Bahá’í World/Volume 13/Bahá’í Youth Activities

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5. BAHA’I YOUTH ACTIVITIES

April 1954 — April 1963

THERE does not exist in the Bahá’í community that gulf which so tragically divides youth from their elders in so many parts of the world in these days. Bahá’í youth play a vigorous role in many varied fields of the work of the Faith, most especially, perhaps, as pioneers and teachers, working hand in hand with their elders. Thus this survey, concerned as it is with those activities conducted specifically by or on behalf of the children and youth in the Bahá’í community must be seen as only one facet of the great part that young people are playing, and always have played, in the life of the Bahá’í world.

Guided and co-ordinated by their own Youth Committees, young Bahá’ís have been working together to develop the qualities of purity and devotion, courage and compassion, universality and justice which enable them to grow as true Bahá’ís in character. In local gatherings and conferences, at summer and winter schools, both formally and informally, in all parts of the world, they deepen themselves in their knowledge and understanding of the Teachings, equipping themselves spiritually to shoulder the responsibilities which inevitably rest upon them as they grow older.

It is not possible to give an exhaustive account of all the activities of Bahá’í youth in every country during the last nine years, but the following reports will give some idea of the nature and universality of the work that has been going on.

ASIA

Turkey The Bahá’í Youth Committee of Turkey, first founded in 1958, has concentrated on assisting the activities of six local youth committees and in preparing translations of selected writings of special concern to the ninety-one Bahá’í youth reported in 1963. Constant contactjs kept with the youth groups in Turkey through letters and visits.

‘Irdq A monthly bulletin was issued in 1956. On February 12, 1958 a successful Youth Symposium was held.

irdn Owing to the large number of Bahá’ís in Iran, and therefore the number of youth, the activities of the young believers are very varied indeed.

In the year 1961 there were two hundred and twenty-four Youth Committees, and over a hundred and eighty teaching conferences were held.

Regular and well-organized classes and programs are held to deepen the Bahá’í youth in their knowledge of the Faith and in their commitment to the Bahá’í way of life, and to encourage and assist them to spread its message.

The Persian Bahá’í youth have scattered all over the world as pioneers, many combining service to the Faith with the completion of their education.

In Iran itself they have not only pioneered and taught with enthusiasm—in one year three hundred and twelve youth travelled as teachers to different parts of the country—they have also established sixteen classes for literacy, have been responsible for the running of one hundred and nineteen libraries, have worked to improve the health of young people, and, in 1961, helped with relief work in the Qazvin earthquake.

India, Pa'kista'n and Burma Annual Reports issued by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís for these countries tell of Bahá’í World Youth Day Observances in Bombay, Calcutta, New Delhi, HyderabadSind, Nasik, Poona, Panchgani, Rangoon and Sholapur. Regular weekly children’s classes are also reported held in Bombay, Chittagong, Gwalior, Karachi, Poona, Panchgani, Quetta, Rawalpindi and Sholapur. The report from Quetta said: “A remarkable progress of the youth in this center is worth mentioning. They discharge their duties with zeal.” At Kanpur, the Bahá’í Message was delivered to students in colleges. From

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Bahá’í Youth Group of Karachi, Pakistan.

Gwalior it is reported that “on several occasions public lectures were delivered in colleges.” There were youth participants in the three summer schools held in this region in 1955: October 24—31 in Gwalior, India; September 23—October 2 in Quetta, Pakistan; and October 25—31 in Rangoon, Burma.

The Bahá’í youth of India, Pakistan and Burma held a National Youth Conference in connection with the Bahá’í summer school in Calcutta in October 1956. Delegates attended from youth committees of Bombay, New Delhi, Kanpur, Secunderabad, Calcutta and Kamarhatti. The role of youth in pioneering on the homefront and in the Ten Year Crusade was discussed.

In India another summer school was held October 22—30, 1957 in the former Maharaja’s Palace in Gwalior. About fifty-five boys and girls from different parts of India and from different religious backgrounds came together “to expand their knowledge of the Faith and try to practice the Teachings in every walk of life, wherever they may be.” The youth had five courses of study a day, and not an evening passed without public lectures, lectures in town, or paying visits to sympathizers. Later in the evening the youth had games, music, songs, jokes and acting for entertainment. “The residents of the Palace used to roar with laughter, and many outsiders used to join us. All of a sudden our principal would, in the midst of the fun

and gaiety, switch to some intellectual questions and answers of the Bahá’í Cause and discussion would follow, everyone being in the mood to have something to say.” Toward the end of the school, a teaching conference was held with serious discussion of the problems of preparing to pioneer. An unusual feature was the holding of a symposium of speakers from various colleges, only a few of whom were Bahá’ís, and asking impartial judges to select winners of the speech contest.

A winter school was held in December 1957, in central India, to supplement the summer school. The National Youth Committee secretary reported that “Bahá’í youth at Delhi, Bombay, Sholapur, Panchgani, Poona and some other places are holding study groups, fireside gatherings, and social gatherings from time to time.”

The National Youth Committee of India publishes a magazine called Torch which is devoted to Bahá’í youth activities in that country.

The National Youth Committee of Pakistan reported that following the visit of Hand of the Cause Leroy Ioas to Karachi, Pakistan, on October 6, 1958, three new local Youth Committees were formed, bringing the total to six for Pakistan. These Youth Committees have participated in holding study classes throughout the year and assisting with summer schools and various conferences. It

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Hand of the Cause Rúḥíyyih Khánum with children and friends at the Bahá’í School in Nha-be, Central Vietnam.

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was the eager hope of the National Youth Committee to establish a Youth Bulletin.

The New Era High School in Panchgani, India, reports a March 1959 enrollment of 150, including 112 boarders and 38 day scholars. Both primary and secondary sections passed very satisfactorily the inspections held by the Government Education Inspectors who suggested the addition of an assembly hall, a drawing hall and a crafts room. Water has been piped into all living quarters, additional furniture has been provided and a movie projector has been purchased. Students have done well in their academic examinations and have won prizes in district athletic contests. Increasing attention is being given to moral instruction in the curriculum. Korea In July 1956 a Bahá’í summer conference was held at Kwanju, Korea, attended by one hundred persons, most of them college students. Wide publicity is spreading knowledge of the Faith.

Japan In Riḍván 1958 the first Bahá’í children’s class was formed in Japan with an enrollment of three. This soon increased, bringing with it the need to communicate in three languages: Japanese, )ersian and English. The children first drew attention to themselves through their beautiful singing of Persian songs at the Summer School of 1959. They have studied all the available Bahá’í children’s literature and have learned prayers and verses in several languages. The study of the Faith is interspersed with Persian language and flower arrangement classes, the latter activity having been featured in the press and on radio and television. Philippines Bahá’í children of the Philippines have quickly learned to sing Bahá’í songs and frequently raise their voices in song as they walk to and from school through the villages. The melodious refrain, “Alláh-u-Abhá”, can be heard floating through the warm tropical air. Often when a meeting is being held in a village, the children are the first to arrive. Enthusiastic, curious, and friendly, they begin to sing.

Since August 1961, hundreds of children are being enrolled in Bahá’í classes in the Philippines as an aspect of mass conversion. There is a critical need for new plan materials and aids, and above all, teachers for these children.

The Bahá’í children and youth of Solano

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and Rosario, So. Victory, Philippine Islands, sponsored their own World Religion Day observance in 1962. Many non—Bahá’ís were present and were deeply impressed by the interesting talks and the general program. The Bahá’í children of Solano have also brought the Faith to the attention of public school officials. In a survey conducted by the schools, it was disclosed that a large percentage of the pupils were Bahá’ís, presaging the time when the schools might give complete recognition to the Bahá’í Faith as an independent religion and grant excuses to Bahá’í pupils on Bahá’í Holy Days.

A teacher at the Los Banos Agricultural College, University of the Philippines, began spreading the Faith. The students have now formed a Bahá’í Club and hold weekly firesides at the college. During their vacations they teach the Faith to people in the outlying villages.

In the Philippines, many of the new youth believers eagerly volunteer to go pioneering in other villages. In fact, nearly half of the most active pioneers are youth. They frequently achieve almost unbelievable success in enrolling new believers.

Laos In Vientiane there is a Bahá’í children’s Class with Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, French, Persian and American children.

Malaysia A Youth Conference, attended by over seventy persons, was held in December 1961 in Seremban, Malaya, at which talks and consultation stressed concentration of effort on the Ten Year Crusade tasks pointed out by the Hands of the Cause in their messages.

Indonesia On the Mentawai Islands, the rapid progress of the Faith made possible the opening of three schools in the villages. Mr. Musa Taileleo, the first Mentawai native believer, had forty-four pupils in Simatabu Village. Dr. Raḥmatu’lláh Muhájir, Hand of the Cause, reports: “In Sipapajet, one of the Mentawai villages, a Bahá’í school has been established and named Tarbiyat after the Bahá’í school in Tihran which was closed by the government in 1933. Mr. Samsury, one of the native Bahá’ís who is a very learned man, has resigned his position as teacher in the government schools, and is teaching the native Bahá’ís in the Bahá’í school. The children and the villagers are very happy. . . Bahá’ís of other villages complain that Mr.

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Youth Conference held in Seremban, Malaya.

Samsury has not been given to them. These same people. .. before embracing the Faith did not want schools and said, ‘God has given us copra and chickens; what do we want with education? Our children eat these and grow up.’ Now these same people are building houses for their teachers. We are trying to establish Bahá’í schools in every village, even though they may have only one or two grades.”

AUSTRALASIA

Australia The Bahá’í Youth Letter published early in 1955 in Australia told of the experiences of one of their members in trying to carry out the Guardian’s wishes concerning the observance of Holy Days. “Early last year, Helen Dobbins made application to the South Australian Department of Education for leave on Bahá’í Holy Days. This was granted. . . In October Helen had to sit for some examinations, one of which fell on the anniversary of the Birthday of the Báb. She informed the college that she would be absent on that day. They asked her to make an exception this once because it was a final examination and if she could not take it, it would mean another year’s study. Helen was adamant, and, as a compromise, the department asked her to refer the matter to the National Spiritual Assembly. If the National Spiritual Assembly said she was not to take the examination on that day, the department would see what could be done to give her a special examination. Naturally the National

Spiritual Assembly supported Helen’s stand. So the department found a solution in that Helen could take a similar examination the next day with another group of scholars. Consequently everything worked out satisfactorily. We are very proud of Helen.”

An Australian Bahá’í youth who was called up for National Service Training in 1959, abiding by the teachings of the Cause, applied to the authorities for exemption from combatant duties, and in due course was brought before the Court of Petty Sessions in Ballarat, Victoria. His exemption was granted, and the next day a total of twelve column-inches was published in the Ballarat and Melbourne papers describing the Faith and its principles.

During the young man’s eleven weeks in Army camp, he was stationed in a medical post, and was in constant contact with the 1,200 young people in the camp. He was able to speak of the Faith to some 800 of those present, while at other times he talked of the Faith to ministers of various religions at the camp. This proved to be one of the greatest ways in which the Faith has so far been spread to the masses in Victoria.

During the Intercalary Days, the youth of Queensland decided to request permission from the superintendent of the Children’s Hospital to write to the parents of various children asking their permission for Bahá’í youth to visit their children in the hospital if they themselves were unable to do so. This has resulted in parental permission being gained for such visits.

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An active role as pioneers and travelling teachers has been taken by Bahá’í youth of Australia. Some have travelled over the entire continent and Tasmania teaching the Faith, while others have gone as far as the islands of the Pacific to assist the Knights of Bahá’u’lláh and the other pioneers. Youth have pioneered to out-of-the-way cities such as Darwin, in the Northern Territory, and Perth, in Western Australia. Rodney Hancock pioneered at Rabaul, New Guinea Territory; Bill Washington, in the New Hebrides Islands. Enrollment Of Bahá’í youth for pioneering in Timor, New Hebrides and Fiji was reported.

One Australian youth, Noel Bluett, of Leeton, teaches the Bahá’í Faith through his correspondence with chess players around the world. Peter Khan took a ten-day teaching trip to Western Australia. He gave six talks in Perth, one to a women’s luncheon Club of ninety members, one to the congregation of the Unitarian Church, and a recorded radio talk over the women’s session of the ABC, stressing the role of the Bahá’í Faith in the emancipation of women. He travelled 350 miles from Perth to Albany to visit an isolated believer and her friends.

The 1957—1958 Yerrinbool Bahá’í school in Australia was not a youth school, but it was attended by youth from Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia. Youth members gave lectures on “Social and Ethical Teachings of the Faith”, “The Unity of Religions”, “Bahá’í Teachings on Education” and “The Concept of God”. One of the youth, who celebrated his twenty—first birthday while at the school, taught a session of six classes on Bahá’í administration.

During the early part of May 1958, the Bahá’í students at Sydney University formed the Sydney University Bahá’í Society which was subsequently recognized as a formally affiliated body by the University. Formed to provide a focal point for the promotion of interest in the Bahá’í Faith, one of the first activities of the Society was to secure publicity in the University newspaper. Articles on the Faith appeared in the newspaper and were followed with firesides and discussions at the University on such topics as “Bahá’í History” and “Progressive Revelation”.

A Bahá’í Society was established at Queensland University in May 1960 with

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the objective of promoting discussion and analysis of comparative religions and the Bahá’í World Faith. Meetings are being held every three weeks, being advertised by posters and blackboard notices. From twenty to thirty people attend each meeting. The Society has found that its establishment has had the effect of widely publicizing the Faith at the University.

The National Youth Committee of Australia publishes an eight-page Youth Letter each quarter. The letters feature talks, articles and poems written by youth with the purpose of serving the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh.

The Australian Child Education Committee continues to publish and distribute over 300 copies each Bahá’í month of The Children’s Newsletter in Australia, the South Pacific area and other countries. ,Letters received from parents and teachers indicate that this bulletin is of considerable help to them in providing religious instruction to children.

Mrs. Maysie Almond became concerned about the children who lived in isolated places throughout the large continent of Australia and began to send lessons, stories and pictures to Bahá’í children settled over Australia, Tasmania and even in the Philippines.

New Zealand The Youth Co-ordinating Committee of the Bahá’ís of New Zealand initiated publication of a Bahá’í Youth Magazine during October 1958. The magazine is devoted to youth announcements, reports and short articles.

Pacific Islands The first Bahá’í wedding performed in any area is always an historic occasion, but the one performed in November 1954 by the Bahá’ís of Suva had unusual elements of interest. Members of the bridal party converged on the Fiji Islands from widely scattered areas because Suva is centrally located. The bride, Lilian Wyss, originally of Australia, came some 800 miles from her pioneer post in Samoa. The groom, Suhayl ‘Ala’i, originally from Persia, came some 1700 miles from New Zealand, while the bride’s brother came from Australia. The wedding was delayed by the breakdown of the groom’s boat, which necessitated his using a car and plane to complete his journey. Meanwhile the whole community co-operated in preparing food, decorating the home of Mr. Ni’ir ‘Ali and entertaining guests. Young

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Bahá’í children who conducted the Sunday morning devotional session at a Suva Convention.

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Nfir Bahá’í School, Port Vila, New Hebrides Islands.

children even had a part, tearing marigold petals into confetti. The wedding itself was a demonstration of the oneness of the human race: Fijians, Samoans, Indians, Britons, New Zealanders, Germans, Persians and Australians all witnessed the solemn and joyous occasion.

November 1958 saw the fulfillment of a dream of pioneer Mrs. Bertha Dobbins, who pursued untiringly during five years of selfless service, the completion 'of a Bahá’í school not far from the heart of Port Vila, administrative center of the New Hebrides Island Group in the South Pacific. The new building, a prefabricated steel-framed structure with asbestos cement walls, was shipped from Australia in June. Now completed, the school building stands as silent testimony to the loving efforts and sacrifices of many. Several Chiefs have visited the school.

During the morning devotions held in New Hebrides, a small child is seated by a senior child who points out the words of the prayers as they are said. Many of the prayers are known by heart. The stories in the Children’s Stories from “The Dawn-Breakers”

have been read many times, and they also enjoy very much The Children’s News Letter published by the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia.

Two Bahá’í children’s classes were started for the first time in August 1961 in the Cook Islands. Initial enrollments were five and six, respectively. Use was made of the booklet, A Bahá’í Child’s ABC, supplemented with songs, stories and creative expression activities.

The Bahá’í children of the Gilbert Islands are very interested in the Bahá’í activities of the adults and attend all Feasts and Holy Day Observances. The youth are especially active in the projects of the adult Bahá’ís and go on trips with them when doing teaching work.

The Island Teaching Committee in Samoa publishes Lessons for Bahá’í Children as a guide for teachers and parents. It includes prayers and verses from The Hidden Words in the Samoan language, stories in English and lessons on the Bahá’í teachings. This pamphlet is useful to both children’s Sunday School classes, which are held regularly in American and Western Samoa.

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Bahá’í Youth and Children attending the first historic Alaskan Convention, Anchorage. Hand of the Cause Paul Haney in the centre.

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Alaska Since April 1959 there have been children’s classes taught in Alaska from as far north as Barrow, the northernmost part of this far north community, to Ketchikan, which is 1,320 miles to the southeast. There have been sixteen classes running concurrently and over 100 children have been involved. Children of Indian, Eskimo, Negro, Oriental and Caucasian extraction have been represented, demonstrating most graphically the concept of the oneness of mankind.

In addition to the regular children’s classes, the various communities in Alaska have successfully endeavored to have the children participate in Bahá’í events in which the adults are engaged. This has been approached in some communities by having the children read prayers at Feasts. The children of two nearby communities combined their efforts to put on an historical playlet for the commemoration of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh. Nor has the activity been limited to this, for there has been an abundance of excursions, parties, programs for parents, creative dancing and other activities which have been a regular

part of the children’s program in Alaska. Six of the seven Local Spiritual Assemblies have obtained permission for the children to be excused from public school on the Holy Days, and they have held special programs for the children in observance of these occasions.

Bahá’í university students of Tanana Valley co-operated with United World Federalists in observing United Nations Day with a dinner which one hundred people attended. Ten foreign nations were represented at the affair, one of which, England, was represented by a Bahá’í.

The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Alaska formed a National Youth Committee which has among its primary functions the stimulation of the teaching of youth in Alaska; encouraging youth attendance and participation in the various schools, workshops and conferences; and to publish the National Youth Bulletin.

According to reports, the youth seminar held in Fairbanks over the Labor Day week-end, 1962 was an enjoyable as well as informative occasion. Approximately twenty

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young people from Alaska and the Yukon Territory took advantage of this opportunity to study together and to discuss questions and answers related to their lives as Bahá’í youth in society.

Canada Children’s sessions were held each morning at the Ontario Summer School in 1959 with attendance varying from 12 to 21. The children’s age range was 4 to 12 years. The program included prayers, stories, meditations and work periods. Childhood virtues were illustrated by the use of historical incidents or facts, which included well-known Bahá’í characters. Each story stressed a great problem, an important virtue and ultimate victory. The Hidden Words was used daily for meditation, and prayers were individually given from memory. Pictures to be colored were used to illustrate the virtues and were exhibited to the adults at the week-end, with comments sought and noted. Games were also arranged.

Bahá’í children in the Yukon have been granted permission to be absent from school on Bahá’í Holy Days.

The youth of Canada attended summer schools and Annual Conventions and worked in their own communities. Two widely advertised public meetings at the University of Toronto, in 1955, were followed up with other meetings, including a skating party, after which there was discussion. The Hillel group (Jewish) on the campus asked for Bahá’í speakers, and the forty members of this audience asked many questions.

In British Columbia the initiation of Bahá’í youth activity was brought about by interested adult Bahá’ís. One evening in the week was set aside for youth firesides, and though the meetings were poorly attended at first, within several weeks, new youth began to attend and youth declarations came with them. Because of the widely scattered urban areas in the lower mainland of British Columbia, transportation was a problem, and a pick-up and delivery service of interested Bahá’í and non-Bahá’íyouth was undertaken by older Bahá’ís with cars.

Those attending youth firesides in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan included West Indians, Hungarians and a newly-declared Chinese Bahá’í.

To encourage the enrollment of Indian youth in the Bahá’í community, several

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Bahá’í youth plan to join an Indian-white fellowship group where young people are engaged in promoting unity and amity between Indian and white people in British Columbia.

Calgary was the location of a Bahá’í youth conference held December 24—28, 1962. Mornings were spent in study classes on such topics as Bahá’í history, reasons for our creation and responsibilities of human beings. Afternoons were spent in sightseeing, sports and social gatherings. Several evening meetings were held. Week—end farewells found everyone leaving for widely scattered locations spiritually refreshed.

The picnic, held by the Georgetown, Ontario Bahá’ís as a climax to the Youth Seminar, was attended by over eighty people who came from as far away as Niagara, New York.

In Toronto, on November 6, 1960, a panel

of youth spoke at a Sunday evening Bahá’í public meeting on the subject, “Religion in the Schools”. This event received favorable radio and newspaper coverage. The United States of America One of the great teachers of youth and children is the Bahá’í House of Worship in Wilmette. Of the thousands of people who visit this Temple every year, many are young. In July 1954 a group of 185 students from forty-one colleges representing thirty-nine countries visited the Temple. One of the Y.M.C.A.s of the region sends a group of a hundred children, ranging in age from nine to thirteen years, to see the Temple each summer.

The education of children in the Bahá’í teachings is actively carried on in many places throughout the United States. The National Bahá’í Child Education Committee publishes a regular magazine for Bahá’í parents and school teachers, called The Child’s Way. This very attractive publication offers practical teaching suggestions, gives some of the distinctively Bahá’í aspects of education and tells about activities among children in other places. It also prints contributions from children themselves. The laboratory for this committee is the program for children at the House of Worship in Wilmette. In 1957-58 one of the projects in the school was called “Operation Giving”. The needs of people all over the world were discussed with the children who were invited to bring clothing,

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books, shoes and toys. Their gifts were very generous, some of the children contributing things that they themselves had been wearing when they realized the greater need of others:

A week for family teaching, and especially for children of the ages three to fifteen, was held from June 22, 1957 at Astoria, Oregon. There were forty-seven who stayed the whole week, of whom twenty-seven were children. The Astoria Community, which had no children within it, offered this service in response to Bahá’u’lláh’s statement: “He who educates his son, or any other children, it is as though he hath educated one of My children." In 1962, from June 24 through 30, this Northwest Children‘s Summer Conference in Astoria was held for the first time under the sponsorship of the National Spiritual Assembly, and on this occasion this experiment in Bahá’í living, which started originally with seventeen children and twelve adults, drew one hundred and four peopleseventy children and youth and thirty-four adults.

Over a four-year period, a strong children’s program has been developed in West Covina, California by six adjacent Bahá’í communities. Classes are held on Saturday mornings on premises rented from the local Jewish Community.

The Bahá’ís of Los Angeles have regular classes for eight age groups: under three, three to five-year-olds, six to eight-year-olds, nine to eleven-year-olds, junior high school, high school, young adult and adult.

Once a month the Albuquerque, New Mexico Bahá’í children visit a different church or religious group; one week they were invited to an Indian pueblo.

The Bahá’í School in Seattle, Washington consists of six classes, for age groups ranging from pre-school to enrolled Bahá’í youth. The program for the youth is particularly intended to train them to become Bahá’í teachers. While the young people are in session there is a study class for the parents of non-Bahá’í children and for others who are interested in the Faith. The first year of this activity yielded the enrollment of eight adults, six youth, several people studying with a view to becoming Bahá’ís, the distribution of a large amount of literature on request, and the formation of a Bahá’í chorus.

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Before any classes were organized on a formal basis in Seattle, the Local Assembly sponsored three conferences to discuss these matters with interested believers. Five seminars followed for the training of prospective teachers. It was determined that the whole curriculum should aim at acquainting the child with his environment, with himself and with his relationship to God. Armed with this information and training, representatives of four communities joined in launching the school under the sponsorship of the Seattle Assembly, through which all the activities and assistance of other communities and individuals continued to be channelled. Regular teachers’ meetings are held and the progress of the project is constantly reviewed. The underlying goal, as described by the Seattle Assembly, is “to produce a desire in the child to enroll in the Faith and to be equipped to teach it and to understand the responsibilities of Bahá’í membership.”

At many summer schools special programs are organized for children and youth, but everywhere this is not the case; the youth have played an important and enthusiastic part. The youth program at Davison Summer School was described as follows: “Have you ever been to a youth session at Davison? If you haven’t, we would like to have you live a typical day with us. It is 7:00 am. Someone is ringing the bell telling us it will soon be time for devotions which are held in the auditorium at 7:30. After devotions we head for breakfast just to relax. At 9:30 we all set out for the administration class... Next we go to choir practice... After that. . . a class on progressive revelation. Lunch is soon over, so we all go to a nearby lake to swim for our afternoon recreation. An optional discussion class is held on the beach. . . Then we return home for a welcome supper. For evening entertainment there are programs such as a masquerade, dance, or talent show. Public meetings are held every Wednesday evening. This is just one day' at a typical youth session ...”

Throughout the United States, youth have served actively in teaching the Faith. Plans were developed for the establishment of a Youth Circuit Teaching Program in twenty designated areas of the country, with the goal of developing teaching abilities as well as spreading the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh.

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A group of youth from New York and Pennsylvania set out on successive week-ends on a circuit teaching tour that took them to eight cities. Two youth from Sioux Falls, South Dakota planned activities for the Dakotas and one of them also made teaching trips to Omaha, Nebraska. There have also been examples of youth who have travelled from place to place in the South where there are not many Bahá’í youth and where the adult believers are eager for the assistance which youth can provide; the youth teachers return feeling that their time has been richly spent.

California has also tried circuit teaching successfully. Three or four youth, accompanied by an adult chairman, go to outlying communities and cities to conduct meetings.

The Bahá’í youth of Los Angeles, California reported the following types of activity in 1958—59: Youth—adult panels on a monthly basis; weekly firesides for college youth; participation in meetings observing Negro History Week, Brotherhood Week, World Religion Day, World Youth Day; social events such as dances and beach parties; contact with non-Bahá’í groups such as N.A.A.C.P., Nisei, and American Indian Service Committee; newspaper publicity; membership on Local Spiritual Assemblies; reports at Nineteen-Day Feasts.

The Local Spiritual Assembly of Las Vegas, Nevada supports two youth panels, each under the guidance of an adult moderator and each able to travel up to three hundred miles one week-end a month. These youth, some of them not yet Bahá’ís, defray their own expenses.

During the summer of 1959 Bahá’í youth in the area of Nashville, Tennessee sponsored four well-attended public meetings to encourage racial understanding. Speakers were Bahá’í college and university professors. Sunday morning worship services and Sunday evening firesides were provided as valuable follow—up activity.

The Youth Group of Phoenix, Arizona held a progressive dinner and informal fireside on October 25, 1958 in commemoration of United Nations Week.

On February 20—22, 1958 the Bahá’ís of Puerto Rico presented slides with the script “Haifa, a Name to Remember” at the local

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high school. This was followed by a one-hour lecture and discussion period for students.

On March 11, 1958 fifty girls of an all-Negro Senior Girl Scout troop and fifteen parents of Silver Spring, Maryland were shown slides of the Holy Land and given the Bahá’í message stressing the oneness of religion.

Between January 12 and 18, 1958 the Youth Committee of Charleston, West Virginia conducted firesides and set up displays leading to a celebration of World Religion Day.

When there was an unexpected call in September 1962 from a Unitarian Church in Seattle, Washington for someone to address an audience of young people on the following evening, nearby Bahá’í youth responded nobly. Six young people plus an adult moderator put on a panel discussion of the Faith which stimulated eager enquiries. In response, a considerable number of pamphlets were given out, and promises were made that information about forthcoming classes and meetings would be conveyed to all those interested.

Specifically youth activities in the United States are co-ordinated by a National Youth Committee appointed by the National Spiritual Assembly. This committee, in addition to its general work of co-ordination and encouragement, stimulates the holding of conferences and the observance of World Youth Day and provides for an exchange of ideas and plans among the youth through the publication of its illustrated Bahd‘z' Youth Bulletin.

The theme for the 1956 Bahá’í World Youth Day was Guiding Purpose for Life Today. Seven communities reported their Observances in detail. Noteworthy was the program held in Kokomo, Indiana, planned by the single youth there with the enthusiastic assistance of the adult Bahá’ís. Forty people, representing the Negro and white races, most of them not Bahá’ís, came to hear Peter McLaren speak, and to enjoy the recreation and refreshments provided. The Bahá’ís worked through sympathetic leaders of church youth groups who brought their friends with them. After leaving, one group telephoned to tell the Bahá’ís again how much they enjoyed the meeting.

As part of the year’s activities, the San Antonio, Texas Bahá’í Youth Committee

[Page 771]Bahá’í YOUTH ACTIVITIES 771

Senior Bahá’í Youth Group attending Davison Bahá’í School.

sponsored a panel discussion for World Youth Day, held March 22, 1959. The meeting took place in the Y.W.C.A., and eleven Bahá’ís and eleven non-Bahá’ís attended. The topic of the evening was “Religion and Youth”, and invitations were sent to the several colleges located in San Antonio. The afternoon’s discussion was very successful, and as a result, weekly study classes were formed.

World Youth Week-end in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, during 1961, was originally intended to be a Bahá’í pilot study on the campus of Southern University (Negro), sponsored jointly by the Bahá’í Interracial Committee, the Bahá’í College Bureau, the Gulf States Area Teaching Committee and the Baton Rouge Assembly; but insurmountable obstacles made it necessary to change the location of the sessions to the American Friends Headquarters off the campus. However, through the co-operation of the University librarian and Mrs. Thelma Gorham, a Bahá’í faculty member at Southern University, an excellent Bahá’í display was set up in the University library. The. total attendance was

104 persons from seven different localities in two states.

The Bahá’í College Club at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, with the cooperation of the Local Spiritual Assembly, held its World Youth Day program in 1961 at the Union Lounge at the University, with seventy-two present.

Bahá’í teaching efforts at colleges and universities have taken on many different forms, from formal meetings to intimate personal conversations. The Bahá’í College Bureau has been attempting to help organize the former, stimulate the latter, and act as a clearing-house for other activities. The Bureau has provided the following services, among others, to students and campus clubs:

(1) Upon request it will provide each

campus club with a rubber stamp for club

correspondence. (2) Each youth may receive

a Bahá’í calendar to be placed in his room.

(3) There is a fund available for the

purchase of books for college libraries.

(4) Kits, containing carefully selected lit erature, are available for presentation to

teachers, professors, or groups wishing to

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acquaint themselves with the Faith. In the

past these kits have been used particularly

by teachers of classes in comparative religion, and others. (5) Pamphlets are available for distribution at public meetings.

(6) Area representatives will provide speak ers for public meetings. (7) The Bureau

is prepared to offer any form of assistance

needed in establishing college clubs. (8)

Personal correspondence is invited with

any youth who needs help or ideas. (9)

Assistance in planning and carrying out

programs for Religious Emphasis Week is

a vital and tangible service of the Bureau.

(10) Specific readings and courses of

study, along with suggestions for the

planning of college retreats, are given by the Bureau upon request.

The College Bureau, in response to a letter from the Guardian, compiled a list of colleges and a census of Bahá’í youth in colleges at present so that any youth who so desires may select a school where his presence would be most helpful. It has also made arrangements for African and American Bahá’í Youth to correspond as “Pen Pals”.

Bahá’ís were invited to meet with the comparative religions class of the Duke University Theological School.

The Religious Council on the campus of Arizona State College sponsored an observance known as “Religion in Life Week” from September 28 to October 3, 1958. The week began with a banquet at which a Bahá’í gave the invocation, one of the prayers for mankind, which was very graciously received.

The Bahá’ís at the University of Arizona have decided that they are able to teach more effectively by personal contacts, firesides, study classes and devotional meetings, but without frequent public meetings. Each Sunday they have a highly publicized, very dignified devotional service with readings from various scriptures to which they invite the public to come for a “World Devotional Service”. At this service there are no speeches, no announcements. Later on Sunday morning, they conduct systematic study classes for those interested in learning of the Faith, to which they do not invite new people until they have had some of the basic teachings. Friday evenings they reserve for firesides for new inquirers. At intervals they have parties and social events. The students are active in

THE Bahá’í WORLD

the Student Religious Council. One of the youth helped form the first club of American Indians on the campus, the Amerind Club. He also helps the Indian students with their social problems and by tutoring. Another student works with the International Club.

The Bahá’í youth on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson sponsored a very successful public meeting on the campus January 8, 1960. T0 publicize this meeting, thirty—six hand-painted posters and 1,000 printed circulars were used. The posters were placed in all the dormitories, in the student union building and in windows of the stores and restaurants near campus. The circulars were distributed among the apartments for married students, in message-boxes at the dormitories, and were also posted near drinking fountains and other strategic spots in the classroom buildings. The resulting attendance was the largest ever to come to a Bahá’í public meeting in Tucson. There were fifty-five contacts, of whom over half had never before been in touch with any Tucson Bahá’ís. About twelve Bahá’ís attended.

A Bahá’í speaker was invited to lecture on the Bahá’í Faith November 16, 1958 at the Methodist Students’ Movement of Conway, Arkansas, which draws its membership from Hendrix College and the State Teachers’ College, as part of their study of various religions.

The Bahá’í Club of the University of California at Berkeley, California is experimenting with an idea which might prove of interest to other college clubs. It is announcing to men’s and women’s campus residences and clubs the existence of a “Bahá’í Speakers Bureau”. This idea has grown out of an increased curiosity among students there concerning the Faith.

The Bahá’í Club at Stanford University is represented on the Inter—Faith Council and was asked to conduct one of the weekly candlelight worship services held on the campus. Besides business meetings, the club has firesides each Sunday, consisting of a devotional service, lunch and a discussion period. Each Friday evening the youth have study classes, consisting of dinner in a private dining room in one of the dormitories, and deepening classes. They also have paid advertising in the paper once a week in

[Page 773]Bahá’í YOUTH ACTIVITIES

addition to the free publicity they are given in the campus paper.

In Denver, Colorado, in 1954, a group of six youth were able to introduce the Faith to a non-denominational religious group of college-age Negroes and to take thirty of their new friends to Temerity Ranch for a week—end of further study. These were typical of activities on college campuses throughout the nation.

At the University of Illinois for several years Bahá’ís have taken turns enrolling in a philosophy or religion course. In February 1957 the instructor asked Muflan 1(_hadem, a Bahá’í youth, to speak to the class about the Bahá’í Faith at the last meeting of the course. The next year, he announced, he would, himself, give a lecture on “An Improvement on Islam”.

The committee planning the Religious Life Conference on the campus of Illinois State Normal University wrote in August to the National Spiritual Assembly requesting that they provide a Bahá’í representative to take part. The request was referred to the nearby Urbana Spiritual Assembly which voted to send Dr. Garreta Busey. Miss Busey was asked to meet a freshman rhetoric class, where she spoke of “Poetry and Religion”, and a sociology Class where she spoke on “The Great Family of Religions”. Later in the day she held a seminar for any students who might be interested, and expected few inquirers since there were nine other seminars being offered by various denominations, one of them on the popular subject of marriage; however, there were forty students or so who asked eager questions and took literature.

The Bahá’í College Bureau was invited to present a Bahá’í speaker at Iowa State Teachers’ College in Cedar Falls, Iowa during “Religion in Life Week” held February 15—18, 1959.

On one Ohio campus, the Religious Council adopted the Bahá’í phrase, “Say: All are created by God” as the theme for Brotherhood Week.

Arrangements were made by the Bahá’í youth of Missoula, Montana for two Bahá’í speakers to present the Faith at the Montana School of Religion during January and February, 1958.

The Inter—Faith Club of the American

773

International College sponsored a “Bahá’í Faith Night” and invited Beatrice Thigpen of Linden, New Jersey to speak.

On December 12, 1958, a program commemorating Human Rights Day was held on the campus of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. This was sponsored by the Inter-collegiate Fellowship, a group composed of students from North Carolina College and Duke University. The program consisted of a panel on which each member spoke of his particular relation to human rights. Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam and the Bahá’í Faith were represented on the panel. Later, on December 14, four Bahá’í college students spoke during a panel discussion commemorating Human Rights Day.

In Greensboro, North Carolina a tea given during 1962 by Bahá’í youth for foreign students was a great success. Seventeen students from Ghana, Sierra Leone, Virgin Islands, Finland and China attended, in addition to others from Texas, Maine and North Carolina. Greensboro was the site for a college week-end retreat, for which believers in the area provided overnight accommodations. Mass proclamation of the Faith to about 2,000 persons was instituted at North Carolina College in Durham with the presentation by the college of a Bahá’í speaker for Religious Emphasis Week, and an exhibit in the college library.

Athens, Ohio used a radio script based on the story of the Báb’s declaration in 1844, at the Ohio University campus. This opened the way to many requests for Bahá’í speakers. The youth group meets daily for dawn prayers and for deepening study and consultation. They have made friends with students from Malaya, Haiti, Jamaica and India. They invite small groups to evening meals and discussions. They also take part in campus activities to meet new inquirers.

Hormoz Sabet was able to speak to fifty-two theological students at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. He has had several opportunities to speak to groups about the Faith, and he holds regular firesides in his home.

In Logan, Utah, during 1962, the Bahá’í Club of Utah State University played an important part in Religious Emphasis Days on the campus. Through the club’s guest speaker, a total audience of well over 1,000

[Page 774]774

persons heard the Bahá’í message. These guest Bahá’ís also spoke before classes, special gatherings in fraternities, sororities and dormitories, and to a student-body assembly. In addition, members of the club attracted much attention to the Faith with an excellent book exhibit in the Union Building.

The Bahá’í youth at the University of Utah were able to speak before a college—age group from the Methodist Church, to a Mormon sorority, and to have an article on the Faith circulated in the campus literary magazine, The Pen, which has one thousand readers.

As a result of the activities of the Bahá’ís at the University of Virginia, the Faith is now being taught at the University as part of the course, “Western Religions”. The origin, history, administration and present status of the Faith is presented with some emphasis on the three Central Figures of the Faith, and with a showing of pictures of the Temple.

In 1954 two Bahá’ís on the campus of the University of Washington began a Bahá’í Club by putting forty posters on bulletin boards with a place where the new discussion topic for each week could be inserted. They were able to put announcements in the student newspaper and to have a book display in the Student Union showing a book and explanation for each religion, a picture of the Bahá’í House of Worship and a picture of one of its pylons showing the symbols of the religions.

The National Youth Committee for the United States adopted the subject, “A Foundation Is Being Laid”, for a series of workshop meetings held among the Bahá’í youth in October 1954 in California, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Washington.

In June 1955 forty youth and their friends from the area including Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin attended a youth week-end at Milwaukee where a beach party and picnic were held. Madison, Wisconsin and Detroit, Michigan held weekly firesides, for which there were two meetings in Detroit, one for high school, the other for college—age youth.

In October 1956 there was a series of conferences in many sections of the country to which youth from several states came to

THE BAHA’I WORLD

encourage each other and to share ideas and enthusiasm. Others gathered together in December for the same purpose. A national Bahá’í Youth Week was inaugurated in November to encourage communities who did not as yet have youth committees to form such committees and reach out to the youth of their towns, even though they might not have Bahá’í youth of their own.

More than seventy youth from all parts of the country converged on Wilmette at the time of the National Bahá’í Convention in 1956. The college students learned of the model constitution which had been drawn up for campus Bahá’í clubs by the National College Bureau. They discussed methods of teaching on campus and recommended the establishment of a college speakers’ bureau. They felt the value of area youth committees and suggested the appointment of adult advisors to the National Youth Committee who could furnish continuity for work that is carried on by shifting youth committees.

On February 23, 1958 twenty-six Southern California Bahá’í youth gathered together for an Area Youth Conference. After consultation and discussion of the Guardian’s latest messages, problems concerning youth teaching were discussed.

Twelve Bahá’í youth attended a youth conference, the first of its kind, in Nashville, Tennessee at Vanderbilt University over the week—end of March 8—9, 1958 for consultation on the World Crusade. This was followed by several well-attended public meetings.

On March 22, 1958 a youth conference was held in Phoenix, Arizona for the Bahá’í youth of Central Arizona in conjunction with the Regional Conference.

On April 13, 1958 a youth conference was held in Raleigh, North Carolina to discuss three major points of the Ten Year Crusade: Prayer and Meditation, College and High School Teaching, and the National Bahá’í Fund. A panel discussion was held at the local newspaper building entitled, “Bahá’í Answers for Today’s Youth”.

As the concluding event in the Centennial Celebration of student religious activities, the University of Michigan sponsored a National Consultative Conference in November 1958, to which Bahá’í representatives were invited. This was the first national conference in our times to which representatives from all

[Page 775]BAHA’T YOUTH ACTIVITIES

sections of the country were invited to plan the teaching of religion on campuses and to discuss the religious life of their students. Six hundred faculty teachers of religion, religious workers, personnel workers, administrators and representatives of national educational and religious organizations were present.

An Inter-community Youth Conference on the theme, “The Power of Unity”, was held November 22 and 23, 1958 in Des Moines, Iowa.

The December 1958 week-end conference set by the National Bahá’í College Bureau was attended by people from North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. This conference was held on the West Virginia State College campus. Suggestions were considered on how to attract students to the Faith through newspaper publicity, book displays, contacting campus organizations, using music as a medium for making contacts, and supplying speakers to other campus organizations.

Fourteen youth attended a conference on March 15, 1959 at Burlingame, California. at which time they studied the importance of Bahá’í youth in the future of the Faith.

The first National Bahá’í Youth Conference was held in twelve areas of the United States on October 25—26, 1959. The topic for these meetings was “The Function of Youth in the World Crusade”. The second such series was held on February 20—21, 1960 in the same twelve areas on the subject, “Success in Teaching”.

A series of retreats for Bahá’í and non-Bahá’í students throughout the United States was organized in 1961 by the Bahá’í College Bureau to promote added interest and give special emphasis to teaching the Faith in colleges. The theme for study and consultation was “Religion for Modern Man”.

“Building a Bridge to the New World Order” was the theme of a youth conference held in Pendleton, Oregon, April 1—2, 1961, with sixty-nine in attendance.

Fifty youth from six states came to a conference held on October 28—29, 1961 in the children’s room of the House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois. Believers in the Temple area contributed food and funds for three of the week-end meals, and the youth were lodged in Bahá’í homes.

775

Youth representing several countries, states and colleges came together in Dexter, Michigan, November 1961, for a four-day conference. Held over the long Thanksgiving weekend at the home of a hospitable believer, it drew a total of seventy-eight young people who, amid their animated sessions, consumed 527 meals plus additional light refreshments. The program was highlighted by a two-day workshop in which the youth prepared and presented “Wake Up—to Live”, a one-act play interpreting Bahá’í solutions of problems raised by the threat of nuclear war. The nine scenes were enacted in “living newspaper” style and were tied together with a running narration and sound effects.

Four workshop classes for junior youth were sponsored by the National Bahá’í Youth Committee on July 25—26 at Davison Bahá’í School in Michigan as a part of the Junior Youth Sessions during July 1962. Classes on the Divine Messengers, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’í Administration, and the National Bahá’í Youth Committee were conducted. Organized games and community singing provided activity for the twenty-five junior youth who attended the workshop classes.

From seven states almost a hundred young people converged on the Nashua-Hudson section of New Hampshire for a three-day conference the last of December 1962. Hudson Grange Hall was the locale for the sessions and for meals, except breakfast; housing was furnished by nearby believers and even by some contacts. Devotions, consultation, workshops and true Bahá’í fellowship made up the program.

In the vast, sparsely—settled Rocky Mountain area, Bahá’í youth and their friends gathered in Colorado Springs, Colorado under the shadow of snow—capped Pikes Peak, December 29—30, 1962. From the plateaus, plains and mountains of Colorado, Montana, New Mexico and Wyoming, some travelling 600 to over 1,000 miles, they came for study, prayer, fun and fellowship. These youth not only demonstrated the love of Bahá’u’lláh, but enriched and inspired one another. Some had never met another Bahá’í youth, and to share the week-end with the twenty-five in attendance was an experience in itself.

[Page 776]776

Central America The National Youth Committee of Central America issued their first bulletin in 1956.

The International Children‘s Committee of Mexico, Central America and Panama publishes a quarterly children‘s bulletin containing detailed instructions on the organization of children’s classes and suggestions prepared by professional teachers for activities of children of various age levels. Also included in the bulletin are original stories about Bahá’í children of other parts of the world, illustrating interesting customs and desirable character traits.

In Costa Rica during 1959—1960, a native believer. who later pioneered in Nicaragua, organized a football team sponsored by the Local Spiritual Assembly of San José. The Costa Ricans are avid about football.

In 1959, a club with some fifty members was formed in Tegucigaipa, Honduras under the name, “World Fellowship Club". It was modeled after the “Club Excelsior” that met with considerable success the year before in San Salvador, El Salvador. Four members of the Executive Committee of nine were Bahá’ís, and the remaining club membership consisted chiefly of contacts or potential contacts. Weekly sociais were held in the apartment of a Bahá’í pioneer. One of the most outstanding events sponsored by the club was a beautiful reception celebrating United Nations Day, attended by some 125 people.

In Guatemala, neighborhood children meet regularly on Saturday afternoons to learn Bahá’í prayers, sing songs and discuss applications of the Teachings to character building and practical living. The class ends with a period of drawing, painting and game playing outdoors. One of the activities of interest is carrying on a correspondence with an active Bahá’í children’s class in Hamburg, New York.

The first member of the Maya-Quiché race to become a Bahá’í was a twenty—two year old youth who serves as a tourist guide and brings people to see the Bahá’í Cultural Institute in Chichicastenango, Guatemala.

South America The National Family Education Committee for the northern countries of South America edited and distributed a bulletin to the five countries: Brazil, Peru,

THE Bahá’í WORLD

Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela. This bulletin was patterned after The Child’s Way published in the United States and bore the same title, El Sendem de los Nifios Bahá’í. The aim of the committee is, through its bulletin, to stimulate better techniques in the planning and activities of Bahá’í children‘s groups. They have borrowed and translated into Spanish some of the articles from The Child‘s Way, David Hofman's God and His Messengers, and have included some words and music of children‘s songs and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s “Benediction”.

The Child Education Committee for Ecuador publishes a children‘s bulletin The Children's Voice, and a youth bulletin.

The Bahá’í Community of Otavalo, Ecuador established a Bahá’í day school, organized on a regular schedule and conforming to the New York State curriculum. Through the kindness of several New York Bahá’í communities, textbooks were provided for grades one through six. History, science, geography, music, art, crafts, dramatics and reading are taught, stressing Bahá’í viewpoints at every opportunity. On Saturdays the school is used for teaching reading, writing and arithmetic to the Indians, both children and adults, many of whom have become Bahá’ís.

The Bahá’í children’s class of Otavalo has a varied program which includes: formal study, creation of their own prayer notebooks, observing Holy Days, serving refreshments at adult meetings, singing in a chorus and presenting dramatizations and ballets.

In the same community Bahá’í children, youth, adults and their non—Bahá’í friends have joined together into a club which holds art classes, puts on plays and ballets, goes on hikes and picnics, has a choral group and conducts sewing and cooking classes.

The Bahá’í National Youth Committee of Brazil prepares and issues regularly a youth bulletin Balen'n de Juventude Bahá’í'. Members of the committee are planning to go into Indian territory to take the Bahá’í message to these people in accordance with the beloved Guardian’s request. Others are serving as circuit teachers to rural areas.

After gaining permission from their Local Spiritual Assembly, the Bahá’í youth of Rio de Janeiro organized the annual summer school and conducted a successful series of courses designed around Bahá’í books.

[Page 777]Bahá’í YOUTH ACTIVITIES 777

Hand of the Cause Hermann Grossmann with the Bahá’í Children’s Group of Otavalo, Ecuador.

The Bahá’í youth of Curitiba, Brazil regularly visit an orphanage, sometimes showing moving pictures acquired from the American Consul. The parents of these children are lepers. One of the youth gave a very interesting talk on the United Nations on television, ably supported by visual aids. Several months later, a large number of the Bahá’í youth and their friends participated in a television program on “Human Rights”.

The youth of Bahia, Brazil, on returning from the Annual Convention in Rio de Janeiro, placed Bahá’í posters in the most important points of the city. Many people asked about the Faith after having seen these posters. Later, three youth gave Bahá’í talks on the radio. Other teaching techniques have been the distribution of Bahá’í pamphlets to students attending certain lectures at the University of Bahia, and insertion of a series of articles on the Faith in a local newspaper.

EUROPE The British Isles In England there was increased youth activity during the second year of the World Crusade. London Bahá’í youth conducted debates in London and

Reading, in 1954, using as one of their resolutions: “This house believes in God, and therefore in the Bahá’í Faith.” They planned various kinds of parties to make new friends, including rambles and outings when the weather was good. With the help of the Manchester Spiritual Assembly, Miss Surreya Doctoroglu formed a Bahá’í Society at the University of Manchester, where several successful meetings have been held, including one addressed by Hand of the Cause Hermann Grossmann, who spoke on “Science and Religion”. A single Bahá’í youth at Oxford, attending Balliol College, where the Guardian studied when he was at Oxford, conducted regular firesides. Mr. Leroy Ioas, Hand of the Cause, spoke at one of these firesides.

An ‘Iráqi Bahá’í youth studying in England had an unusual way of teaching. He designed an attractive portfolio containing pictures of the Temple in Wilmette and the Shrines in the Holy Land and attractive pamphlets on various aspects of the Faith. These he showed wherever he went. The British National Youth publication The Voice of Youth, in 1954, described youth activity in Leeds, Bristol and Southsea and spoke of

[Page 778]778

youth pioneers who had settled in Cambridge, Bristol, Cardiff, Leeds and Leicester.

When the annual British Youth Conference was held in April 1956. there were thirty—one youth present from different sections of Britain. Nine towns reported on their activities. Members of the National Spiritual Assembly told them of the immediate needs facing the country before Riḍván, and reminded them, “Our members are few. The most that we can do is the least that we can do.”

The British experimented with a number of schools in 1957. They held their first Bahá’í youth spring school from April 12—17 in Bournemouth. Forty youth came from all over Britain to study together. Each day they had a lecture on the history of the Bahá’í Faith; a choice of study classes on administration or on the Jewish, Christian, Islamic and Bahá’í Faiths; and a class in public speaking. Afternoon activities varied. Evening programs included a twenty-questions panel, slides of Haifa and Wilmette, and a fancy dress ball with a midnight hamburger roast following it.

Youth also attended summer school at Derby Hall, one of the colleges of Liverpool University, and a youth school at Cardifi‘.

The first Bahá’í youth week-end school, planned by the British Youth Committee, was held in Scotland February 23—24, 1957. It was attended by youth from Edinburgh, Glasgow and Belfast, and by students whose original homes were England, India, Tran, Shetland Islands, Ireland, Scotland and Pakistan. They had talks on “Who Is Baha’u’Ilah ’2”, “The Bahá’í Faith and the Individual”, “God and the Soul of Man”, “The Bahá’í Faith and World Problems” and “Building a New World”.

A similar week-end school was held in Reading, England and another was held during the summer in the northernmost outpost of the British Isles, at Lerwick in the Shetland Islands.

Paul Adams, who was the editor of The Voice of Youth, resigned in order to go to Spitzbergen as a pioneer. While waiting for permission to go to the island, he settled in Norway to help with the work there and to get as close as he could to his goal. Denmark Assisted by their Persian friends, the youth committee of Copenhagen held a successful “Persian Evening” social and

THE Bahá’í WORLD

teaching event. The hall was decorated with beautiful Persian carpets and art objects. Persian music was played, and short talks were given on Persian culture, history and religion.

The Local Spiritual Assembly of Gentofte has appointed a youth committee which has planned several interesting series of weekly youth meetings to provide an opportunity for young people to express their thoughts freely and to increase their knowledge of various cultures. The committee also publishes a Youth Magazine every nineteen days. Some of the issues are translated and sent to about fifteen other countries which frequently send their youth publications in exchange or submit letters containing interesting news of youth activity.

Belgium The field of action for youth activities in Belgium centers around Liége where a good number of yofith have swelled the ranks of the Faith, particularly in university and high school circles. Similarly, in Louvain, at the Technical Trade School at Charleroi, and at the University of Brussels, there are Bahá’í youth. With this groundwork and arousal of keen interest in the schools, it is anticipated that enrollments of both youth and adults will be increased sizeably. Luxembourg The first European International Bahá’í Summer School, which was held in Echternach, Luxembourg, in 1959, was addressed by Hand of the Cause Hermann Grossmann.

Four communities of the Grand Duchy: Luxembourg, Esch, Dudelange and Differdange shared, on successive Saturday evenings, at regular program of discussion socials attended by Bahá’í youth and their friends. France French youth activities are usually woven in with the activities of the communities in which the youth live, and many of the French Bahá’í youth are carrying full administrative loads as young adults.

Persian Bahá’í youth are assisting Bahá’í teaching work in French colleges and communities as they are all over the world. It is difficult to assess the value of these youth who are, some of them, third and fourth generation Bahá’ís, steeped in the traditions of the martyrs, ardent in their desire to serve the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.

An Egyptian youth, Hussein Saad—el-Din, went as a pioneer to Lyons and conducted youth meetings every week in his apartment.

[Page 779]Bahá’í YOUTH ACTIVITIES

He was unable to get a work permit, but he remained at his post upon the request of the beloved Guardian. On February 27, 1958, after two days of illness from what seemed to be an abcessed tooth, he died. He was to have been one of the delegates to the historic convention for the establishment of the first National Spiritual Assembly of France in April 1958.

An American youth who came to France with her parents, who settled in Chateauroux, went to Orleans to live, and became twentyone in time to become a member of the reinstated Assembly for that community. She carried a full adult load and conducted the children‘s class.

Bahá’í youth activities in France have been under the direction of a National Youth Committee since 1958. In 1961, two National Youth Committees were appointed, one for the northern region and one for the southern region. These committees have been active in writing Bahá’í articles, developing youth speakers and planning and holding meetings.

Young Bahá’ís of France have the opportunity of attending not only their own, but the summer schools of nearby countries and the annual International Youth Summer School.

The fifth annual summer school in France, held in 1960 at La Roche, Posay, witnessed the first inclusion of children’s classes in the program. Prayers and The Hidden Words were studied, as well as the history of the Faith. Each child compiled his own notebook containing creative drawings, quotations, and prayers to be memorized. The children conducted the morning devotions on the closing day of the school, saying prayers in French, English and Persian. Among the participants in this school were twenty-three youth: thirteen from France, eight from Belgium, one from Italy and one from England.

A high point in 1962 was the first Regional Youth School of France which was held in the city of Orleans on the week-end of April 14—15. Friends attended from Marseilles, Strasbourg, Lyons, Paris, Olivet and Orleans. In addition to formal study classes, a large fireside was held the last evening, featuring talks and a social period.

Portugal Sponsored by the youth committee of Almada, Bahá’í youth and their friends

779

from Almada, Lisbon, Amadora and Queluz chartered a large bus for an excursion May 28, 1961, which afforded an opportunity for Bahá’í discussion and fellowship.

Italy and Switzerland The Bahá’í youth of Italy and Switzerland first met together during the convention of 1953. Since that time they have gathered at other conventions and summer schools to consult on mutual problems. They have discovered one difficulty in that they speak four different languages. The summer school at Bex-les-Bains, Switzerland gave them an opportunity to discuss “The Part of Youth in the Ten Year Crusade”, “Contacting and Confirming Youth in the Faith” and “Bahá’í Youth Living in a non-Bahá’í World”. The youth from Italy and Switzerland met again during the Annual Convention for those countries in April 1955. They decided to share ideas through a page in the national bulletin.

Jerry Bagley, a Bahá’í youth from the United States, has been taking part in ItaloSwiss activities. He studied Italian strenuous1y so that he could pass the examination for admission to the University of Sicily. He became friendly with young members of the nobility in Italy, made contact with the first person to become a Bahá’í in Sicily, and helped with the development of the first Assembly in Sicily (Palermo), formed in April 1958, on which he was too young to serve.

The fifth annual Bahá’í Youth Winter School of Italy and Switzerland opened December 26, 1959 in the charming mountain village of Evolene, Switzerland. Abundant snow and a warm fire greeted the friends and contacts upon their arrival. About fifty-five youth, children and “the young-at—heart” gathered together, representing six countries, assuring the usual international character of this school. For the first time, a large delegation from several Italian communities participated.

The 1960—61 session met at the ski resort of Leysin in the Swiss Alps. About fifty Bahá’ís and their friends gathered for ten days, coming from Italy, Switzerland, France, England, Luxembourg, Monaco and Belgium. A large number of these were pioneers, from four continents.

The program of study was divided into two daily sessions: after breakfast and before

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THE Bahá’í WORLD

Italo—Swiss Youth Winter School held in Goldiwil, Switzerland.

supper. Late mornings and early afternoons were free for enjoying winter sports such as skiing and ice-skating.

At the suggestion of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Perugia, Italy, Persian Bahá’í students of the area divided into three teams of six each. Each group volunteered to walk through a different part of Umbria to bring the glad tidings of Bahá’u’lláh to all the villages and towns along the way. During the three tours that took place during July and August of 1961, the teams walked over 400 miles and visited over 260 villages in central Italy. They presented the Faith to at least 4,000 persons.

About sixty youth of various nationalities attended the Bahá’í Youth Winter School which was held from December 25 through January 1, 1962 at the Hotel,Waldpark in Goldiwil, Switzerland. Morning classes were given in both French and English, utilizing The Kita'b-i-fqa’n and Some Answered QuesZions.

Afternoons were taken up with hikes, ice-skating and interesting discussions. Every evening after dinner, some activity was planned, such as a talent show, slides, games and dancing. One evening there was a talk on the origin of Negro spirituals and a talk describing a pilgrimage to Haifa.

Climaxing the school, a New Year’s Eve party was successfully organized. The presence of many non-Bahá’í guests naturally added to the happiness of the Bahá’í youth.

Padua, Italy was the host city on July 22,

1962 to the largest meeting of Bahá’í youth and friends ever assembled in Italy to that date. Thirty-nine people attended the conference, of which nine were non—Bahá’í’s, from thirteen cities including Venice, Milan, Florence, Genoa and Bari.

A program given by the children of the Bahá’í class in Geneva, Switzerland included prayers by the children in French, English, Urdu and Persian; Bahá’í songs, piano music, a story from the life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, a report of the year’s activities, a talk about the Faith and discussion of the twelve principles.

The seeds of the Faith may lie dormant for many years, as many Bahá’ís have been able to testify from their own experience. A remarkable occurrence was told by Marzieh Gail and recorded in the Geneva News Exchange in 1956. One of the refugees from Hungary was a Bahá’í who had learned of the Faith in a strange and wonderful way. When he was a boy of 16, he was placed in a concentration camp for Jews in 1944. Another deportee, a Polish lawyer, talked to him about the Faith. No one had any food, but the lawyer had been hoarding a carrot in his pocket. He gave the carrot to his new friend, saying, “You are young. Perhaps you will survive. If you ever hear about the Bahá’í teachings, pay attention. Do not turn away.” Then the lawyer, Leonti Kopetski, died. Four years later the young man read of an interview with a Czechoslovakian diplomat who had seen the Bahá’í Temple in Wilmette and who spoke of a woman of Hungarian descent who

[Page 781]Bahá’í YOUTH ACTIVITIES 781

Bahá’í Youth Summer School in Schlitz, near Fulda, Germany.

was living in South America. The young man wrote to Gwen Sholtis, in care of the Bahá’í Temple in Wilmette, Illinois. She taught him the Faith by correspondence.

Germany and Austria The German Bahá’í youth publish an excellent little magazine Bahá’í Jugendbrief, of ten to twenty pages in which they tell of their many activities. In March 1957 it had its tenth birthday. World Youth Day has been regularly observed, with meetings held in various cities.

Winter schools and summer schools are well attended by Bahá’í youth in Germany who come from surrounding and distant areas. Youth from Germany also often attend Bahá’í schools held in other parts of Europe. In August 1954 the “summer week” in Ueberlingen on Lake Constance (Boden See) found thirty-eight youth from Denmark, Norway, the United States, Persia, Switzerland, as well as Germany, on hand to consider such subjects as “How do we stand in the world in this Bahá’í age?”, “Youth in the first hundred years of the Bahá’í Faith”, “Excerpts from letters of young pioneers”, “Atomic age—Bahá’í age” and others.

An autumn conference was held October 9-10, 1954 at Ludwigsburg, and the following year, on December 26, a winter meeting took place at Oberndorf on the Neckar, at which

forty youth combined Bahá’í study and skiing.

A very successful winter school was held on Mt. Schauinsland in the southern Black Forest December 26, 1957—January 4, 1958, attended by ninety and, on some days, over one hundred people, among whom were thirty non-Bahá’í’s. Eight different countries were represented: Arabia, Persia, Iceland, Norway, England, Switzerland, Austria and Germany. The main subject for the sessions, “Religion and Man in the Machine Age”, was introduced by Martin Aifl‘. Dr. Hermann Grossmann, Hand of the Cause, and his wife, Anna Grossmann, Auxiliary Board member, contributed a great deal to the interest and spirit of the discussions. As usual, the beautiful surroundings added to the enjoyment of the school, with skiing, long walks, dancing and humorous anecdotes told by Persian friends.

Over twenty Bahá’í youth took part in a Karlsruhe “Conversation” held November 2—3, 1957, which resulted, according to the Jugendbrief report, in a strong feeling of unity among youth wherever they might be carrying on the Bahá’í way of life.

Rolf Haug, one of the Bahá’í youth of Germany, became a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh when he pioneered to one of the World Crusade goals of his country. He arrived at his post before his twenty-first birthday.

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The German Bahá’í youth gathered together December 26, 1958 to January 5, 1959 for their annual winter school at the Schauinsland in the Black Forest. More than eighty young people from Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, France, England, America, Korea and Germany came to spend ten days in the beautiful surroundings in order to deepen their knowledge of the Faith. Besides studying and discussing the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, there were hours left for skiing and other winter fun.

About twenty—five young Bahá’ís gathered on October 11 and 12, 1959 at the modern Youth Hostel of Heidelberg to study the teachings of the Bahá’í Faith in relation to present-day problems. On the first night, Dr. Udo Schaefer spoke about Bahá’í Administration, laying special emphasis on the administrative needs for a united world community. Next day, Frau Anna Grossmann spoke on teaching problems, the true meaning of the declaration and of confirmation after declaration. René Steiner also talked about the duty and privilege of every individual Bahá’í to be a teacher. Toward the end of the conference, each attendant was assigned a topic on which to speak for two or three minutes. This “game” proved to be very useful, as each person had to speak freely before an audience—some for the first time.

On March 26—27, 1960 Bahá’í youth from eight German cities and towns gathered at a youth hostel in Karlsruhe. Talks and discussions centered around the theme of “Ideals versus Idols”. Evenings were topped off with music and recreation.

World Youth Day in Bonn to'ok the form, in 1960, of devotions and discussions in the morning and a social gathering with Bahá’í friends and contacts in the afternoon.

World Youth Day programs were conducted in Germany during 1961 in Stuttgart, Bonn and Hamburg. About eighty Bahá’í youth and their contacts heard talks on, and discussed such topics as: “The Significance of Being a Bahá’í Today” and “Working for World Unity”.

World Youth Day 1962 found meetings scheduled for three German cities: Kiel, Tfibingen and Aachen (changed to Essen due to an epidemic). The sessions featured inspirational talks, breakfast meetings in local restaurants, and social afternoons spent

THE Bahá’í WORLD

discussing what had been heard and visiting nearby castles and other historic sites.

An interesting summer school, organized in the form of a tent city, was held in southern Germany, August 14—26, 1962 on the shores of Lake Constance. Attended primarily by the age group below twenty, it devoted attention to such topics as: “Religion in Daily Life”, “Young Bahá’ís as Citizens” and “The Development of Mankind through Progressive Religion”.

AFRICA

Egypt The friends in Egypt, notwithstanding many limitations, have persevered in their work. Auxiliary Board member Muhammad Mustapha reported: “The friends in Egypt feel more zeal and ardour for teaching the Faith. . . A youth of 24 years, Nabil Mustaphé, in his final years of medicine, had fifteen days to spare. Immediately after his exams, he did not lose a moment and left for Aswan, the remotest provincial capital of Upper Egypt, which is very hot in summer. All the money he could procure was fifteen dollars and the railroad ticket. He stayed in a modest hotel in Aswan and economized on his meals, eating a piece of bread and some beans for his most substantial meal of the day, so that he would have money to spend on refreshments for his guests. Such was the life he had for his two weeks, during which time he established contacts with over twenty people, including students and merchants. Nabil also made friends with some members of the Baflariyyah tribe, which is an extension of the 2010 who live in the eastern part of the Sfidan along the Red Sea. Some other contacts were Nubians, who live along the Nile between Aswan and Wadi Halfa of sedan. This Nubian area is not of the same tribal system living in the Nubian mountains of the Southern Sfidan. It was a very pleasant surprise for him to find that some of the Nubians who worked some time ago in the dining and sleeping cars of the Palestine Railways knew the Holy Shrines and still remembered the name ‘ ‘Abbés Effendi’. Nabil believes that if some of these Nubians embrace the Faith, the Call of God will be widely heard throughout that territory. On his return, Nabil was seen off by ten of his contacts who came to the station to bid him good-bye.”

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For the first time girls were allowed to take part in the youth summer school, held in 1954 at Ramleh, near Alexandria, on the Mediterranean Sea. The girls were accommodated in rooms; tents were erected for the boys. The Egyptian youth held three sessions of ten days each to take care of all who wanted to attend their school, where the following subjects were discussed: “The Goal of the New World Order”, “Prescription for Living”, “Renewal of Civilization”, “The Holy Book of the Aqdas” and “Principles of Bahá’í Conduct”. On November 4, a Bahá’í youth convention was held at the national headquarters in Cairo with representatives from all the local youth committees in Egypt: Cairo, Alexandria, Port Said, Ismailia, Suez and Mansourah. Youth symposiums were held in December in five of these cities.

On September 22 and 23, 1955 Egyptian Bahá’í youth attended a convention in Egypt and discussed such topics as “Marriage Problems”, “Dispelling Misunderstandings amongst Individuals in Families”, “Paternal Care”, “Teaching in a Practical Way”, “Internal and External Pioneering”, “Summer Schools” and “Purchase of Land for a Mashriqu’l-A®kar in Cairo”. From the consultation came suggestions for the translation of Twenty-Five Years of the Guardianship by Rúḥíyyih Rabbani, for ways of using vacation time for teaching, the advisability of choosing colleges in areas where teaching work is needed, for offering to provide room and board for high school youth so that their parents would be able to go abroad to pioneer. The youth discussed the importance of prayers and of contributing to the Bahá’í Fund.

As a result of the efforts of the Bahá’í Youth Committee of Alexandria, a Bahá’í calendar has been prepared for the Bahá’í year 116 (1959—60). This interesting and practical calendar is keyed to the Gregorian calendar and is printed in both English and Arabic. Bahá’í anniversaries and holy days are indicated.

Ethiopia In Asmara, the secretary of a local youth committee formed for the first time in February 1957, reported the accomplishments of the year in that community. Kebede Wolde Selassie reported that the committee met every week to plan activities. Every second week the youth held a conference at

783

which youth gave lectures on various aspects of the Faith, read from appropriate passages in Paris Talks, and had questions and discussions. On Bahá’í feast days, the youth are given half an hour for the presentation of talks. During the summer the youth met three times a week for continuing study of Shoghi Effendi’s The Dispensation Of Bahá’u’lláh, Biblical texts, and “Questions Answered in the Bahá’í Writings”. They offered their services to visit nearby towns to teach. They also undertook, at the suggestion of the Spiritual Assembly, a translation of Bahd’u’[kill and the New Era. They helped with the Bahá’í summer school, giving seven of the lectures and showing a spirit of loving service. Two of the youth were inspired to pioneer as a result of their study of the Ten Year Crusade.

Morocco Mr. Zia Riḍváni and his wife, Bahíyyih, left their baby with a Bahá’í family in iran, and taking their four-year-old child with them, went as the first Iranian Bahá’ís to pioneer to Casablanca under the Ten Year Plan. They arrived in March 1954, and stayed until the establishment of a Local Spiritual Assembly, after which they pioneered to Rabat, where they assisted in establishing the second Assembly for the territory. They left a luxurious home to go where conditions of living are very difl‘lcult. Soon after their arrival, they began to study the French and Moroccan languages and to acquire friends among the residents.

Tunisia In Tunisia there are five youth pioneers. One of them, Mustapha e1 Beji, originally a Tunisian teacher in Libya, was expelled for being a Bahá’í. After suffering much, including a period of imprisonment for the sake of his beloved Bahá’u’lláh, he settled in Sfax, where he was made to suffer again from the troubles raised against him by the ‘ulamas. As a graduate of the Zeitouna Muslim College, he was able to silence the voices raised against him by his sound proofs. Uganda Mr. Banani, Hand of the Cause for Africa, announced in 1956 the founding of a Bahá’í school in Uganda. Mr. Gutosi of Mbale paid 100 shillings a month toward the salary of a teacher for forty-seven children in Bululo. The parents also paid a small sum. He was able to get permission to use a building from the firm which employed him.

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An inter-racial kindergarten has been founded in Kampala, Uganda in which are enrolled children of African, Indian, Chinese, Goan and British backgrounds drawn from the Christian, Muslim, Sikh and Hindu religious communities. Forty children attend the school held in the founder’s home. It is equipped with brightly colored tables and chairs, blackboards, books, toys, paints and modelling clay. Outdoors is the grassy playground where each person who passes is taught a lesson in racial unity by observing the children playing together.

On July 3, 1961 two Bahá’í primary schools were opened in the villages of Tilling, Teso District and Dusai, Bukedi District—both in eastern Uganda. Thirty-six boys and girls have been enrolled at the Tilling School and twenty-one at the school in Dusai. Named in memory of Hand of the Cause Louis Gregory and dedicated by Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum last January, the schools welcome children from Bahá’í homes and from other religious backgrounds.

Rhodesia On February 18, 1962, the first Bahá’í children’s class was held at the Salisbury Motel School. The children were told that the class would start at 9:30 am, but they were there at 7:30 am, patiently waiting for class to start. The response the first Sunday was far greater than hoped for. There were an estimated 90 to 100 children. The next Sunday there were 112 children, some of them from Bahá’í parents, but mostly non-Bahá’ís. The fourth Sunday there were “4 in attendance ranging in age from six to fifteen years of age.

South and West Africa The National Youth Committee of South and West Africa exhorted

THE BAHA’l WORLD

the youth of the area to expend their utmost efforts in support of the Ten Year Crusade. They encouraged youth participation in feasts, organization and participation in study classes for deepening, spreading the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, and full co-operation with all Bahá’í administrative bodies. They invited all youth of the area to correspond with the National Youth Committee in order to consult on youth matters and to provide news items for the Youth Newsletter.

The Education Department of Swaziland gave consent for the erection of a Bahá’í School in September 1962. It was another milestone in the establishment and recognition of the Faith in that region. The school is a community project. Blocks were made by the Bahá’ís, a Bahá’í contractor erected the building, trips were made from other communities to help with the painting, putting up of blackboards, pin-up boards, making cupboards, etc. Beautiful desks were built in the garage of a Bahá’í family of another town, and were transported to the. school in the lorry of still another Bahá’í. Those who could not give time contributed money so that others could work in their stead.

School is being carried on with three teachers and an increasing number of children in five grades. Many are watching the project with interest as it is a thickly populated African area. They are intrigued to see Africans and Europeans working side by side to build something that is not for the Europeans, but is to be the property of the African Bahá’í Community and for the benefit of all the African children who wish to come.