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INTERNATIONAL SURVEY OF CURRENT BAHA’l ACTIVITIES
303
C. ASIA
DURING the Six Year Plan, more than one million souls embraced the Cause in Asia. Although such large-scale enrolment in the Faith provided a special energy and excitement to the work on the continent, it was not new to the region, which boasted a number of devoted fourth~generation believ— ers. Thus the believers were also able to focus their energies on the major challenge of channelling this widespread love and belief into knowledge and action that would transform communities.
Several Baha’i principles, identified at the beginning of the Plan as needing attention if communities were to truly develop, were given particular focus. Extreme conditions of inequality between men and women, for example, and lack of full participation by women in Baha’i activities were addressed with education and encouragement. Illiteracy among much of the rural population was confronted by ever—expanding development proj ects. Believers were trained for their work in the administrative order with semi- nars and educational materials. Efforts were made to reach individuals with formal edu- cation and prominence so that their expertise could be called upon during this complex process of social change.
“It is not enough to expand the rolls of Baha’i membership, Vital as that is”, wrote the Universal House of Justice in its Ridvén message of 1989. “Souls must be trans— formed, communities thereby consolidated, new models of life thus attained.” The Baha’is of Asia reached out in a variety of directions to pursue this noble goal.
Large—scale Enrolment
Dramatic teaching campaigns that led to large—soale enrolment were certainly among the most striking of all the activities carried out on the continent of Asia. In an area of the world with firmly rooted traditions of social separation based on religion, gender, education, and cultural background, Baha’i
teachers found hundreds of thousands of people eager to embrace Baha’u’llah’s Teachings about the oneness of mankind.
In India, Where the legal abolition of the caste system had not eliminated long- standing attitudes Which support it, the Baha’i community more than doubled its membership, reaching well over two million believers. The State Baha’i Councils, created in 1986, launched approximately three hundred teaching projects, and the number of believers participating in teaching and consolidation activities multiplied ten times. Groups of Baha’i teachers followed in the footsteps of the late Hand of the Cause of God Dr. Rahmatu’llah Muhajir, often carry- ing out their teaching in his name.
In the state of Uttar Pradesh, an estimated 100,000 people enrolled during one month of teaching organized by the State Baha’i Council. Three simultaneous projects held in June 1988 focussed on women, youth, and families. The percentage of women account— ing for enrolments was impressive compared to previous experience in India.
A variety of methods were used to pursue the enormous task of consolidation in Uttar Pradesh. Audio—cassettes with a talk in the Hindi language, the Words of God, Baha’i prayers, and Baha’i Temple dedication music were prepared. On another audio-cas— sette, information on the history of the Faith, the Covenant, the administration, and the principles were all woven into a folk song sung in typical village style which was taped by one of the Village groups. In addition, typical Village—style dramas using various Baha’i subjects were being prepared for Video—taping and mass distribution. A pup— pet show was also being developed.
Late in 1988, the State Baha’i Council of Uttar Pradesh arranged for nine people— members of the Continental Board of Coun- sellors, the Auxiliary Board, the National Spiritual Assembly, and development proj ect staff—uto Visit six Villages. The Village of
304
Rajja—ka-Purwa of Panchayat Bamnouti—~a full Baha’i Village—was holding regular Local Spiritual Assembly meetings, Nine- teen Day Feasts, Fund collections, children’s classes, tutorial school sessions and socio- economic development programmes. The Continental Board of Counsellors reported that because of the Visitors, “for the first time, the village women dressed in their finery and sat on the same ground as the menfolk”. In another Village, “because of a large number of women guests, the Village women came shyly forward to sit alongside the menfolk for the first time. Usually for any Video film they sit on the roofs so the men can’t see them. At every Village the women were encouraged to respond and did so.”
Teaching projects dedicated to the late Hand of the Cause Dr. Muhajir were carried out in the states of Tamil Nadu, Orissa and Karnataka.
The success of the Muhajir Project in Tamil Nadu—more than 5,000 enrolled dur- ing a siX-month periodwinspired a second phase which then outstripped the first in its achievements. In a nine-week period, 14,000 people embraced the Teachings of Baha’u’lléh.
Near the closing of the first part of the project, a Counsellor, three Auxiliary Board members, three State Council members and about thirty-five of the teachers involved in the proj ect gathered in high spirits to evalu— ate its success. It was determined at this conference that the proj ect consisted of three movements.
The first movement was a series of teach- ing campaigns. The process consisted of a teaching conference, a call for volunteers fol- lowed by an institute for the volunteers, and finally, the launching of the teaching cam- paign. During the campaign, five days were spent teaching and enrolling new believers, and on the sixth day the teachers returned to the areas where the teaching had taken place and invited the new believers to a deepening class in a nearby Village. The seventh day
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was spent praying and meditating upon the Word of God and attending deepening classes. Following this, the teachers were expected to maintain contact with the new believers through Visits and correspondence.
The second movement involved the cre- ation of a task force for permanent teaching activities. Members travelled to the new areas, conducted deepening classes and invited the more enthusiastic new Baha’is to institutes at central locations. In every Village a teaching committee was formed to organize Feasts, children’s classes and youth activities, establish literacy classes where possible, hold deepenings, and communicate with the State Baha’i Council. The commit— tee also encouraged as many believers as possible to attend the election of the Local Spiritual Assembly for the area.
The third movement was intended to cre— ate strong Local Spiritual Assemblies from the very outset. Assistants to the Auxiliary Board members were appointed in all areas. The task force, along with the local commit- tees and the assistants, carried out local teaching projects. Thus, teaching campaigns, activities to strengthen local communities, and expansion at the local level were all being carried out simultaneously.
The dynamic example of Dr. Muhajir was also the inspiration for a teaching and consolidation project in Orissa held from May to November 1990. Earlier in the Plan, Orissa had experienced large~scale enrolment, including 2,600 declarations in October 1988, a number which rose to 5,150 by early December. The Muhajir Project of 1990, which itself brought 1,750 people into the Faith, gave particular attention to consol— idation.
Of the newly enrolled Baha’is, 95 were particularly encouraged to attend Permanent Teaching Institute courses, to work with the Mobile Deepening Institute, to go to local conferences, and to participate in Assembly teaching activities. As a result of this imme- diate involvement in the Faith, sixty of these new Baha’is immediately began assuming
INTERNATIONAL SURVEY OF CURRENT BAHA’l ACTIVITIES
responsibilities in their home communities by assisting in the conducting of Nineteen Day Feasts, Holy Day programmes, and children’s classes.
One goal of this Muhajir Project was to revisit the mountainous west of Orissa and to deepen the many tribal people who had accepted the Faith out of love but whose understanding of its teachings was relatively limited. This goal was vigorously pursued and resulted in a good number of believers with deepened understanding and knowl- edge of the Faith.
The Muhajir Project launched in Karna- taka in July 1988 won the support of the District Assistant Commissioner and the Chairman of the town municipality and brought wide media coverage. Five district- level newspapers reported all the Baha’i activities, and one paper agreed to publish “Baha’i Views” as a regular weekly feature. The project attracted more than three hun— dred people from colleges and offices to embrace the Faith.
Professionals and more formally educated people became Baha’is in other regions of India as well. A significant percentage of the 20,000 people who joined the Cause in the Morena District of Madhya Pradesh in 1988 were doctors, engineers, schoolteachers, and other professionals.
In remote Gumla, India, approximately 7,000 people in Villages scattered among the hills and valleys in thick forests were also touched by the Teachings of Baha’u’llah. The people had never embraced any estab— lished religion before.
Successes like those in India were also experienced by its northeastern neighbour, Bangladesh. The Baha’i community there increased five-fold, with one hundred Vil— lages becoming almost completely Baha’i.
A public gathering on peace held in the District of Khulna, Bangladesh, at the begin- ning of the Plan created a great deal of interest in Baha’u’llah’s Teachings. A part of the talk given by an Auxiliary Board member before 150 people was broadcast on
305
Radio Pakistan, and the meeting was reported in six newspapers, mostly on their front pages. The National Assembly reported that following this event, “Every day, both morning and evening, editors and reporters have been Visiting to contact the Baha’is in their houses! They come to col- lect information for their papers as well as for themselves.”
In August 1986, the first Baha’i press conference in the history of Bangladesh was organized by the Local Assembly of Mymensingh, with all twenty—four invited representatives of national and local news- papers attending. Focusing on the Interna— tional Year of Peace, the presentation drew praise from the audience. When questions were invited from the members of the press, an editor said, “We have nothing to say except to appreciate the Baha’i Faith, and these goals are our hearts’ wishes...please say what kind of help we can offer.”
Positive public relations and intensive teaching activity caused the total number of Baha’is in Bangladesh to almost double between September 1988 and September 1989. Much of the activity took place in Khulna. The Quddfis Project, which began in that district in November 1988, had brought 7,500 seekers into the Cause by October 1989. A highlight was the enrol- ment of two entire Villages of the Monda Adibashi tribe and the formation of its first Local Assembly.
Bangladesh surpassed its Six Year Plan goal for Local Assembly formation, raising the number from 143 to 630. In the Rajshahi District, Assemblies were formed despite considerable obstacles, such as communica— tion problems, lack of books in the local language, illiteracy, and the extreme poverty of the tribal people. About twenty youth contributed to the formation of sixty Assem— blies during five months of a special project in 1991. During this time, three of the Vil- lages in Rajshahinalimpur, Bahanpur and Fullmri-were named “model Baha’i Vil— lages” by the Regional Teaching Committee;
306 THE BAHA’i WORLD
All over Asia, Baha’i communities dra— matically expanded. In the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, one of the community’s Six Year Plan goals was fu1fi11ed when three hundred people enrolled and fifteen locali— ties were opened during a f0ur~week period, allowing the establishment of twenty-five Local Assemblies. The number of Bahé’is in the Philippines increased by 37,000. The Hong Kong community more than doubled during the Plan. The Pakistani community tripled. And in Taiwan, the increase was more than seven hundred per cent.
The power of the performing arts in stimulating 1arge~sca1e enrolment was dem- onstrated in Hong Kong and Thailand. One of the tours of the Wildfire Theatre Group, composed of youth from Australia and New Zealand, generated unprecedented media coverage for the Faith in Hong Kong, in both Chinese and English-language news- papers and on television and radio. As the first entertainment group ever to enter nine Vietnamese Refugee Camps and Detention Centres, they won the admiration and praise of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and local Social Service Agencies. The National Assembly credited the five tal- ented youth With advancing entry by troops in the territory “through their untiring and noble efforts”.
During Wildfire’s tour of southern Thai— land in November 1989, more than 8,000
Bahd ’z's consulting during the Vajdi Memorial T eaching Project held on Great Nicobar from 21 February to
9 March 1990.
students and teachers saw the dynamic performances of the Baha’i youth. After the shows, held in universities, schools, col- leges, public parks——and‘ even one benefit for the flood Victims of Chumpon Prov- ince-850 young people became Bahé’is. The Thai youth contributed much to the teaching work of the seven—day tour and added their beautiful Malay and Indian clas- sical dances to the shows. The tour helped to raise the total of new believers in the south of Thailand to 1,900 (between June and November).
People of All Backgrounds The Cause of God has room for all. It would, indeed, not be the Cause of God if it did not take in and welcome everyone- poor and rich, educated and ignorant, the unknown, and the prominentfiGod surely wants them all, as He created them 2111.1 In accord with this counsel, efforts to bring the healing Message of Bahé’u’lléh to large numbers of people were not limited by focus on certain geographic areas or particu— lar populations. Believers in Asia particularly expanded their efforts to share the Faith With individuals from a Wide variety of geo— graphic, cultural, and religious backgrounds.
1 From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, 10 December 1942.
INTERNATIONAL SURVEY OF CURRENT BAHA’l ACTIVITIES
Presentation of the Peace Statement to Mrs. Dissanayake, the wife of the Minister ofLands and Development of
Sri Lanka, on
7 June 1 988.
In the Philippines, the number of locali- ties with resident Baha’is rose from 5,500 to 7,300. This included the opening of 38 islands located near strong Baha’i communities, some of which accounted for the 38 new tribal areas opened to the Faith. The people on ten islands of Myanmar heard of the Faith for the first time.
Teaching in Taiwan resulted in all nine major tribes being represented in the Faith, with Local Assemblies established in six of the tribal areas. Assemblies made up entirely of tribal peoples were formed among the Tsao, Bunung, and Peinan. Also in Taiwan, the number of localities reached rose from 130 to 275. This included the opening of three islands which previously had no Baha’is.
Increases in localities were also achieved in J apan, where the goal of having Baha’is in all the country’s prefectures was reached for the first time; in Korea, where the goal of 300 localities was surpassed by more than 200; and in Pakistan, where the number of localities rose from 270 to more than seven hundred. The last remaining territorial goals named by Shoghi Effendi in his Ten Year Global Plan were fulfilled during the Six Year Plan when Sean Hinton opened Mon- golia in 1988 and Abbas and Rezvanieh Katirai settled in Sakhalin in 1990.
The teaching in Pakistan reached people from a variety of religious backgrounds. The
307
Saeed Hindi Teaching Proj ect, carried out in lower Punjab in February 1990, resulted in more than five hundred new believers from Muslim, Hindu, and Ahmadi backgrounds, and teaching among the Hindus in Sindh resulted in several thousand souls entering the Faith.
New tribes gaining representation in the Faith in Asia included the Monda and Arakan in Bangladesh, the Dhimal and Sherpa in Nepal, the Phuket Sea Gypsies in Thailand, and thirty-two ethnic groups in India. In Myanmar, members of the Eikaw, Insa, Naga, and Lwalla tribes were intro— duced to the Faith.
Prominent People In a Tablet to an individual believer, ‘Abdu’l- Baha advised: You should always seek to guide prom- inent people inasmuch as once such a person is regenerated he is likely to bring about the quickenz'ng ofa thousand souls. T has the Spirit of truth would flow forth unimpeded into the veins and arteries of a multitude.2 By Ridvan 1988, the Universal House of Justice noted “a remarkable display of inter- est” in the Baha’i community by prominent
2 Translated from the Persian, in Prominent People. Compiled by the Research Department of the Univer- sal House of Justice; 1990.
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In T hailana’, the Crown Prince receives the winning artpz'ece made by a youth during the country ’s National Youth Week in 1989. The gift is being offered by a youth representative of the Spiritual Assembly, which had been invited to make the presentation to the Prince.
In Nepal, the Minister of T ourt'sm, Ram Hari Joshy (left), awards a prize to one of the winners of the Baha ’z' youth song contest. The occasion was a Naw—RLZZ party held in Kathmandu which was attended by more than . . _
80 people, including _ ‘ 20 non—Baha ’z’s.
In Bangladesh,
Prime M in ister Begum Khadela Zia presents Counsellor Jabbar Eidelkhanz' (left), with the “Young Scientist Award 1990 ” during a ceremony in Dhaka 0n 5 July 1991.
The award was in recognition of
Mr. Eidelkhani ’s work on computers in. the Bengali language.
INTERNATIONAL SURVEY OF CURRENT BAHA’T ACTIVITIES
personalities, and by Ridvan 1992, it was ab1e to share the news that “the drive of the ramified proclamation campaign has pro- duced a pub1ic resonance about the Faith, which can be said to be known to the most significant public institutions and prominent persons on eart ”.
In Asia, the Mother Temple of the Indian Sub-continent, dedicated in New Delhi in December 1986, undoubtedly provided the greatest number of opportunities for promi- nent people to come in contact with the Faith (for details, see article on Indian Temple). However, persistent efforts by the believers in a variety of Asian countries to bring Bahé’u’llah’s Teachings to the attention of peop1e of capacity were also rewarded.
As occurred on other continents, many government authorities were introduced to the Faith through The Promise of World Peace. In addition to being distributed to ministers, ambassadors, and local officia1s, this Statement was presented to the Presi- dent of Bangladesh in December 1991; the Governor of Macau in April 1989; and the President of Singapore. In Korea, the State— ment was given to 2,000 notables throughout the P1an.
The presentation to the President of Bangladesh took place When a group of Baha’is was invited to the annual general meeting of the Society for the Rule of Law at which the President and the Finance Min— ister were the prominent guests. At the end of the meeting the two officials also received Call to the Nations and The Bahd’z’ Faith: An Introduction.
Baha’is invited in 1987 to attend birthday celebrations for Her Majesty Queen Sirikit of Thai1and had the great honour of present- ing the Peace Statement into the hands of Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn on 11 August at the Chitrlada Palace. Over 3,000 people were present, representing a whole range of business, cultural, social, and other organizations. Copies of the Statement were later presented to the King and Queen and the Prime Minister, through their secretaries.
309
The Spiritual Assembly of Hong Kong reported that significant progress was made in developing re1ationships with prominent peop1e in that country. Meetings were arranged and the Peace Message presented to 80 re1igious leaders, consuls general, edu- cators, business leaders, and press agencies. In 1991, the Anniversary of the Birth of Bahé’u’flah was celebrated in Hong Kong with a banquet attended by 82 people, includ— ing the Consuls General of Israel, Panama and Chile, representatives of the Xin Hua News Agency, and the Director of Environ- mental Protection for Hong Kong. The statement Bahd ’11 7162/1 and the Peace State- merit were presented as gifts.
Members of the Baha’i community of Thailand consulted with hundreds of people of capacity during the Plan, including re— presentatives of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, the UN High Commission for Refugees, the National Women’s Council, city mayors, college pro- fessors, and labor union representatives. The Constitution Drafting Committee of Thailand became aware of Baha’i Views when the Spiritual Assembly submitted selected Baha’i Writings to that body for its consideration in writing the new national constitution.
Prominent Baha’is visiting Taiwan were introduced to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, the Interior, and Communication; the Director of the Government Information Office; the Deputy Director of the Council of Agriculture; and the mayors of six cities. Contacts were established between Baha’is and lawyers, judges, and teachers. Opportu- nities for interacting with professionals increased after the Baha’i Office of the Environment for Taiwan was established in 1989.
Between 1988 and 1990, the Hand of the Cause of God Amatu’l—Baha Rfihiyyih K_hanum, accompanied by Mrs. Violette Nagavani, Visited mainland China four times. She met with numerous prominent peop1e, particularly in Beijing and Dalian,
310
showing slides of her trip to the Amazon entitled the “Green Light Expedition” to various distinguished guests, and addressed students and staff at Nankai University in Tianjin, where both Martha Root and Agnes Alexander had spoken during their Visits to China. Her four Visits included a one-month trip, in summer 1988, to Guangzhou (Canton), Urumqi, Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou and Guilin, as well as a one—week trip to Tibet in 1990.
In the fall of 1989 she made a fivehweek trip to Taiwan, during which she “circumam— bulated” that island, travelling over 2,000 kilometres and Visiting some of the mass— teaching areas, as well as its major cities; during this Visit she presented a special copy of the Peace Statement in Chinese to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Taiwan, was received by the Minister of the Interior and the Secretary-General of the National House of Representatives, and had interviews with several maj or newspapers.
While in the Far East she also attended a large formal banquet organized by the Spir— itual Assembly of Hong Kong in honour of the passage, by the Legislative Council, of “the Baha’i Ordinance” Act, and Visited Ulaan—Baatar in Mongolia for one week, in 1989.
In addition to presenting Baha’i Views through meetings with prominent people and presentations of the Peace Statement, the believers made contact with individuals and
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organizations working to solve problems which the Baha’i Writings address.
The National Assembly of the Philippines submitted two proposals to the Constitu- tional Commission in August 1986 for possible inclusion in the new constitution. The proposals concerned the provision of free education and the principle of inculcat- ing a consciousness of the essential unity of the human race as the only Viable standard for social and economic justice. In Taiwan, the Ministry of the Interior organized a spe— cial seminar called “Resolving Social Ills through the Teachings of the Baha’i Fait ”.
In Singapore, after a White Paper on the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Bill was published in 1990, the Government asked for feedback from the public, and the Spiritual Assembly submitted a statement. The As- sembly presented another statement on the core values the nation should be embracing after the government requested opinions on this subject.
Respect for Baha’i contributions was demonstrated in Macau when the Basic Law Consultative Committee invited the Spiritual Assembly to send three representatives to its first meeting with the Basic Law Drafting Committee from China in 1990. After pro— viding written documents on the history and status of the F aith, the Assembly was asked to submit its Views to the Committee in a formal paper.
Auxiliary Board member V. T hamil Chelvi Speaking about individual transforma— tion during an inter— faith seminar on “T he Role ofReligion in the Harmonious Blending 0fthe Soul F orce ” held at Coimbatore, India,
- on 12 January 1991.
[Page 311]
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Good relationships were also established with religious leaders in Asia. In October 1987 the Baha’is of India eo-sponsored a seminar called “Religion in the let Cen- tury” with the World Conference on Religion for Peace. During the 1991 gathering of the Asian Conference on Religion and Peace in Nepal, Baha’is participated in workshops, read prayers at the interfaith service, and pre— pared a statement on the Faith for publication in the conference magazine. A representa- tive of the Baha’i International Community was the only non—Buddhist speaker invited to address a public meeting in conjunction with the Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace in Mongolia in 1990.
Social and Economic Development
Asia stands out among the continents for its progress in the area of social and economic development, with more than 530 projects operating during the Plan. Tutorial schools, academic schools, literacy projects, and health care proj ects accounted for the maj or~ ity of the undertakings.
The Philippines operated a very successful programme of tutorial schools, each involv- ing one or more teachers conducting classes in reading and writing, character training, and other elementary subjects under the aus— pices of a Baha’i administrative institution. In 1992 it was reported that twenty such schools in the Philippines were serving more than five hundred students, over half of whom were girls.
The National Baha’i Development Institute in Bangladesh, which assumed responsibility for coordinating development programmes in the country in 1987, oversaw nineteen tutorial schools serving approximately three hundred students. In 1991 the New Garden School, operating from the National Baha’i Centre, reported an enrolment of 56 stu- dents.
The National Assembly of India oversaw the largest system of tutorial schools in the Baha’i world, with nearly two hundred pro- grammes and more than 10,500 students.
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Training courses for teachers enabled many of the schools to expand their activities beyond mere functional literacy and numer- acy to include a range of primary classes.
Fourteen tutorial schools operated under the auspices of the Rabbani School Rural Development Project in Madhya Pradesh, India. The Project served twenty Villages in the area of Gwalior. The schools taught the government curriculum plus moral education, personal health, and hygiene, each adminis- tered by the local community it served.
The Baha’is encouraged a number of educational initiatives at refugee camps in Thailand. In 1986 it was reported that a school at the Vietnamese “Site Two” camp had opened and was serving three hundred students in eight classes. Courses were taught in English and Chinese. In July 1986 a second school to teach English was opened With 90 students. Other schools existed at Khao 1 Dang and Khao 1 Dang Annex. Teachers at each of the schools contributed their services voluntarily. In 1989 the school at Ban Vinai refugee camp was reported to have 150 students.
Academic sehools—formally established institutions Which had or were seeking official accreditation from government authorities—— also operated, employing full-time staff, using rented or specially built facilities, and offering traditional academic subjects. With over 1,300 students, India’s Tadong Baha’i School was the largest full academic school operated by institutions of the Faith during the Plan. The school offered classes from nursery school through grade 10, having earned the reputation as one of the best schools in Sikkim.
The New Era High School in Panehgani, India, continued to successfully translate the ideals of Baha’i education into notable achievements. Having started operation in 1945, New Era is one of the longest-estab— lished Baha’i schools in the world. By the close of the Plan, it was offering schooling for over 550 boarders and 130 day students from kindergarten through grade 12.
312 THE BAHA’i WORLD
The Hand 0fthe Cause of God Amatu ’l—Bahd RLth'yyih I_{_h_dnum visiting with students fi'om the School of Nations in Macau 0n 4 May 1989.
The Prime Minister oflndia, Rajiv Gandhi (left), presents the “Indira Gandhi Friends of T rees Award—1986 ” t0 the Rabbtmi School.
Above: Pupils during one of their classes at the
T adong School in Ranz'pul, Sikkim, in 1991.
Left: Participants in the Bahd ’1' Children ’3 Institute held in Larut Matang, Malaysia, from 7 to
13 December 198 7.
INTERNATIONAL SURVEY OF CURRENT BAHA’i ACTIVITIES 313
In 1986 half of the grade 12 students at New Era passed their examinations with dis- tinction. In 1989 the grade 10 results helped place the school in the “merit” level among the schools in India. The School’s academic programme was recognized by London Uni- versity as able to conduct GCE “O” and “A” level examinations, and the school was rec- ognized by the Central Board of Secondary Education in New Delhi. The Junior College was also recognized by the Maharashtra Board of Education. During 1990 the science stream of the Junior College was begun, and a one—year kindergarten was re-established.
The Santitham School in Thailand, Which the Bahé’is began operating in 1971, em- barked on a large—scale programme of capital development over the period 19824992. In 1991 it was reported that the school had 50 students enrolled in the nursery school, 242 in the kindergarten, thirteen in the newly opened first primary grade class, and 35 in the commercial section.
Baha’i principles were also incorporated into the curriculum of the privately-operated School of the Nations in Macau, Which began operating in 1988. Offering a bilin- gual programme in English and Chinese, the school was serving 270 students represent- ing thirty—four nationalities by the end of the Plan.
Baha’i efforts to promote literacy, both through assisting with established pro~ grammes and developing new ones, received added stimulus when the Universal House of Justice sent a letter to all National Spiritual Assemblies in July 1989 emphasizing the critical importance of giving people access to the Holy Word. The House of Justice urged the believers to support the United Nations International Literacy Year 1990 and to con- tinue to seek opportunities to make progress in this area. National Baha’i literacy pro- grammes evolved during the Plan, with the development of appropriate literacy materi~ als being given greater priority. Nowhere was this process more noticeable than in India.
In 1991 the National Spiritual Assembly outlined the first phase of the National Baha’i Literacy Mission, which was devel- oped in consultation with the Indian Task Force for International Literacy Year. The programme was proposed to take place in seven Hindi—Speaking states, and to later expand to include Marathi—speaking states. Classes would be conducted by volunteers chosen by their State Baha’i Council in con- sultation with their Local Assembly and the Auxiliary Board members.
The Department of Social and Economic Development of India assumed responsibility for coordinating the training and arranging for the production and distribution of liter— acy materials. The proposal emphasized the importance of involving the State Baha’i Councils, the Local Spiritual Assemblies, and the Auxiliary Board members and their assistants in monitoring the programme.
The first training session was held in Delhi in March 1991. The last two days were devoted to the preparation of literacy materials in Hindi, which were soon field tested and made available to all Hindi- speaking areas of the country. In November 1991 literacy materials began being devel— oped in the Marathi language. Both the Hindi and Marathi materials offered a philo— sophical background, teachers’ notes, and practical lesson plans.
By 1992 it was reported that literacy classes, using the materials developed through the programme, had commenced in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. At the same time, literacy classes were also being sponsored regularly by the New Era Development Institute, the Rabbani School, the Baha’i Vocational Training Institute for Rural Women, and a number of local com- munities.
In Bangladesh, courses in literacy and vocational training were offered by the Baha’i Hostel to teenage boys from tribal Villages. The students were also deepened in the Faith so that they could assist with teach— ing, deepening, consolidation of Spiritual
314
Assemblies, and teaching children’s classes. All the graduates from the first year’s course achieved full literacy, and were expected to return to the villages to assist with teaching in the tutorial schools.
The third major type of development project undertaken in Asia, besides schools and literacy projects, involved health educa- tion and medical services.
A Health Awareness Project was launched in 1989 by the National Baha’i Women’s Committee of Malaysia, in response to requests from women from different areas of the country. The obj ective of the five—year programme was to assist women to be more self—reliant by providing education in health and child development.
The programme was implemented in three rural areas of the country at Bukit Tunggal Estate, Bintasan in Sabah, and Kampong Bugudiyan in Sarawak. The initial response was enthusiastic and other Villagers also participated. The medical officers began regularly Visiting the Villagers to check on common problems, and the Villagers them- selves, with the assistance of selected volunteers, learned about hygiene.
The willingness of Baha’is to reach these remote communities brought much admiration and positive publicity for the programme, and the committee was invited to extend the project. This second phase involved ten low—income areas throughout Malaysia with seven different ethnic groups, and was successfully completed in 1990. Education in health and child development was offered, and mothers were helped to create an improved learning environment for the children and to develop resource centres for their communities.
The impact of the project was evident in the improved cleanliness of the communities involved and in the increasing number of health—related questions posed. Very often in the more remote and conservative areas, women would ask questions related to myths, fallacies, and superstitions about health. Women in the ten communities were
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surprised at how much they could teach their children through games and discussion. The women themselves seemed also to feel more aware of their own potential. They began to come forward to participate, offer ideas, organize, and most significant of all, to lead. In this aspect the project was a definite suc— cess in training more women local managers and developing the status of women.
The project also stimulated other devel— opment activities in the area. Community members became aware of their need to do more for themselves and thus to take on other development projects such as the pav— ing of a dirt track, literacy classes, and educational activities for children.
A variety of medical services was offered in Bangladesh, one of the most extensive being medical camps to serve the needs of people who could not otherwise afford health care. These were organized under the auspices of the National Baha’i Develop- ment Committee, and many were held in memory of Hands of the Cause of God and the martyrs of Tran. The programme began in mid 1986, offering treatment to over 2,400 people in its first year. During 1987 and 1988 more than 1,000 people were treated annually, and in a single month, May 1991, more than 1,000 people received assistance at Khulna and in cyclone-ravaged areas of the country. A further 475 people received treatment at six camps held during September 1991.
The Glory Clinic, which began operations in February 1985, continued to provide free or low-cost medical services to the people of Rajshahi, Bangladesh. By 1992, the clinic was serving about 2,000 people annually.
Another health care service project commenced in Bangladesh in June 1990 to provide primary health care to people in Vil- lages near the site of the future Maghriqu’l— A_clhkér. The programme included medical Check~ups and the provision of medicines for minor ailments. One doctor Visited the site every two weeks, and complicated cases were referred to the nearest hospital.
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In July 1991, a health project started as an outreach programme of the New Garden School in Bangladesh. The purpose of the project was to provide basic health educa- tion on personal and environmental hygiene to children attending the school and to their mothers.
Baha’i communities throughout India also offered medical treatment to isolated populations or communities without access to formal health care services. The extensive health programmes offered by the Rabbani Community Development Project included sponsorship of medical camps, distribution of Vitamin A and iron tablets, participation in immunization programmes, and education on topics such as the importance of pure drinking water and of keeping the Village environment clean. Hygiene, disease trans~ mittal, infant care, nutrition for pregnant women and nursing mothers, control of malaria, use of oral rehydration techniques, and an understanding of different types of fever were also addressed. Many of the activities conducted were in collaboration with regional medical departments.
The New Era Development Institute in Maharashtra, India, sponsored a primary health care education programme which focussed on prevention. The programme’s three elements were: a) training courses for voluntary community health workers, b) in- service training in which the community health workers returned each month for a one-day programme, and 0) health education programmes in which films were shown and discussion groups conducted in the communities.
For many years before the Plan, volunteer doctors in India staffed medical camps which successfully provided treatment to a large number of people. During 1990 and 1991 it was reported that approximately ten medical camps were being conducted every year. In neighbouring Pakistan also, more than twenty medical camps were held annu— ally between 1988 and 1992, organized by the Local Spiritual Assemblies of Karachi,
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Quetta, and Rawalpindi. As a result, thou— sands of people received medical care.
In August 1986, it was proposed that a health education programme be started for the Mangyan people in the Philippines. The Baha’i community focused on improving the health of the children in Mansalay through immunization, and by helping the existing health service centre. It also sought to pro— vide health education to the mothers of the immunized children.
The project strategies included: training tutorial school teachers in basic health education, conducting education campaigns, bringing the drugs from Metropolitan Manila to Mansalay, establishing centres for immu- nization, and making home Visits. The project was supported by the Department of Health which provided some basic medl- cines and vaccines and, in 1988, a formal
Dr. Saeed Takizadeh during a three-day medical clinic sponsored by the National Assembly offlze Philippines in 1987.
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Baha’is and a government agency unit on malaria control.
In Laos, 45 Baha’i Village health volun- teers were trained in 1991. The programme emphasized communication skills and educa- tion techniques designed to encompass local health customs and conditions and seven elements of primary health care: health education, promotion of good nutrition, ma— ternal and child health care, immunization, basic sanitation, treatment of common diseases and injuries, and prevention and control of locally endemic diseases.
A training session was also conducted at a university for 25 government health leaders, which resulted in Baha’is receiving official letters of recognition from the government.
Nearly all Baha’i development projects involved some form of education, but a few focused intensely on educating local people to direct the course of their own com- munity development. In India, the New Era Development Institute (NEDI) conducted a programme to train community development facilitators. This one-year course was designed to train the students to encourage and advise rural communities in planning and implementing their own social and eco- nomic development activities.
The programme began in 1989, serving fifteen to twenty volunteers each year. Both spiritual and practical components were included in the programme, and during the three trimesters the following subjects were covered: the spiritual and ethical basis for development, communication and commu- nity, women in development, afforestation, adult education, community health, adminis— tration and management, rural technology, agriculture, children’s education, and public speaking. The students also spent significant amounts of time in host villages.
At the same time, NEDI’s rural technol- ogy training programme worked to provide vocational skills and knowledge to rural youth and thus enable them to earn an income while providing services needed in
THE BAHA’i WORLD
rural communities. Students were trained, encouraged, and assisted to establish service centres in their home communities. As with the community development programme, the basis of this programme was the applica— tion of high moral and ethical concepts in a practical way oriented towards human dignity, self—reliance, and service to the community.
India’s Rabbani School also oversaw an extensive community development pro- gramme. The school farm offered agricultural training to the students, and enabled the school to attain self—sufficiency in food pro- duction. Farmers from surrounding Villages were welcome to attend training courses held on the school property, assisting them to achieve higher productivity.
The school initiated extensive waste land reclamation activities which provided a valuable model for local communities. This aspect of the Rabbani programme was con- ducted in collaboration with the Government Department of Waste Land Reclamation, with the ultimate result that all available land became usable, and productivity was substantially improved.
Other community development activities conducted at the school included Village health education, adult literacy classes, the founding and support of fourteen Village schools, the promotion of the use of appro— priate technology in Villages (including the promotion of smokeless, energy efficient cooking stoves), and vocational training both for students and for unemployed Village youths.
One innovative project in the area of rural development in India, conducted in April 198 8, used the medium of drama to motivate tribal Villagers in self—development. The project was organised by the Jhabua local centre of the Baha’i Vocational Institute for Rural Women, Indore, and sponsored by CAPART (Ministry of Rural Development Government of India).
The project operated in five Villages in the Jhabua district. Five organizers from
INTERNATIONAL SURVEY OF CURRENT BAHA’i ACTIVITIES
each of these Villages were chosen and trained in the need for rural development at a Village level, deepening their own under- standing of the problems, needs, and demands of Village life and how to take initiative to resolve them. Then these women created plays using local costumes and folk music to high1ight issues relating to health, child care, hygiene, water sanitation, forest devel- opment, education, self employment, family planning, and many other important devel- opment issues.
Maturation of Institutions
The Universal House of Justice, in its letter of Ridvan 1987 to the Bahé’is of the world, stated that when the Six Year Plan began, the administrative institutions of the Faith were already beginning to show signs of in— creasing maturity—enough, in fact, to prepare them for the task of formulating their own objectives. In its Ridvan 1989 message, the House of Justice asked, “Have we not witnessed the increasing strength of National and Local Spiritual Assemblies in their ability to conceive and execute plans, in their capacity to deal with governmental authorities and social organizations, to re- spond to public calls upon their services and
The Local Balzd ’1' Centre at Ban ViengK/zam T (1i, Laos, was dedicated 2 May 1986.
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to collaborate with others in projects of social and economic development?”
By Ridvan 1992, the Universal House of Justice cited advances in the consolidation of the Baha’i administrative system as one of the major indicators of progress in the Baha’i community.
One sign of institutional flexibility in Asia was the establishment in both India and Malaysia of State Baha’i Councils under the National Assembly, due to the special condi- tions which applied in both countries. India established its State Councils at the begin- ning of the Plan while Malaysia’s first Council was elected in October 1991.
Increased communication and cooperation among Assemblies of various regions also signified greater administrative maturity. Joint regional meetings of the Spiritual Assemblies of Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan were established in 1987 and continued throughout the Plan. Joint meetings and institutes were held between the Spiritual Assemblies of Thai1and and Laos. On the local level, annual inter- Assembly conferences were conducted in Pakistan, in addition to regional conferences of Local Spiritua1 Assemblies and members of appointed institutions.
The Local Bahd ’1’ Centre ofMandalay, Myanmar, was dedicated 4 January 1991.
318 THE BAHA’i WORLD
In T okyo, Japan, Baha ’z's participated in a World Religious Book Exhibition, which was held from 19 to 23 July 1990. Baha ’1' books in Japanese, English, and German were displayed. The oficial attendance number for the exhibition was I 5 3,4 6 7 persons.
'3 ‘ , r , ' 11V: a ‘
In Beijing, China, Baha ’z's participated in the third International Book Fair, which was held from 1 t0 7 September 1990. Baha ’1' books in Portuguese, English and German were dis— played. Fair organizers estimated that there were about 70,000 visitors during the week.
INTERNATIONAL SURVEY OF CURRENT BAHA’i ACTIVITIES
As Local Assemblies became stronger and more self—sufficient, they took on greater responsibilities. In Singapore, incorporated Local Assemblies began handling their own annual administrative work associated with maintaining incorporation, and several As- semblies took on responsibilities which had previously been carried out at the national level, such as organizing Holy Day cele— brations, marriages, and funerals. Thailand reported that the number of actively func- tioning Local Spiritual Assemblies tripled, and four developed to the extent that they created their own plans, became financially self—sufficient, and supported activities of the surrounding communities. The National Spiritual Assembly of Nepal wrote, “No doubt the greatest progress during the Six Year Plan has been registered in the area of the maturation of local communities.”
Distribution of Literature
The sacred task of bringing a11humanity into contact with the Writings of Baha’u’llah was pursued in Asia largely through participation in book fairs and contributions to public and university libraries, and through the estab~ lishment of book depots and lending libraries.
Baha’i publishers attended three annual International Book Fairs in Beijing, China. In India, the Baha’is participated in some 38 book fairs and held nearly two hundred book exhibitions during the Six Year Plan. In Hong Kong, thousands of people visited the Baha’i booth at the International Book Fair held in August 1991; more than 10,000 copies of pamphlets and other free literature were distributed, and a substantial number of books were sold.
Baha’i books were donated to universities in Korea, Nepal, and Macau, and in Laos the Ministry of Culture granted permission for Baha’i literature to be p1aced in the Lao PDR National Library. In one Indian state the Bahé’is received a request from the Director of Public Libraries for three thou- sand copies of Baha’i books to be distributed
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among the 1,500 public libraries throughout the state.
In the state of Karnataka, India, Baha’is placed literature in four major libraries: the Legislative Library, used by members of the State’s Legislative Assembly and Legisla- tive Council; the Secretariat Library, for the use of government officials working in the Secretariat building; the State Library, which is open to the general public; and the City Central Library, which serves the people of Bangalore City. Most of the books were in the local Kannada language.
A set of twenty-four books was also pre— sented to Karnataka’s State Librarian, who was so impressed with the volumes that a request was made for another two sets of the same books to be distributed to the State Library, the Library’s copyright section and the Parliament Library of New Delhi.
Singapore Baha’is reported that the turn- over of Baha’i books in public bookstores indicated a demand for this literature. Com— mercial outlets in Malaysia and Thailand were also selling Baha’i books.
To make the Sacred Writings more readily available to believers, regional libraries, book- shops, or book depots were established in Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nepal, Thailand, and Taiwan. In India, 110 book depots were set up in 17 states, and 865 lending libraries were created.
The Baha’i Publishing Trust of Hong Kong was established in April 1992.
Women
On a continent where women have tradition— ally not been permitted to be full participants in all fields, and have not received encour~ agement to think independently or to openly speak their minds, great efforts were made to help women overcome barriers to investi— gating the Baha’i Faith and to address the needs of women in their communities.
A dramatic departure from traditional women’s roles occurred when 62 women in India attended a deepening conference given by the State Baha’i Council of Uttar Pradesh
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at the Malhousi Baha’i Centre in November 1987. They came from thirteen Villages, transported to and from their homes by jeep. Some were attending such a conference for the first time, and their enthusiasm was nota- ble. In reporting on the event, the director of Baha’i Tutorial Schools for Uttar Pradesh, Mr. P.C. Agnihotri said, “...Very often you ask about miracles in the Baha’i Faith. This gathering itself was a miracle, where ladies had come outside of their homes to discuss the evils of society and to give their Views.” He called the event “a unique occasion for enlightening the women of this area”, sug- gesting that a women’s winter school in the region could help to “activate the other half of India’s strength, the ladies, who have been imprisoned within four walls for...so many centuries”.
Large numbers of women were reported to be taking up responsibilities in the Faith in Rajasthan, India, according to a report from Counsellor Zena Sorabjee in March 1991, who saw this activity as one sign of the emergence of the Faith in this state. The community encouraged this participation by having a bulletin for women printed in the Hindi language.
The first Training Institute for Baha’i women in Uttar Pradesh attracted 29 partici— pants from thirteen Villages. The event, held in May 1991, took place at the Narayan Rao Vakil Institute in Malhousi. “Women were able to participate practically in every lesson that was conducted,” it was reported, “and they asked many questions, giving an idea of the social conditions prevalent in their Villages, how they could be improved, and what the women could do for the betterment of their own lives and those of their families.
“The principle of justice was emphasised. Some of the women had not gone anywhere outside their own Village.... The evenings were spent in singing and folk dancing... It was an extremely loving and united atmo- sphere... No-one thought twice about Baha’i women from different backgrounds meeting to gether and enj oying each other’s company.
There was a great spirit of camaraderie present among all the women.”
Women’s conferences were also held in Bangladesh, Japan, and Korea. More than 200 women participated in a national wom— en’s conference held in Myanmar in May 1988. In Malaysia, three women made a four- day journey to attend a women’s conference held in the Village of Kg. Belimbing Besi in February 1989, Which attracted fifty-five other participants from six communities.
In addition to working toward making the Baha’i community fully reflect the principle of equality, Baha’is made efforts to promote equality in the wider community.
In Singapore, the Baha’i Women’s Com— mittee worked with the Singapore Council of Women’s Organizations, an umbrella body of thirty-four affiliated women’s groups. Two Baha’is served on the Executive Board for a total of four years. The Baha’i Women’s Committee also organized a “Women for Peace” conference in 1988 which had fifty participants.
On International Women’s Day in 1988, Mrs. Shirin F ozdar of Singapore was given a plaque of appreciation for her work support- ing equality and women’s rights. More than one hundred people attended the celebration organized by the Singapore Council of Women. Mrs. Fozdar was described as an ardent champion of women’s rights, an influential leader, an idealist, and a well— known social worker. She founded the Sin- gapore Council of Women, through which she worked to bring discrimination and mal- treatment of women to the attention of the public and campaigned against the practice of polygamy. Her activities included leading delegations to international conferences, lee— turing by invitation in various countries, and starting schools for rural children in both Thailand and India.
In Malaysia on 25 August 1988, National Women’s Day and the Silver Jubilee of the National Council of Women’s Organizations were celebrated, With the Baha’is playing a prominent role. The Malaysian Baha’i
INTERNATIONAL SURVEY OF CURRENT BAHA’l ACTIVITIES
Women’s Committee was an affiliate of the NCWO and one of its most active support- ers. The occasion was attended by Her Majesty, the Queen of Malaysia, Sultanas of different states, the wives of governors, prominent women leaders, and 1,000 guests. The Baha’i Women’s Committee was in- volved in the organization of the celebration and was entrusted with the production of souvenir programmes for each function. A Baha’i was one of three women selected to represent the women of Malaysia in a pledge-taking ceremony.
International Women’s Day 1989 was commemorated by the Baha’is of Bangkok, Thailand, with a two-hour programme in a popular shopping mall. Hundreds of people heard readings from the Baha’i Writings con- cerning women. Many pamphlets on peace and women were distributed, and staff at the mall invited the Baha’is to propose future activities which would promote peace.
The State Minister for Religious Affairs of Bangladesh was among the dignitaries who attended the conference “Equality of Men and Womenwa Prerequisite for World Peace” held in Dhaka in September 1991. In addition, the president and general secretary of the Bangladesh Women Writers’ Associ~ ation and journalists from several national newspapers attended the talks. Annual semi- nars promoting equality and special courses for vocational training of women and girls were also sponsored in Bangladesh.
Just after the Plan began, the Madhya Pradesh Council of Science and Technology, Government of India, Bhopal, requested the Baha’i Vocational Institute for Rural Women in Indore to conduct a workshop on the socio-economic development of tribal women in Madhya Pradesh and appropriate technol~ ogy. Many representatives from government agencies attended. This was the first work— shop sponsored by a government agency at a Baha’i Institute.
The work of the Baha’i Vocational Institute for Rural Women in India continued during the Plan. The Institute offered a variety of
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residential training courses, and staff mem— bers from the Institute travelled frequently to Villages to stimulate interest in the pro~ gramme, to support those women who had graduated from the Institute, and to consoli- date the gains which the women had achieved. At the end of the Plan, the Institute began seeking funds for a three year training programme designed to train two hundred young women as community workers in rural communities around Indore.
The activity of the women of the Villages in the Bastar tribal area clearly indicates the type of fundamental changes which the Institute endeavoured to promote. Among the prevailing social customs which they challenged were child marriages, the dowry system, wearing of the veil, and the use of drugs and alcohol.
Strengthening Families
A truly Baha’i home is a true fortress
upon which the Cause can rely while
planning its campaigns.3
The need to continue the work of creating families based on equality between women and men and respect for the rights and responsibilities of all family members led to a focus on this topic during conferences and special seminars.
Five regional Baha’i family conferences were organized in Bangladesh and ten mar- riage seminars held in Malaysia. The subject of marriage and family life was also included in all national and regional confer- ences of both countries and in winter schools and training institutes held in the former.
All the State Council/State Teaching Committees of India introduced the topic of marriage and family life at least once a year during summer schools and conferences. Twenty-five family conferences were held in ten states and special material for guiding parents was produced.
3 From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, 6 November 1932.
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Workshops on family life were conducted in Singapore and Thailand, and one national and two local family conferences were held in Korea. Also in Thailand, a Baha’i doctor wrote and published a book called Bahd’z’ Family Life and produced two cassette tapes which were broadcast on the radio.
In the Philippines, the Baha’i Mothers’ Deepening Project of the Baha’i National Teaching Committee provided guidance on the care, education and training of children; on maintaining a Baha’i atmosphere in the home; and on cultivating rapport with hus— bands and extended-famfly members. The intensive project began in February 1988 with the holding of twenty-one Mothers’ Deepening Classes in different parts of the country.
In Pakistan, at least ninety women attended classes on health, hygiene, and feeding of infants which were held as part of free medical camps run by Bahé’is in the summer of 1986.
The Spiritual Assembly of Singapore reported that one of its community’s strengths was its relatively large number of strong Baha’i families. An increase in the number of identifiable Baha’i families was also reported by the Spiritual Assembly of Sri Lanka, which credited special confer- ences, deepening materials, and individual Visits to families.
A Mangyan Bahd ’1' family on its way to a teaching conference held in Mansalay, Oriental M z'ndoro, Philippines, in 1986.
The Environment
Baha’u’llah taught that nature reflects the names and attributes of God and is the expression of God’s Will in the contingent world, and a number of Baha’i communities in Asia acted on this understanding by contributing to the work of environmental protection agencies and initiating projects of their own. In a number of countries, Baha’is became known as suppmters of environmen— tal education and protection.
After the National Spiritual Assembly of Taiwan established the Office of the Envi- ronment in Taiwan in 1989, the Council of Agriculture of the Executive Yuan (Senate) agreed to co—sponsor a series of teacher training workshops on environmental educa— tion. During a twelve—week period in 1990, the Baha’i community conducted 36 work shops on environmental education for more than 750 kindergarten and elementary school teachers. Following this success, a second series of twenty-seven workshops was held in 1991. The Baha’i Environmental Protec— tion Education Programme was the first of its kind of co-sponsorship between the National Assembly and a major Taiwanese governmental agency.
An article on the Office of the Environ- ment, published in Taiwan’s 1argest evening newspaper, resulted in the Baha’is receiving over two hundred requests for participation
INTERNATIONAL SURVEY OF CURRENT BAHA’T ACTIVITIES
in a correspondence course they had devel- oped on the environment. The Councfl of Agricu1ture also asked the Office to assist it in formulating its plan for protecting and bui1ding up Taiwan’s ecological resources.
The Office of the Environment in Taiwan also produced a radio series on the environ— ment, called “Only One World”, which was funded by the Ministry of Education. The fifteen—minute programmes began broad— casting to 2,400 elementary schools across the country in March 1992.
An exhibition invo1ving more than sixty pieces of artwork related to the environment was organized by the Baha’i Women’s Com— mittee of Singapore in 1990. The “Arts for Nature” display caused the Baha’i commu— nity to be recognized by the Ministry of the Environment and the Singapore Councfl of Women’s Organizations as a major propo- nent of environmental protection.
Baha’is in Singapore also carried out the “Grow With Nature Banner Proj ect” in 1991, organizing pupils from thirty-five schools to send eighty banners on environmental themes which were then displayed along a river.
In Thai1and, the Baha’i community worked with various agencies to organize
Bahd ’1' children support Singapore ’5 Green and Clean Week ' in November 1991 by displaying banners about the environ- ment they had designed and put up I along the river. f
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seminars, exhibits, displays, and contests about the environment. Bahé’is in Ma1aysia and in Singapore spoke to Rotary Clubs about uniting efforts to confront environ— mental problems.
In 1986 the Rabbani School in India was awarded the “Indira Gandhi Friends of the Trees Award” for its service in the field of reforestation. An extensive effort had been launched in 1985 which inc1uded the plant- ing of trees and the development and maintenance of plant nurseries, both at the school and in surrounding villages.
Recognition of Baha’i initiatives led to invitations to participate in various projects related to the environment. Singapore’s Baha’i community was invited by the Minis~ try of the Environment to gather signatures for the Earth Pledge to be presented at the Earth Summit in 1992. Representatives of the World Wide Fund for Nature in Hong Kong invited a Baha’i to visit a nature reserve and a conservation studies centre. The Friends of the Earth in Hong Kong invited Baha’is to participate in an event called “Ecology in the Light of Religion” which then resulted in another invitation to speak on the issue.
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THE BAHA’i WORLD
Know ye Ofa certainty that in whatever
meetingye may enter, in the apex of that meeting the Holy Spirit shall be waving and the heavenly con— firmations 0f the Blessed Perfection. Shall encompass all. —— ‘Abdu ’l—Bahd
