities of quite a few. These different types of learning centers are now operating in 573 Bahá’í communities. There are 164 in Africa, 70 in the Americas, 330 in Asia, and 9 in the Pacific. More than 20,000 people take part in their programs.
It can be said that the majority of the learning centers are self-reliant, community-based institutions, although they receive some level of support from regional or national institutions. In some countries the teachers are volunteers; in others, they receive modest remuneration from funds raised through communal farm work, through school fees, or from scholarships. Learning centers are the product of a long process of community development. The real resources which create them are the people’s confidence in their own capacity, their vision of their role in the upliftment of society, and their ability to consult and carry out decisions together. These qualities give the community learning centers a general continuity that is often lacking in grassroots endeavors.
2.4 Formal schools[edit]
At yet another level, a number of communities gradually establish formal schools that grow in size according to the increasing capacity of the people to manage a more complex educational institution and to respond effectively to their own needs. At present, Bahá’í communities operate 29 formal primary and secondary schools: 4 in Africa, 12 in the Americas, 12 in Asia, and one in the Pacific. About 5,000 students attend, 80 percent of whom are not Bahá’ís. These schools are open to all religious denominations and ethnic groups, striving to provide the same quality education for all strata of society. A number of these educational institutions operate in particularly disadvantaged regions where modern school facilities are otherwise lacking. Like the learning centers, the majority of these establishments have emerged from the initiative of the community and thus tend to express and preserve the positive aspects of the local culture, at the same time preparing the children for the challenges of an interdependent world. They are not only places for the transmission of knowledge, but also training centers for developing high standards of behavior and conduct, where priority is given to moral and ethical education.
Although the establishment of formal schools is not an imposition from outside, but the fruit of a community’s development, once these schools come into existence they are supported by a growing system of international collaboration. Through national and international administrative assistance, many have been able to draw resources from distant communities, in the form of scholarships, technical assistance and voluntary workers. The origins of this collaboration go back to the first years of this century when a few American teachers arrived in Tehran to help with Bahá’í schools, and to the successful establishment of scholarship funds for students in the Iranian schools. A desire to enable others to become educated now links Bahá’ís from Brussels to Lucknow; from Cali to Lagos; from Port-au-Prince to Sydney.
It is well known that in many rural or less-developed regions of the world, schools have become powerful instruments leading to the migration of skilled members of the local society to more developed regions. One of the greatest challenges to the growing network of Bahá’í-administered schools is to reverse this process. They endeavor to do so both by fostering a strong sense of responsibility in their students, by designing curricula that enable their graduates to make definite contributions to the development of their communities, and by involving the parents and the community in the learning process.
Some of the Bahá’í schools are:
Anís Zunúzí Bahá’í School, Lilavois, Haiti: Since opening in 1980, it has gradually expanded its program to include kindergarten, grades 1-8, anda new technical section, and now serves 270 students from the surrounding rural area. A rural development program is based at the school.
Bahá’í School, Tadong, Gangtok, Sikkim: More than 870 students, ranging from nursery up to Class IX, attend the Tadong Bahá’í School, which is known to have a high academic standard. An outstanding characteristic of the school is its harmonious integration of a multi-ethnic student population.
Colegio Núr, La Cisterna, Santiago, Chile: Inaugurated in 1977, Colegio Núr is Bahá’í-owned and administered, but receives state support in the form of teachers’ salaries. Its curriculum spans pre-school through high school including commercial/technical training. Nearly 400 students attend.
Escola das Nacoes (School of the Nations), Brasilia, Brazil: More than 175 students from more than 30 countries attend this international bi-lingual school, which presently includes pre-school and primary grades.
Maxwell International Bahá’í School, Shawnigan Lake, British Columbia, Canada: Opened in September 1988, this coeducational residential school offers grades 7-9 to an international student body, and will eventually include secondary grades 10-13.
New Day Montessori/High School, Karachi, Pakistan: Since its establishment in 1978, enrollment has grown to 359 students, with a Montessori kindergarten and eight primary grades operating at present.
New Era School, Panchgani, Maharashtra, India: This international school, established in 1945, offers classes from pre-school through junior college, attended by more than 400 students. It is closely associated with an extensive regional development program in literacy, women’s development, agriculture and health improvement in the immediate area.
[Page 6]
Rabbani Higher Secondary School,
Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India: Offering standards (grades) VI-XI to
about 200 students, the Rabbani
School heavily emphasizes vocational
and agricultural training, with a large
self-help component. A 72-acre farm
with poultry, animal husbandry, horticulture and a plant nursery augments
the academic program. A regional development program operated by the
school involves some 20 villages in educational and agricultural upliftment.
Ruaha Technical Secondary School, Iringa, Tanzania: Since starting operation in March 1986, this rural secondary school has expanded its enrollment from 160 to about 270 students, and is developing commercial and technical training components.
Santitham School, Yasothon, Thailand: Established in 1963, the school includes a large kindergarten, a functioning children’s library, a vocational training program for rural women, and a small commercial school. Total enrollment is about 200.
3. Promotion of education by regional and national institutions[edit]
As Bahá’í communities and councils become established in a region and their educational capacities begin to grow, Bahá’í institutions on the regional and national level step in to support and complement their activities. Again, regional and national educational activities take various forms and occur at different levels of complexity.
3.1 National and regional programs[edit]
Summer schools and study retreats are sponsored to encourage and facilitate lifelong learning. During the period from 1979-86, 1,880 such meetings were sponsored in 128 countries and independent territories.
Conferences to motivate and assist specific groups are also held. During that same seven-year period, various national communities held 203 parent-training and family-life courses, 1,126 conferences for youth, and 434 conferences to advance the status of women.
Festivals and cultural activities are arranged to overcome class, caste and racial barriers, helping to establish new patterns of social interaction while promoting the education of individuals. Special educational campaigns related to the family, to women, or to issues such as health and afforestation mobilize the community to focus its attention on specific social problems.
3.2 Bahá’í schools and radio stations facilitating community education[edit]
Special efforts to promote basic education have been possible using the resources of Bahá’í schools and radio stations.
The Anís Zunúzí Development Service, an outreach program of the Anís Zunúzí Bahá’í School in Haiti, has established rural cooperatives and 52 community learning centers. An introductory reader has been produced in Haitian Creole, the first school textbook in this language to be used in Haiti.
Attached to the Rabbani School in Gwalior, India, the Rabbani Community Development Project incorporates community development, support for some 15-20 community learning centers, afforestation efforts, health programs and a farm demonstration project.
The New Era Development Institute, based in Panchgani, India, and closely associated with the New Era Bahá’í School, offers a variety of courses related to community development and Bahá’í studies, as well as rural development programs in agriculture, health, and women’s development. More than 60 adult literacy classes, partially funded by the government, are offered through the Institute to villages in the area.
The network of Bahá’í radio stations is also increasing its involvement in community education. The station broadcasting from Otavalo in Ecuador has well-developed community-service programs in agriculture, health and general culture, and Radio Bahá’í Caracollo in Bolivia has carried out an extensive collaborative health program with UNICEF. These radio stations, as well as those at Lake Titicaca in Peru; in South Carolina, in the United States; in Temuco, Chile; in Boca del Monte, Panama, and near Monrovia, Liberia, are all using their facilities to create a motivation for self-improvement and united action in their listeners.
4. Concepts and programs of five regional Bahá’í efforts in basic education[edit]
4.1 The Ruhi Institute
4.2 The Faizi Institute for Rural Women
4.3 The Regional Committee for Social and Economic Development in Kivu (CREDESE)
4.4 The Guaymi Cultural Center
4.5 Radio Bahá’í Ecuador
In order to convey not only the existence but also the vision and strategy of Bahá’í activities in basic education, concepts and programs of five regional efforts are presented.
The Ruhi Institute in Colombia demonstrates a systematic effort to develop curricula especially for youth, guiding them along a path of service. The Faizi Vocational Institute for Rural Women in India shows the importance attached to the education of women and the interconnection between moral education and income-generating skills. The Centers for Bahá’í Education in Zaire reveal the enabling process of a people as they undertake to become literate and tread the path of self-reliance. The Guaymi Cultural Center in Panama demonstrates the efforts of an indigenous group to restore the elements of their own culture and to mobilize themselves for their own welfare. Radio Bahá’í Ecuador illustrates the utility of modern communications media such as a radio station in the upliftment of a people.
4.1 The Ruhi Institute[edit]
The Ruhi Institute is an educational institution operating under the guidance of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Colombia, which dedicates its efforts to the development of human resources for the spiritual, social and cultural development of the Colombian people. Although its center is in the town of Puerto Tejada in the department of Cauca, its area of influence includes the majority of the rural areas of Colombia and is being gradually extended to several other countries in Latin America.
Concepts[edit]
Like any other institution involved in the process of education for development, the Ruhi Institute has formulated its strategies within a special framework and a philosophy of social change, development and education. In this case, that understanding has emerged from a consistent effort to apply Bahá’í principles to the analysis of the present social conditions:
1. The Bahá’í Faith sees the present
[Page 7]
state of human affairs as a natural
stage in an organic process that will
lead finally to the unity of the human
race within one social order. Humanity
as a whole has gone through evolutionary stages similar to those experienced
by an individual; having passed
through infancy and childhood, it is
now experiencing the difficult culminating moments of a turbulent adolescence. The present state of confusion,
doubt and belligerence is simply to be
understood as the condition of an adolescent who strongly desires growth
and maturity but is still attached to
childish attitudes and customs. Yet the
moment is ripe for this adolescent to
take a final step and enter the constructive and dynamic but balanced state of
maturity and adulthood.
2. In analyzing the rapid changes taking place in the world today, Bahá’ís identify two parallel processes operating at all levels—village, town, nation and global society. On the one hand, it is clear that human society is suffering from a process of disintegration that manifests itself in wars, terrorism, chaos, physical and psychological insecurity, and a widespread condition of material poverty. On the other hand, forces of integration are moving individuals and groups toward the adoption of new values, new forms of organization, and appropriate structures that can lay the foundation for the establishment of a new social order. The Ruhi Institute defines its basic aim as that of becoming a channel for the spiritual forces of our time to be applied to the lives of the masses of humanity, empowering them to contribute to the establishment of a new world order.
3. In its efforts to understand and contribute to a process of social change, the Ruhi Institute tries to avoid two sets of theories that have dominated the discourse on development and change for too many decades. On the one hand, it disagrees with concepts of social change that are entirely individualistic in their outlook, which analyze society only in terms of the psychological make-up, the skills, and the behavior of the individual, and which assume that social structures somehow will change by themselves once the individual is saved or correctly trained through religious conversion or secular education. On the other hand, it also rejects theories that consider the human being entirely as a product of society, and claim that no improvement is possible unless social structures, especially those related to political and economic power, are changed first. There are too many examples of participation by the “righteous” and the “highly trained” in the structures of oppression to allow any objective observer of social processes to accept proposals of change based entirely on the redemption of the individual without direct attention to social forces and structures. At the same time, history has already shown the evils of systems that deny individual freedom and derive their moral and social codes from a perception of the necessity for change in the structure of power, a change their proponents believe should be achieved at any cost.
The Ruhi Institute tries to understand the processes of the transformation of human society in terms of a far more complex set of interactions between two parallel developments; namely, the transformation of the individual, and the deliberate creation of the structures of a new society. Moreover, just as it does not view the human being as a mere product of interactions with nature and society, it does not identify structural change only with political and economic processes. Rather, it sees the necessity of change in all structures—mental, cultural, scientific and technological, educational, economic, and social—including a complete change in the very concepts of political leadership and power. It is understood that individuals, all of whom possess a more or less developed spiritual nature, may be illumined by divine teachings, even under the influence of the most oppressive social forces. These individuals, then, by no means perfected, try to walk the path of social transformation, a path which, nevertheless, is not one of individual salvation but one which implies a constant effort to create and strengthen the institutions of a new social order. These new institutions, even when designed perfectly, may not function perfectly at first, but they do make it possible for an increasing number of human beings to walk further the path of spiritual growth and transformation. This continuous interaction between the parallel processes of the spiritualization of the individual and the establishment of new social structures describes the only dependable path of social change, one that avoids both complacency and violence and does not perpetuate the cycles of oppression and illusory freedom that humanity has experienced in the past.
According to this vision of social change, the Ruhi Institute directs its present efforts to developing human resources within a set of activities that conduce to spiritual and intellectual growth but are carried out in the context of each individual’s contribution to the establishment of new structures—for now, mostly in villages and rural areas.
4. Yet another important element of the conceptual framework of the Ruhi Institute is the concept of participation. Although by now most programs concerned with development and change accept the importance of participation by the local community in its own path of development, and most try to avoid imposing their own projects and ideas, there usually is little clarity and agreement as to the nature, form and extent of this participation. The Ruhi Institute, following the ideas
[Page 8]
presented in the previous paragraphs,
asserts that effective participation
which will not easily degenerate into
political manipulation implies the existence of a systematic learning process
within each community and region so
that the community itself experiments
with new ideas, new methods, and new
technologies and procedures, rather
than being the object of the social experimentation of others. Thus, one of
the first steps in establishing participatory development processes in a region is to promote intensive participation by an increasing number of individuals in learning, in a constant effort
to apply knowledge to improve the
conditions of community life and to
create and strengthen the institutions
of a new world order.
5. Guided by universal participation, both as a principle and as a goal, the Ruhi Institute tries to design and carry out educational activities that combine learning in the classroom and personal study with acts of service in the community. Each educational activity is to be, in itself, an enabling experience that helps participants develop further the qualities, attitudes, capabilities and skills of a new type of social actor whose energies are entirely directed toward promoting the well-being of the community, and whose actions are inspired by the vision of a new world order that will embody in all its structures and processes the fundamental principle of the unity of the human race.
6. At the Ruhi Institute, the design and implementation of educational activities are always guided by a profound conviction in the basic nobility of the human being. The Bahá’í writings state:
Man is the Supreme Talisman. Lack of a proper education hath, however, deprived him of that which he doth inherently possess. Through a word proceeding out of the mouth of God he was called into being; by one word more he was guided to recognize the Source of his education; by yet another word his station and destiny were safeguarded. The Great Being saith: Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom.
Education, then, is not simply seen as the acquisition of knowledge and the development of skills, but also in terms of the development of vast and powerful potentialities inherent in the very nature of every human being. Again, the development of these potentialities and talents, which is considered a God-given right and responsibility of the individual, attains fruition when it is pursued in the spirit of service to humanity and in the context of creating a new world order.
Each participant in the programs of the Ruhi Institute acts as a student in certain educational activities, and as a tutor in others. The Institute, then, uses the term “collaborator” to refer to all who take part in its programs. Based on the conditions and the needs of the population served by the Institute, courses are designed along a series of “paths of service” which a collaborator follows according to personal interests and capacities. At the beginning of each path of service, collaborators mostly learn and develop new skills. Later on, they participate in courses that prepare them to act as tutors of the earlier courses, thus creating a unique and dynamic environment for the development of human resources. The courses that have been designed, or are in the process of being developed and tested, now fall along four paths of service, as shown in the following diagram:
The first path shown on the diagram, called “Basic Deepening,” is
followed by all collaborators at the Institute. Presently, the path is divided
into four levels, each comprising nine
courses. The courses are organized
around “acts of service” that begin
with simple activities such as visiting a
family to share and discuss a specific
idea or teaching a simple class for children which might consist of songs,
stories and memorization of instructive
quotations. The acts of service become
progressively more complex to include nurturing the development of village-level decision-making bodies and other community structures.
At each level, some of the nine courses are concerned with the development of relevant skills needed to carry out the acts of service. Others address spiritual and social topics, the understanding of which elevates the collaborator’s service from mere mechanical actions to meaningful and rewarding experiences. In this respect, the Ruhi Institute attaches great importance to the following quotation from the Bahá’í writings:
One righteous act is endowed with a potency that can so elevate the dust as to cause it to pass beyond the heaven of heavens. It can tear every bond asunder, and hath the power to restore the force that hath spent itself and vanished....
The next path, referred to as “Education of Children,” may be chosen by the collaborator who has already studied five courses of the first level, has gained practical experience by
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teaching simple children’s classes, and
wants to become proficient in the education of children in a more formal setting.
While continuing with the courses of the “Basic Deepening” path, the collaborator may now decide to advance along a series of courses that begin with the curriculum for a small village kindergarten and lead gradually to the possibility of managing a village “center of excellence” that offers occasional courses to various age groups within the community.
The Ruhi kindergarten curriculum has been fully elaborated. The next curriculum, now being designed and tested, is to be offered through “centers of excellence” to older children to enrich and supplement the reading, mathematics and science instruction they receive at public primary schools.
About 20 collaborators have advanced sufficiently along this path to be successfully operating community kindergartens in various parts of Colombia.
The next parallel path, “Community Development,” is designed to develop the collaborator’s capacities as a community development worker. Participants taking the courses on this path progressively learn to promote group action in communities, especially among youth of various age groups. They also learn to promote special activities among women and to serve as resource persons for the kindergartens. In addition, they act to support and assist village-level decision-making bodies in their projects for the material and spiritual development of the community.
Participants in these courses are often young people from the villages and towns in Colombia who offer a year of service to the Ruhi Institute, living there and performing the corresponding acts of service in nearby communities, under the supervision of more experienced collaborators.
The next path, “General Studies,” is offered in conjunction with an institution named Fundación para la Aplicación y Enseñanza de las Ciencias (FUNDAEC) which, though not directly related to the Bahá’í Faith, shares many views and principles in common with it. FUNDAEC has developed an innovative educational program that includes a set of textbooks covering the entire secondary school level. The Ruhi Institute offers some of these courses on a tutorial basis to some of its collaborators who wish to complement their studies.
To illustrate the program described above, it may be useful to relate the experience of one young collaborator at the Institute, a woman who comes from a small town in the north coast region of Colombia. She began her association with the Ruhi Institute at the age of 16 when she enrolled in a two-week seminar offered in the north coast and completed the first five courses of level one, “Basic Deepening.” Following the seminar, she went on to complete more courses along the path, and soon afterward established a bi-weekly children’s class in a village near the city of Cartagena, where she was attending high school. She was helped in this work by the Bahá’í regional committee of the north coast, as well as by other collaborators of the Ruhi Institute in that area.
Over the next two years, she took part in various conferences and community development activities and continued with courses on the “Basic Deepening” path including some at the second level. After finishing high school, she decided to offer a year of service and has been at the Ruhi Institute since January 1988. During this time she has taken a one-month course for kindergarten teachers and has taken part in the courses and the practices of the “Community Development” path of service and learning. She has successfully started and guided two youth groups in a village near the Ruhi Institute and helped them in their studies and acts of service. She is now learning to serve as an adviser to another youth who has started a kindergarten, and also plans to help a group of women with their projects in another village.
When she finishes her year of service, she hopes to return to the north coast, establish herself in a small town, start a kindergarten with support from the local and regional Bahá’í committees, and help the development of nearby communities.
4.2 The Faizi Vocational Institute for Rural Women[edit]
The Faizi Vocational Institute for Rural Women seeks to create conditions for positive social change while teaching income-generating skills to women of the tribal areas of southwestern Madhya Pradesh State. It is guided and supported by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of India and also receives funding for its programs from the State of Madhya Pradesh and the government of India. The Institute provides a residential learning environment in which rural women can develop their spiritual and intellectual capacities and learn useful crafts.
Concepts[edit]
The Faizi Vocational Institute for Rural Women shares the basic concepts of social change and development which have been explained in the section on the Ruhi Institute. These include a perception that the world is in a stage of transition to a more stable, cooperative and mature condition and that development happens through parallel, complementary processes of individual transformation and the creation of new social structures. At the Faizi Institute, as at Ruhi, participation, service and expression of the inherent nobility of human nature are at the same time goals and strategies for development. In addition to these ideas, the Faizi Institute bases its activities on several other guiding principles:
1. The Bahá’í Faith considers that the advancement of women is essential for social progress and that the capacity of humanity is limited when women are not able to develop fully. The Faizi Institute believes that women who gain a sense of their innate abilities can reshape tribal societies as they bring up their children and play an economic role in the community. It is stated in the Bahá’í writings that:
Woman’s lack of progress and proficiency has been due to her need of equal education and opportunity. Had she been allowed this equality, there is no doubt she would be the counterpart of man in ability and capacity. The happiness of mankind will be realized when women and men coordinate and advance equally, for each is the complement and helpmeet of the other.
Promoting the equality of the sexes is considered to be the task of both men and women, and one that can be achieved fully only if the goal is shared
[Page 10]
by everyone. One aspect of the Institute’s recruitment program is an effort
to foster in male family members a desire for women’s advancement.
2. Economic development and moral development are viewed as complementary and highly integrated activities. Income-generating skills can best be learned and used in a context of human dignity and honor, of trustworthiness and mutual support; hence, these values are emphasized in the Institute’s program. In turn, the women’s feelings of purposefulness and self-worth increase as they gain the ability to earn an income.
The achievement of social well-being requires both economic and spiritual approaches. Neither the materialist’s view, which emphasizes concrete, measurable advances and considers spiritual concerns irrelevant or inappropriate in the development context, nor the mystical view of reality, which exalts material poverty, is useful for the tribal people the Institute serves. The conscientious integration of economic and moral development is especially critical in a vocational institution, as crafts training programs have often failed through corruption and a lack of trust.
3. The Institute considers that exemplary actions by individuals are an important and far-reaching source of social change. The value of a model in stimulating development has been universally acknowledged; people who see an efficient means of water supply and useful technologies in a neighboring village are motivated to acquire the same things for their own village. The value of an individual example, however, is that it helps people become aware of new possibilities within themselves. In this sense, village women who have attended the Institute make a valuable contribution to their communities as they overcome the social barriers to progress, such as a sense of hopelessness and inferiority, strict intertribal taboos, and universal discrimination against girls. The Institute values the influence of personal morality and seeks consciously to cultivate it in both staff and trainees.
Programs[edit]
The Faizi Vocational Institute for Rural Women offers courses at the Institute’s main facility in Indore, and also in the villages of Jhabua and Kalyanpura. Trainees are identified through the cooperative efforts of Bahá’í communities, women who are graduates of the Institute, and government functionaries, as each trainee must be proven to be below the poverty level according to local administrative records. Potential trainees are identified through a series of visits and meetings in the villages. Drama is used to attract and involve villagers. Discussions of the needs, problems and interests of the village people are the initial focus of the meetings. In later meetings, the programs at the Institute are explained.
Residential programs at the Institute last from two weeks to four months. Each course includes learning income-generating skills, health and hygiene education, service, and spiritual and moral education. Literate trainees tutor the illiterate ones so that everyone leaves the course feeling that they are equally educated. Informal discussions each day stimulate self-expression and awaken women to world development and the establishment of peace, and to scientific thought. Useful village technologies, such as a fuel-efficient smokeless stove, are also introduced.
Income-generating skills taught at the Institute include weaving, machine-knitting, candle- and chalk-making, beadwork and other crafts. Each trainee learns the skills that are best suited to her abilities and interests. Efforts are made to help graduates market their products independently, but for some crafts, raw materials are still supplied and finished products marketed by the Institute.
The Institute does not measure its success only in the ability of its graduates to generate an income for themselves, but also in the emergence of a new consciousness of unity and human solidarity that the program seeks to foster in its participants. Women of tribes who do not normally associate with one another live and work together at the Institute. Initial reluctance to overcome untouchability taboos breaks down during the period of training, and caste prejudices are replaced by an ability to treat one another as human beings. The staff of the Institute consider this to be one of their most important contributions to the region.
4.3 The Regional Committee for Social and Economic Development in Kivu (CREDESE)[edit]
In the Kivu region of northeastern Zaire, the activities of a large number of local Bahá’í councils are supported by the Regional Committee for Social and Economic Development. With the encouragement, training and organizational and technical assistance offered by CREDESE, at least 10,000 inhabitants of Kivu are gradually extending their capacity to uplift and transform their communities.
Concepts[edit]
1. CREDESE recognizes that successful community development requires a united community; that development takes place when people feel responsible for the welfare of their neighborhood or village, trust one another, and share a commitment to work together for its betterment. To support this inner foundation of social progress, CREDESE offers assistance only when it sees evidence of unity, self-reliance, strength, and a will and capacity for joint endeavor. Practical activities, such as establishing a learning center, are considered to be the fruit of a subtle process of developing a community will and consciousness. CREDESE works with other Bahá’í institutions to nurture communities to a condition of enthusiasm and awareness of their own capacity; once this is definitely established, communities are invited to take part in the training and other programs offered by CREDESE.
2. Another concept that shapes the work of the Committee for Social and Economic Development is the value of self-sacrifice. Social progress is considered to depend on a willingness to sacrifice one’s own interests for the benefit of the community, an attitude which is fostered by religious faith. Establishing a pattern of altruism and selflessness is seen to be a long-term contribution to the region, even though it might seem to limit the number of learning centers.
3. CREDESE tries to develop a pattern of people learning from one another, in its teacher training program, in the curricula of the learning centers, and in its other activities. Everyone has ideas to contribute in a literacy class or in a discussion of a community problem, and teachers help people learn to express themselves confidently.
4. Another aspect of the community
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learning centers that are assisted by
CREDESE is the belief that learning
should be carried into action. Literacy
and other skills are not useful by themselves, but as means of understanding
and improving people’s lives. Volunteer teachers are taught to incorporate
local challenges and needs into lessons,
so that students discuss individual and
community goals, hygiene, a balanced
diet, and other issues while learning to
read.
Programs[edit]
Training teachers for community learning centers and providing support and encouragement to those learning centers is a major focus of CREDESE’s activity. One hundred-two learning centers were reported in October 1987. According to the most recent reports, there are 2,500 participants. Women and girls comprise 73 percent of the learners, and 27 percent are not Bahá’ís.
CREDESE does not actively solicit local Bahá’í councils to establish learning centers; it waits for the local councils to choose this action and demonstrate the determination and ability to complete it. A local community that clearly wants to establish a learning center and is united in this ambition, that is already conducting regular activities and showing patterns of mutual support, is allowed to send people to the teacher training program. Trainees must represent a local community, must promise to teach as volunteers, and their community must provide the means for their support during training.
The training program is mobile: the teacher-trainers travel to the rural areas, and the training session for a cluster of communities is hosted by one local Bahá’í council. This is far less expensive than bringing the trainees into the town of Bukavu, and it also gives responsibility for making the physical arrangements to a local Bahá’í council rather than to CREDESE staff in the town. Two-week training sessions, held at intervals, have been found to be effective.
Consultation is a primary method of instruction, in both teacher-training and the learning centers, as adult learners know many things that the teacher does not know. This method helps teachers and learners understand each other better, and creates unity among them.
Community learning centers in the Kivu region have stimulated other endeavors. Several communities have built local meeting halls in order to have a place to hold classes. The local council of Kaniola has propagated and distributed seeds of improved crop varieties to 57 other local councils; foods with higher protein content than the traditional manioc are also being adopted in some communities. Several local councils have joined together to rebuild and manage unused health centers, to build latrines in the region’s markets, and to improve water supply through building water catchments. Cooperative income-generating activities are also common.
4.4. The Guaymi Cultural Center[edit]
The Guaymi Cultural Center promotes the education of the Guaymi Indians of Panama and seeks to recuperate and strengthen their culture. Located in Boca de Soloy and Boca del Monte and extending to other localities, the complex includes a training institute, a radio station, a facility for culture and folklore festivals, and outreach activities in approximately 50 communities. The Cultural Center’s activities are mainly conducted by the Guaymi people. The idea for the Center was born in a series of intensive consultations among Guaymi Bahá’ís in 1982, and it has been established through their systematic implementation of that vision, with collaboration from their Panamanian Bahá’í compatriots.
The development strategies of the Guaymi Center are similar to those elaborated in the three programs cited above. A distinguishing feature of the Cultural Center is that education for service to others is seen as a means for the empowerment of an indigenous people.
Concepts[edit]
1. The fundamental concept motivating the Guaymi Cultural Center is that an indigenous people can use education to take their future into their own hands. Cultivating a unified vision of their destiny as a people, becoming literate, providing for the education of their children, transmitting and affirming their cultural heritage in language, dance, music and art—all are means by which the Guaymi people are rising above the recent historical circumstances of their lives. Through education, the potential that is latent in the people becomes manifest; through the acquisition of knowledge, the people are enabled to create new possibilities for themselves.
The work of the Cultural Center is reversing a period of cultural decline that has seen the Guaymi language and traditions gradually being forgotten, but the Guaymis do not follow this new path only for their own benefit. They believe that their actions can provide a valuable model to non-Indian society. This vision of the destiny of indigenous peoples is expressed in the Bahá’í writings:
Attach great importance to the indigenous population of America....these Indians, should they be educated and guided, there can be no doubt that they will become so illumined as to enlighten the whole world.
2. To achieve the goal of developing a progressive Guaymi culture, it is understood that the revival of the Guaymi language and cultural traditions is not in itself sufficient. Following their vision of the role of indigenous people in rehabilitating human society, the Guaymis are trying to create a new culture that will enable them to advance as a people and to help others. Thus, they are incorporating into their plans elements of other cultures which are useful to them, such as schools, a radio station and a number of other technologies. They are also eliminating certain aspects of their traditional culture which they have determined are not conducive to progress, such as assigning an inferior position to women.
3. Another fundamental concept is the belief that the unity of the Guaymi people is a source of strength and a cause of their progress. The evolution of a common vision of the destiny of the Guaymi people, involving greater and greater numbers in this discourse, is one purpose of the Cultural Center. The goal of this endeavor is the collective education of a people, which complements and enables the education of individuals.
Programs[edit]
Training programs enable people to follow a path of service as members of regional and local councils, as teachers, and as community helpers. Some
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of these training programs, which have
been held for more than five years, are
actually adapted from the programs
offered by the Ruhi Institute. As a result of a regular and consistent training
process, almost all teachers, administrators, community workers and radio
staff are Guaymis. Nine community
learning centers are now functioning in
the area, taught by individuals who
were trained at the Center. Regional
and local affairs are also managed by
men and women who received training
for service at the Center.
Family education programs, which bring family units together to learn about child development, science, health, nutrition and agriculture, as well as spiritual and moral topics, are regular programs of the Institute which constitute an essential component of the total complex.
Radio, which has been seen as a high-technology instrument of cultural domination, has been transformed by the Guaymis into a means of affirming and strengthening their culture. The radio station, broadcasting at 1 kw from Boca del Monte, with feed-in from the substation at Boca de Soloy, serves as a voice for the people. It reinforces literacy and child education programs in the learning centers, and broadcasts news, folklore, legends and music in the Guaymi language.
Decisions about the establishment and progress of the Cultural Center have been the product of many months of serious and intense consultation. Hundreds of people have gathered from the entire Guaymi region to contribute to these discussions. Native councils, which seek to involve all the people in the area in consultation about their collective destiny, are held periodically. Folklore festivals bring people together and reinforce cultural traditions. Special festivals for children transmit cultural knowledge and skills to a new generation.
4.5 Radio Bahá’í Ecuador[edit]
Radio Bahá’í Ecuador broadcasts in Quechua and Spanish on medium wave and shortwave from Otavalo in the highlands of Ecuador. Serving primarily the indigenous Quechua communities in the area, the goals of the station are to promote education, the delivery of social services, and the dissemination of basic development information; to promote and maintain the traditional culture of the people, and 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.
Concepts[edit]
At Radio Bahá’í, radio technology and the methodology of participatory media are seen as highly effective means to achieve the goals for developmental education described in the previous case studies. The following concepts have been especially important in the evolution of Radio Bahá’í:
1. Recognizing the deep and pervasive effects of ethnic prejudice on economic and social life, Radio Bahá’í has sought to restore a sense of confidence and dignity regarding Quechua culture. The elimination of prejudice and its effects has been a goal and strategy in the work of Radio Bahá’í. The station has consistently presented a model of the Quechua community to counteract the subtle perceptions that seek to limit the capacity of indigenous people.
2. The preservation and promotion of indigenous culture is considered by Radio Bahá’í to be vital not only for the well-being of indigenous peoples, but also for the country as a whole. By supporting traditional art forms and emphasizing Andean music and the Quechua language, Radio Bahá’í lends stability and force to elements of culture that have been in decline. This is seen to be a significant contribution to the area; it also enhances the impact of the educational and developmental programming of the station.
3. Radio Bahá’í considers participation of the community as essential for its success as a communication medium. It seeks to make itself accessible to the community it serves, and actively solicits the participation of the people of the Otavalo area.
Programs[edit]
Radio Bahá’í broadcasts at least half of its programs in Quechua, the first Ecuadorian radio station to do so. The staff of the station are almost all drawn from the immediate area around Otavalo; many are Quechuans. All of the staff, women and men, literate and illiterate, are trained to use all of the station’s equipment, and to prepare their own programs.
A high percentage of the programming of Radio Bahá’í is music. Traditional Andean music predominates. Some of the music is obtained from recordings of the station’s annual festivals of traditional music, “Nucanchic Tono” (Our Music). This festival is now one of the largest festivals of indigenous music in all of South America. An annual children’s cultural festival organized by Radio Bahá’í, “Guaguamantag Guaguapag” (By the Children for the Children), develops an appreciation of the various Ecuadorian cultures among school children. Special events such as sports competitions are frequently sponsored.
News programs on Radio Bahá’í are designed to enable villagers to communicate important local events to one another. A typical local news program will include items about lost children, lost identification papers, lost livestock, community dances, and community work parties; more than 2,000 such personal messages are brought to the station each year. The news program serves many of the communication needs of the audience, and, because of its popularity, functions as an effective vehicle for the dissemination of development-oriented messages.
One of the most successful programs produced by Radio Bahá’í was “Tarpupac Yuyay” (The Thought of the Farmer), whose goal was to express the needs of the mountain farmers and herdsmen, and to provide answers to those needs. The project staff visited villages in the area and invited people to talk about their concerns, and their comments were tape-recorded. Farmers from a number of communities were thus able to share their ideas with one another. Two of the project staff, a village woman and an elderly farmer, moderated the discussions as they were taped in the villages and introduced the edited program when it was broadcast, incorporating answers supplied by agricultural extension experts.
Other programs of Radio Bahá’í promote the role of women in community life and the education of children. Another popular program, “Tulpa Muyundi” (Around the Hearth), deals with the home. In addition to information on environmental health, personal hygiene, nutrition and other topics, the program includes music and segments recorded in the villages.
Alaska[edit]
‘Who can buy or sell the sky, the land?’[edit]
In 1854 the Great White Chief in Washington made an offer for a large area of Indian land and promised a “Reservation” for the Indian people. Chief Seattle’s reply, published here in full, has been described as the most beautiful and profound statement on the environment ever made.
Who can buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us.
If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?
Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people. The sap which courses through the trees carries the memories of the red man.
The white man’s dead forget the country of their birth when they go to walk among the stars. Our dead never forget this beautiful earth, for it is the mother of the red man. We are part of the earth and it is part of us. The perfumed flowers are our sisters; the deer, the horse, the great eagle, these are our brothers. The rocky crests, the juices in the meadows, the body heat of the pony, and man—all belong to the same family.
So when the Great Chief in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land, he asks much of us. The Great Chief sends word he will reserve us a place so that we can live comfortably to ourselves. He will be our father and we will be his children. So we will consider your offer to buy our land. But it will not be easy. For this land is sacred to us.
| This article on the great Chief Seattle is reprinted from Alaska Bahá’í News, No. 328 (July 1988). |
The shining water that moves in the streams and rivers is not just water but the blood of our ancestors. If we sell you land, you must remember that it is sacred and that each ghostly reflection in the clear water of the lakes tells of events and memories in the life of my people. The water’s murmur is the voice of my father’s father.
The rivers are our brothers, they quench our thirst. The rivers carry our canoes, and feed our children. If we sell you our land, you must remember, and teach your children, that the rivers are our brothers, and yours, and you must henceforth give the rivers the kindness you would give any brother.
We know that the white man does not understand our ways. One part of the land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The earth is not his brother, but his enemy, and when he has conquered it, he moves on. He leaves his father’s grave, and his children’s birthright is forgotten. He treats his mother, the earth, and his brother, the sky, as things to be bought, plundered, sold like sheep or bright beads. His appetite will devour the earth and leave behind only a desert.
I do not know. Our ways are different from your ways. The sight of your cities pains the eyes of the red man. But perhaps it is because the red man is a savage and does not understand.
There is no quiet place in the white man’s cities. No place to hear the unfurling of leaves in spring, or the rustle of an insect’s wings. But perhaps it is because I am a savage and do not understand. The clatter seems only to insult the ears. And what is there to life if a man cannot hear the lonely cry of the whippoorwill or the arguments of the frogs around a pond at night? I am a red man and do not understand. The Indian prefers the soft sound of the wind darting over the face of a pond, and the smell of the wind itself, cleansed by a midday rain, or scented with the piñon pine.
The air is precious to the red man, for all things share the same breath—the beast, the tree, the man, they all share the same breath. The white man does not seem to notice the air he breathes. Like a man dying for many days, he is numb to the stench. But if we sell you our land, you must remember that the air is precious to us, that the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports. The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also receives his last sigh. And if we sell you our land, you must keep it apart and sacred, as a place where even the white man can go to taste the wind that is sweetened by the meadow’s flowers.
So we will consider your offer to buy our land. If we decide to accept, I will make one condition: the white man must treat the beasts of this land as his brothers.
I am a savage and I do not understand any other way. I have seen a thousand rotting buffaloes on the prairie, left by the white man who shot them from a passing train. I am a savage and I do not understand how the smoking iron horse can be more important than the buffalo that we kill only to stay alive.
You must teach your children that the ground beneath their feet is the ashes of our grandfathers. So that they will respect the land, tell your children that the earth is rich with the lives of our kin. Teach your children what we have taught our children, that the earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves.
The world[edit]
Queen praises Lesotho Bahá’ís on peace[edit]
| Brilliant Star from afar!
Brilliant Star presents Bahá’í teachings, history and belief through art, stories, song and poetry. It has a readership of children who live all across the world. Many Bahá’í children in Africa and Asia learn English in school, but few have many books or magazines to call their own. And finding American dollars to purchase a magazine subscription is almost impossible. Bahá’ís in the U.S. who want to obtain gift subscriptions to Brilliant Star for Bahá’í schools, teachers or libraries are connected by Bahá’í Subscriber Service from lists sent by National Spiritual Assemblies around the world. At the top of the current list are 10 regional libraries in Zaire whose National Spiritual Assembly writes: “We were most interested in your offer of (gift) issues of Brilliant Star and after having reviewed this magazine we feel that it can be of valuable use to our community.” A one-year overseas subscription to Brilliant Star is $15 ($28 for two years). You can send your gift subscription to Subscriber Service, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, or phone 312-869-9039 for more information. |
About 75 people attended an award ceremony last June 25 honoring the winners of an essay contest for high school students co-sponsored by the Bahá’í community of Lesotho and the Lesotho Alliance of Women, both of whom received the United Nations’ “Peace Messenger” award for their work during the International Year of Peace, 1986.
The contest theme was “What Peace Means to Me.”
Queen ‘Mamohato of Lesotho spoke to those at the ceremony, praising the Bahá’ís for their contributions to world peace, mentioning Bahá’u’lláh by name, and quoting from “The Promise of World Peace.”
The Maseru Bahá’í children’s class then performed a play about barriers to peace, based on the peace statement. Their original song, “We Want Peace,” was well-received, and an encore was requested following the ceremony.
The children presented special necklaces made from origami “peace cranes” to Her Majesty the Queen and to the top three prize-winners.
They also presented bookmarks to each guest at the event. Each was decorated with one of the paper peace cranes and included a quotation from the Writings: “When a thought of war comes oppose it by a stronger thought of peace. A thought of hatred must be destroyed by a more powerful thought of love.”
The event was covered in detail on Radio Lesotho and on the front page of the national English-language newspaper.
Zambia[edit]
Zambia’s head of state, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, accepts a copy of ‘The Promise of World Peace’ from a member of the Spiritual Assembly of Ndola during an International Trade Fair held recently in that city.
New Zealand[edit]
The Hon. Russell Marshall, New Zealand’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, convened a meeting on human rights last June 29 in Wellington to which were invited representatives from about 35 organizations including the Bahá’í Faith.
After expresssing her appreciation for the meeting, the Bahá’í representative spoke about the need to raise human rights issues to the level of principle.
The meeting further enhanced the government’s awareness of the broad commitment of Bahá’ís to human rights and helped foster good relations with like-minded groups.
Others at the meeting included four members of Parliament, two representatives from the United Nations and Commonwealth divisions of Foreign Affairs, and the deputy secretary for Foreign Affairs.
Thailand[edit]
Pictured are some of the Bahá’ís in Thailand’s Site 2 North refugee camp who dressed in t-shirts and other colorful garments to celebrate the Chinese new year. They made a dragon and visited people’s homes and the Chinese Association office in the Site 2 South camp.
India[edit]
Representatives from 13 State Bahá’í Councils and one State Teaching Committee gathered last August 29 in Lucknow, India, for an “emotion-filled” national conference.
All four Counsellors resident in India as well as eight members of the National Spiritual Assembly and 17 Auxiliary Board members were among the 98 people taking part in the conference, which was hosted by the Spiritual Assembly of Lucknow with help from the State Bahá’í Council of Uttar Pradesh.
An appeal was made by the National Assembly that more State Bahá’í Councils in India become financially self-sufficient. The response was a pledge by five Councils to provide for their own budgetary needs.
Now, in addition to the self-sufficient states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Orissa and Gujarat, the States of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana have declared themselves financially independent of the National Assembly.
The State Bahá’í Council of India’s Madhya Pradesh State informed the National Spiritual Assembly in September that a mass teaching project in the Morena district had led to the enrollment of 10,000 new believers, the majority of whom are from the educated population such as doctors, engineers and school teachers.
Helping to carry out an extension teaching goal of the Bahá’í House of Worship in India, Mr. Gopi, a guide at the Temple, undertook a teaching trip last September to Kerala.
The 86 enrollments that resulted were especially significant in that half of that number were women, among whom were seven tourists from the Lakshadweep Islands, a territory off the southwestern coast of India comprised of 20 islands which had not yet been opened to the Faith.
Venezuela[edit]
One hundred-twenty people were enrolled in the Faith in Coro, Venezuela, the capital of Falcon State, during the first two days of a 20-day teaching campaign begun last August in response to the Riḍván message from the Universal House of Justice.
Bophuthatswana[edit]
The planning and execution of an intensive teaching campaign in Lefaragatlhe village in the Phokeng region of Bophuthatswana was managed entirely by the local Bahá’ís and is self-supporting.
So far, seven people have embraced the Faith and a “reawakening” is taking place among many Bahá’ís who have not taken an active part in the community in recent years.
The campaign was a result of consultation at a meeting last summer among Counsellor Lucretia Mancho Warren, the National Spiritual Assembly of Bophuthatswana, Auxiliary Board members, and the National Teaching Committee.
It was decided to make “entry by troops” the goal of the country’s teaching efforts, and four regions were chosen as target areas.
Phokeng, which has the largest Bahá’í population in Bophuthatswana, accepted the challenge and set about organizing the teaching campaign in its region.
As news of the campaign spread, Bahá’ís from many parts of the country came to pick up new ideas and relay them to their home communities.
Australia[edit]
The Bahá’í Faith has been chosen as one of the religions to be permanently represented in a new multi-faith resource center in Melbourne, Australia.
The Bahá’ís of Melbourne have supported the center for the past two and one-half years, and were recently instrumental in drawing up a constitution to legally incorporate and register the center.
Based on a model set up by a Roman Catholic nun, Sister Mary Hall of Birmingham, England, the center is supported by a grant from the Office of Multi-Cultural Affairs of the Department of the Prime Minister.
Its aims include promoting an awareness and understanding of the religious communities within Australia, and reporting to the government strategies and options for promoting inter-faith understanding.
Eight faiths are presently represented: Aboriginal (Koori), Bahá’í, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh.
The Minister of Education in New South Wales has approved a request by the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia to offer special religious instruction in schools within that state.
A notice of the decision was published last June 9 in the Education Gazette.
The Bahá’ís of Wodonga, Victoria, Australia, planned a “Discover Bahá’í Day” at the local Continuing Education Center. The one-day course in the Faith was arranged at the request of the Center and was advertised in the newspaper, in schools and on notice boards.
Despite the fact that only two people wished to enroll, the course was held anyway. Within 18 months, both of those people had enrolled in the Faith.
Panama[edit]
Students taking part in a drawing contest sponsored by Radio Bahá’í of Panama to commemorate the International Day of Peace work at their desks at a school in Chiriqui Province. This competition, along with another for painting, was conducted in all the schools in Chiriqui and has been added to the athletics competition this year as another event with which to celebrate the International Day of Peace.
On June 12, the 40th anniversary of the World Health Organization (WHO) was commemorated at the Guaymi Cultural Centre in Soloy, Panama.
The theme of the Bahá’í-sponsored day-long event was health, focusing specifically on nutrition and preventive medicine.
An article about the event appeared June 26 in La Estrella de Panama.
International Community[edit]
The Bahá’í International Community took part last September 21 in a round table conference entitled “Together for Peace: An NGO Agenda for the Future” which was held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Bahá’í representative, Giovanni Ballerio, contributed ideas from the peace statement that were well-received.
That same day, at a ceremony commemorating the International Year of Peace, certificates were presented to the 1988 winners of the “Peace Messenger Award” which recognizes the contributions of organizations to the promotion of international peace.
Among those receiving the award was the Bahá’í community of Belgium. The award was accepted on its behalf by Mr. Ballerio.
Philippines[edit]
A teaching campaign begun last July among the Negritos tribes on the island of Guimaras in the Philippines has resulted in the enrollment of a chief, his wife, and 15 other members of the Aetas tribal group.
The ongoing campaign was planned by the Spiritual Assembly of Iloilo on the neighboring island of Pana, with help from the National Teaching Committee.
The four-member teaching team is supported by other Bahá’ís from Iloilo who visit Guimaras on a rotating basis.
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Philippines has established six radio programs, thus achieving an important goal of the national community.
The programs, ranging in length from 30-45 minutes, are broadcast weekly to several areas of the country.
Fiji[edit]
Counsellors Violette Haake and Tinai Hancock of Australasia, representing the Bahá’í International Community, and 14 other Bahá’í women from 11 Pacific islands attended the fourth South Pacific Commission Women’s Affairs Conference last September 17-23 in Suva, Fiji.
“For the first time,” Counsellor Hancock reported, “Pacific Bahá’í women, each appointed by her National Spiritual Assembly, participated officially as representatives of their Bahá’í communities in a Pacific regional conference.”
Counsellor Hancock was the only Bahá’í representative at the three previous conferences, attending on behalf of the BIC’s South Pacific Commission.
Other official delegates to the conference were Pacific Island women representing governmental and non-governmental organizations. Nineteen Pacific countries were represented by 36 delegates.
Malaysia[edit]
A seminar entitled “Toward a Safer Society,” held last June 4-5 in Malaysia, was organized by the National Bahá’í Women’s Committee and Family Life Committee.
The seminar, aimed at increasing the awareness of problems of violence against women and children, drew praise from the National Council of Women’s Organizations which hailed the Bahá’í Women’s Committee as its most effective affiliate.
Ten new local Spiritual Assemblies have recently been formed in West Malaysia, raising the total number to 83.
These successes are a result of the inspiration of the Universal House of Justice’s Riḍván message which was read at a meeting last August of the West Malaysian National Committees, State Teaching Committees, and local Spiritual Assemblies.
A number of new localities have been opened to the Faith recently in the Song district of Sarawak, East Malaysia.
One hundred-fifty people have been enrolled and six new local Spiritual Assemblies have been elected.
Grenada[edit]
Pictured are many of the 62 Bahá’ís who took part in the second Regional Youth Conference for the Caribbean last August 12-14 in Grenada. Consultation centered on the progress of youth activities in the Caribbean, future plans, and reports from the 24 members of the “Sparks for Peace” youth teaching project.
Four young Bahá’ís, part of the Mona
Teaching Project in Grenada, met recently with the country’s governor-general (center) after presenting him
with 10 copies of the peace statement for his office. Fifty Bahá’ís from 19
islands took part in the Mona project,
the second inter-Caribbean Bahá’í
Youth Campaign, last July and August.
Haiti[edit]
In a cable dated September 29, the National Spiritual Assembly of Haiti “joyously” announced the results of the first phase of its summer teaching campaign.
Included was the news that 2,371 adults, youth and children had declared their faith in Bahá’u’lláh.
The second phase was to emphasize consolidation of the new believers with an eight-day deepening institute planned for new Bahá’ís.
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