Bahá’í World/Volume 24/The Year in Review

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[Page 65]

YEPER IN

REVIEW

The Three Year Plan

R idvén 1996 saw the conclusion of the worldwide Bahá’í community’s Three Year Plan for the expansion and consolidation of the Bahá’í Faith around the globe and the inauguration of a Four Year Plan, which Will conclude at Ridve’m 2000. The process of expansion and consolidation has been pursued through a series of international plans, Which took their original impetus from the Faith’s sacred writings, particularly ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Tablets of the Divine Plan, and from the directives of Shoghi Effendi. Since its establishment in 1963, the Universal House of Justice has launched a series of such initiatives, through the course of Which national Bahá’í communities have assumed increasing responsibility for formulating and monitoring plans of their own. Systematic advances in numerical strength and the increasing maturity of its worldwide institutions have been two great benefits of this approach.

The Three Year Plan, Which ran from April 1993 to April 1996, brought many notable achievements Which are highlighted

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throughout The Bahá’í World volumes covering this period. The “qualitatively enriched community” which emerged from this period could take pride, for example, in the progress made on the Mount Carmel Projects at the Bahá’í World Centre in Haifanot only in the Visible progress in construction and beautification of the site but in the unity of purpose attained by Bahá’ís all over the world, who contributed generously to ensure the Projects’ steady progress.

In the realm of expansion, twelve new National Spiritual Assemblies were formed over the three years; thousands of international traveling teachers and pioneers arose; systematic approaches were made to collective teaching endeavors, and long-term teaching projects were set in motion in a number of countries. The International Teaching Centre encouraged the development of human resources around the globe and increased access to the Bahá’í sacred writings of Bahá’ís in many localities through its promotion of the core literature program, which has made large quantities of a few essential titles available inexpensively in a wide range of languages.

Indigenous Bahá’ís assumed more responsibility for teaching and consolidating their peoples; even in troubled areas of the globe, such as Angola, Cambodia, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, Bahá’í activities carried on; newly established Bahá’í communities in the countries of the former Eastern Bloc distinguished themselves by their aptitude in administrating the affairs of the Faith; and Bahá’í communities on islands around the world were very active. Contributions of Bahá’í youth, both to the Faith itself and to the general development of society, were another feature of this plan.

Over the three years of the plan, Bahá’í communities became more deeply involved with social and economic development, particularly education, as, in one case, Bahá’ís took on the management of seven schools in an area; in Africa, Bahá’í communities in exile because of political unrest continued to work on projects that would make them self—sufficient. Other

particular areas of focus included the advancement of women ' and pilot literacy proj ects.

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The public face of the Bahá’í community became better known, too, as external affairs activities multiplied around the world. Increasing numbers of public officials invited the Bahá’ís to participate in activities and discussions related to the concerns of the day, and initiatives were taken by Bahá’í communities to influence government action. Hand of the Cause Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum participated in events such as the Summit on the Alliance between Religions and Conservation, sponsored by the World Conference on Religion and Peace, and the Fourth International Dialogue on the Transition to a Global Society at the University of Maryland in the US. The establishment of academic programs, the use of the arts, and the Bahá’í International Community’s participation in United Nations conferences in Copenhagen and Beijing and its contributions to the UN 50 celebrations were other high points of external affairs activities during the three years.

With regard to the enrichment of the spiritual lives of Bahá’ís around the world, the Three Year Plan saw, notably, the release of the first Persian—language edition of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the Most Holy Book of Baha’u’llah, which contains Arabic text with supplementary material translated into Persian from the English edition. The English edition, published in 1992 and accompanied by an extensive body of annotations based on the guidance of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi, serves as the basis for translations into other languages. As much of the original translation of the text into English, as well as the supplementary material, was rendered by Shoghi Effendi, the appointed interpreter of the Bahá’í writings, it provides a unique guide for other translations.

In addition, the law of Ḥuqúqu’lláh gained growing support around the world, as Bahá’ís everywhere recognized this significant law for the benefit of humankind. Dr. ‘Ali-Muhammad Varqa, Trustee of the Ḥuqúqu’lláh, took up residence in the Holy land, joining the only other two living Hands of the Cause of God, Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum and Mr. ‘Ali-Akbar Furt’rtan.

With the stage set for further advances during the Four Year Plan which will carry it to the end of the century and millennium,

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the Bahá’í community stands poised to greatly expand its membership and address the needs of this turbulent age of transition for humankind.

The Year in Review

The year beginning at Riḍván 1995 and ending at Riḍván 1996 was characterized by the intense efforts of Bahá’ís around the world to fulfill the goals they had set for themselves for the Three Year Plan. Through systematic, energetic, creative activity, the Bahá’í community grew to a new level of capacity and unity of purpose. An increase in the assumption of responsibility by indigenous Bahá’ís for the functioning of their own communities, outstanding contributions on the part of the youth, the initiating by Bahá’ís at the grass roots of much—needed development proj ects, greater involvement in the efforts of society at large to address various issues, and the steady development of Bahá’í communities and administrative institutions—these were some of the hallmarks of this past year.

The survey of Bahá’í activity which follows does not attempt to be comprehensive. It is intended rather. to provide a general sense of the myriad efforts of Bahá’ís from hundreds of national communities and thousands of localities to contribute to the advancement of the Faith’s aims. Bahá’í participation in some specific events has been reported in detail in separate articles: Observances Of the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations, the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, the various activities of the Bahá’í International Community, and the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors.

Material is arranged in the survey within the following categories: Hands of the Cause, prominent people, children, youth, women, cultural events and indigenous Bahá’ís, race unity, peace, interfaith activities, environment, social and economic development, involvement in the life of society, recognition, landmark occasions, sharing the message of Bahá’u’lláh, institutes, scholarship, and the arts.

Hands Ofthe Cause

Each of the surviving three Hands of the Cause of God plays a critical role in Bahá’í community life, encouraging and inspiring

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Bahá’ís through their Visits and the books they have written. While in residence in Haifa, they meet with the stream of Bahá’í pilgrims to the holy places of the Bahá’í Faith. Among their important duties is advising the Universal House of Justice and serving as members of the International Teaching Centre. Highlights of activities in which they engaged this year are detailed below.

The Hand of the Cause Amatu’l—Baha Rúḥíyyih Khánum led the four official representatives of the Bahá’í Faith at the Summit on the Alliance between Religions and Conservation held in the United Kingdom from 29 April to 4 May 1995. The Summit was convened in Windsor Castle, under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, and attracted many prominent representatives of nine religions (see pp. 13233 for further details).

From 29 June to 2 July, Rúḥíyyih Khánum was present, as the honored guest, at the Regional Bahá’í Teaching Conference held in Tirana, Albania. About three hundred Bahá’ís attended the event from 18 different countries, many of them leaving directly from the conference to travel and share Baha’u’llah’s message with people in the region. While Rúḥíyyih Khánum was in Albania, she received a courtesy call from the President’s daughter and granted a number of interviews to radio, television, and newspaper reporters.

From 14 to 17 October, she was featured as the keynote speaker at the Fourth International Dialogue on the Transition to a Global Society, held at the University of Maryland at College Park (see pp. 102—03).

Additional activities included her address on 22 May to a committee meeting of the House of Lords in the United Kingdom, called by Lord Clinton—Davis; her participation in a Bahá’í conference held in Fiuggi, Italy, in July, at which time she also addressed the opening session of a summer school for youth that followed the conference; and a 31 October interview broadcast on the Persian Service of Voice of America.

In Azerbaijan, the National Spiritual Assembly reached an agreement with the Education Ministry for use of the book Mothers, Fathers and Children, written by Hand of the Cause

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‘Ali-Akbar Furfitan, as a textbook for moral education in schools and colleges. The book has now been published in eight languages and is widely available as an assistance in the raising of children. This year, as ever, Bahá’ís Who Visited the Bahá’í holy places in Israel came away With special memories of Mr. Furfitan, Whose unflagging resolve to join their evening gatherings and shower upon them his love and vast experience has won the hearts of thousands over the course of many years. Hand of the Cause of God Dr. ‘Ali—Muhammad Varqa served as the representative of the Universal House of Justice at the first National Convention of the Bahá’ís of Sicily, held in Palermo from 21 to 25 April 1995 (see pp. 52—53). He also attended the National Convention of Italy, offering encouragement and support to that community. Dr. Varqa, Who is the Trustee of Ḥuqúqu’lláh, took up residence in the Holy Land this year, joining Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum and Mr. Furfitan in bringing inspiration to pilgrims and Visitors and to those serving at the Bahá’í World Centre. Prominent People This year the Bahá’í World Centre saw a steady succession of visits from various ambassadors, embassy officials, and other notable people. On 5 J anuary 1996, Lord Clinton—Davis, a crossbencher in the House of Lords in the United Kingdom, came, accompanied by Lady Clinton-Davis and Eric Mark, Head of the Parliamentary Commission. Visiting ambassadors included Sven Erik Svedrnan of Norway, on 11 May 1995‘; Paulino Romero of Panama, on 2 June; Martin Indyk of the United States, on 11 July; Wojciech Adamiecki of the Republic of Poland, on 13 February 1996; and Arto Tanner of Finland, on 8 April. Officials were received from the Israeli embassy in New Delhi, India; and from the embassies in Israel of China, Poland, and the Republic of Korea. Other Visitors included Andrew Joseph, Representative to the United Nations of the Director—General of the World Health Organization, on 17 May 1995; Professor Yehuda Haiut, president of Haifa University in Israel, along with about nineteen other professors and administrators from the university, the Mayor of Haifa, and other municipal staff members, on 29

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November; the Mayor of Haifa again on 26 J anuary 1996, with 40 trustees of the Haifa Foundation; and on 12 April, Nichiko Niwano, president of Rissho Kosei—Kai in J apan and president of the World Conference on Religion and Peace, along with Mrs. Yoshie Niwano and a delegation from Rissho Kosei-Kai.

Several Bahá’í communities had the honor of hosting government officials this year. President Amata Kabua of the Marshall Islands Visited the Bahá’í House of Worship in Apia, Western Samoa, on 3 December 1995. President Kabua met with several members of the National Spiritual Assembly of Samoa, attended the Sunday service, and gave a speech in which he described his association with the Bahá’í Faith and its members. President Teburoro Tito of Kiribati attended a reception held in his honor by the Bahá’ís of the Mariana Islands during his Visit to Guam on 14 J anuary 1996. The reception included a luncheon and an address to the gathering by President Tito. Also in the Marianas, the First Lady of Saipan, the Honorable Grace Tenorio, was one of about 150 people to attend the Naw-Rl'iz

m 9 55; party held on that island. W , Bahá’ís have also continued a; 5% i ii: ~ their efforts to make contact

Liaauv Ida

heads of state, in order to offer , to them the unique solutions to u world problems contained in the teachings of their Faith. A {13' representative of the National

,. ‘g Spiritual Assembly of the Unit y ed Kingdom participated in a a the Commonwealth Day Obser -‘ . . --»~» - vahce at Westminster Abbey in Visit ofSenatorNickBolkus,Austral- the presence Of Her Majesty

ian F ederal Minister for Immigration . and Ethnic Aflairs, t0 the Bahá’í' Queen Ehzabeth H, held on 11

House of Worship in Sydney, 26 March 1996- Th6 Words Of N0V€mb6r1995~ Baha’u’llah were included in

a with governmental leaders and

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the service for the first time and were broadcast around the world by the BBC World Service. As in previous years, the National Assembly’s representative was introduced to the Queen and His Royal Highness Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.

On 21 April 1995, a Bahá’í group, including a number of youth, met with the President of Romania, the Minister of Youth and Recreation, the Representative of Religions in the Parliament, the Representative of Minority Rights in Romania, the officials of the Students’ Union Against Racial Prejudice, and other prominent government officials. Bahá’í teachings on the unity of humankind were offered to the President.

A meeting was held with President Nelson Mandela of South Africa this year in order to present him with a statement on overcoming racial prejudice. A Bahá’í delegation also Visited President Bakili Muluzi of Malawi, on 3 August 1995. The Bahá’ís briefly informed the President about the history and principles of their Faith, and presented him with a copy of The Promise of World Peace and other Bahá’í books. The President responded by expressing his happiness that the Bahá’ís are helping the government’s program for alleviating poverty in rural areas, and he encouraged them to work on literacy and primary health care programs.

On the evening of 2 May 1995, members of the Bahá’í School Management Team of the Marshall Islands, together with members of the Schools Project Board and others, paid a courtesy Visit to President Amata Kabua and the First Lady at their residence. The purpose of the Visit was for the team members, who were all non—Marshallese, to greet the Head of State of the country, to express their appreciation for his continued support and guidance, and to update him on the progress of the Schools Project (see The Bahá’í World 1994—95, p. 128).

On 31 January 1996, the nine members of the Spiritual Assembly of Puerto Rico met with Governor Pedro Rosello in his office. Members of the Assembly offered the services of the Assembly and of the community to the government, while emphasizing the non—political character of the Bahá’í Faith. The Bahá’ís of Namibia presented information on the Bahá’í Faith,

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including the statement Bahá’u’lláh, to a number of regional governors, council members, senior ministry officials and tribal chiefs. Additionally, on 25 April 1995, the First Lady, Mrs. Kovambo Nujoma, Visited the home of a Bahá’í for tea and to receive the statement Bahá’u’lláh and other literature on the Bahá’í Faith.

A Bahá’í was asked to perform a song during the official celebrations held to mark the anniversary of the birth of President Theodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea. After the song, the youth personally gave to the President copies of Call to the Nations, The Promise of World Peace, a book of Bahá’í prayers in vernacular languages, and a book on consultation.

Her Highness Princess To’oa Tosi Malietoa, daughter of the Head of State of Western Samoa, paid a Visit to Fiji in August. Some 600 people received her during her stay, including eight high chiefs and the elders of their tribes, to Whom she presented copies of The Prosperity ofHumankind. In addition, she talked about the Bahá’í Faith with prominent women and leading members of the government. Her Highness’s tour was organized as part of the Ocean of Light Project.

Children

In the Bahá’í Faith, deeds of service and sacrifice belong to all alike, regardless of age. Children, too, are summoned to serve others, to share Baha’u’llah’s message, and to work for the betterment of humanity. Bahá’ís believe that it is through good character and a sincere desire to serve humankind that the benefits of intellectual development can be revealed. For this reason, community efforts to train and educate Bahá’í children begin with moral classes.

The Bahá’í community of Niamey, Niger, takes advantage of the power of universal participation to bring Bahá’í teachings to its young people. “Almost every Bahá’í in town,” according to one account, “is either a parent, a transporter, a teacher, a student, or a host to a Bahá’í class.” Monthly study sessions are also held for the teachers during Which a variety of teaching strategies are presented. The Bahá’í community of Yigo in the Mariana Islands hosts regular Bahá’í children’s classes for almost 50 children

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of various religious backgrounds. Parents of children who are not Bahá’ís often observe the classes. Two communal preschools managed by Bahá’ís in Managua, Nicaragua, received approval from the Ministry of Education to teach the Bahá’í Faith in classes through use of prayers, songs, celebrations of Bahá’í Holy Days, , and various texts. In Panama, Oscar Torres Wilde, a Bahá’í, conducted a seminar ., on moral leadership at 0 the Faculty of Educa' tion of the University " of Panama which at‘ tracted the participation . , 3;. of various professors Particz'pantsinaBahá’íteacher-training course and students. A moral held on 18 May 1995 in Myanmar. education seminar took place from 9 to 11 June 1995 in Bangkok, Thailand, attended by Bahá’ís from various ASEAN countries. Quito, in the northern Sierras of Ecuador, was the scene for a workshop on moral leadership, which took place on 15 and 16 July 1995. The executive body of the Solomon Islands radio station has approved the use of The Virtues Guide for the content of a radio program sponsored by the Bahá’í community.

In India, the Inspector General of Prisons expressed to the National Spiritual Assembly her desire that the Bahá’ís take Charge of training trainers for a moral education program that would reach more than 8,000 inmates in four prisons. In addition, the Bahá’ís were requested to provide audiovisual materials and books, as well as to make monthly Visits to speak about spiritual matters to a general meeting of prisoners.

The Bahá’ís of Venezuela have developed classroom material for moral education in primary and secondary schools, which, in September 1995, were adopted by a regional school board. Principles of moral education were offered by Bahá’ís to school teachers in Costa Rica, Macau, Taiwan, Peru, and Russia (Chita). In J anuary 1996, Universidad Nur, a large private university in

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Bolivia, celebrated its tenth anniversary with a program held in Santa Cruz. The inspiration for Nl'ir comes from the Bahá’í Faith. The first Bahá’í primary school of Madagascar was inaugurated on 29 May 1995 in Beravina Lovasoa, under the patronage of Mrs. Therese Zafy, the First Lady. The National Minister of Education and a number of other dignitaries also attended the ceremony. In Tuvalu, a Bahá’í kindergarten which is registered by the government opened this year in the National Bahá’í Center. In February 1996, the Local , s , -= .. a , , V Spiritual Assembly Of Universidad Nzir in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, Kwun Tong, in Hong celebrated its tenth anniversary this year. Kong, held its first children’s moral education class, in an estate facility. Before approving the Bahá’í classes, representatives of the estate observed how the Bahá’ís conducted a similar class and reviewed the proposed curriculum.

In Finland, the Bahá’í Child Education Committee organized a Nordic Conference on Child Education, which was held in Mariehamn from 13 to 16 April 1996. The theme was “Civic Education for an Emerging Global Society”, and attendees came from Finland, Norway and Sweden. The Malawi Government’s Ministry of Education and UNICEF invited Mrs. Nahid Mazloum, a Bahá’í of Malawi, to be the interim chairperson of the Sensitization Sub-Committee for launching a program of Malawi’s Education for All. The launching day, 6 September 1995, was attended by the State President and the First Lady, as well as other dignitaries. The Malawi Broadcasting Corporation aired the opening prayer, offered by a Bahá’í child and then subsequently sung by a group of Bahá’í Children.

011 21 and 22 November 1995 the Bahá’í community of Mongolia, representing the Bahá’í International Community, took part in a meeting in Ulaan Baatar Of nongovernmental organizations whose aim was to promote the Convention on the

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Rights of the Child. The event was organized by the Mongolian Development Center, an agency based on Bahá’í principles. Youth

From the earliest days of the Bahá’í Faith’s history, youth have played a special role in its promotion. Today’s youth continue to contribute significantly by traveling, offering periods of fulltime service, and engaging in special proj ects.

Many Bahá’í communities, in their efforts to foster positive action on the part Of their youth, have established traveling performance groups known as Bahá’í youth workshops (see The Bahá’í World 1994—95, pp. 172—77).

In July, the Pillars of Peace Youth Group from Alberta, Canada, attended the Arctic Knights Conference in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada, and performed on several occasions: at the conference, at a downtown mall, at an alcohol and drug detoxification center, on the Hay River Reserve and in Kakisa, a native community. Their downtown performance was covered by CBC television and radio (the national media) and by the local newspaper, resulting in the group’s being the lead story on the prime time news hour. At the native gathering held in Kakisa the youth were officially welcomed by the grand chief and invited to stay and participate in the council, which enabled them to perform and attend workshops.

Bahá’í Youth in Motion, a workshop in Ethiopia, carried out a well-received performance in July in the area of Nure, followed by a banquet lunch held at the local Bahá’í center. As a result, the coordinator of the American Peace Corps requested that the show be staged for his staff Of 30 at the Teachers’ College. The youth agreed and ultimately performed for more than 300 people, including teachers and students at the college. The youth also performed in the town of Awassa, where over one thousand people came to see the workshop in action, including members of the media. _

Other youth workshops which were active this year include the Yakutsk Dance Workshop in Yakutia, Russia; Awake in the Netherlands; the Maui Youth Workshop in Maui, Hawaii; Panacea, composed of youth serving atthe Bahá’í World Centre,

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which traveled and performed for two weeks in Hungary; the Letters of the Living Proj ect, which performed in Wallsend in the United Kingdom; the Youth for One World workshop from New Zealand, which traveled to Japan; the Dizzy Dance Theatre in Australia; and the Anchorage Bahá’í Youth Workshop in Alaska.

In addition to the efforts of youth workshops, youth engaged in a number of special endeavors to share the message of Baha’u’llah with the people of various areas. In the Sparks of Peace project, Bahá’í youth from all over the Caribbean went to Barbados for a two-week institute to study the Bahá’í teachings, and then split into five teams and spent two weeks teaching the Bahá’í Faith in Barbados, Tobago, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua, and Jamaica. A “youth movement” initiated in Orissa, India, resulted in the election of five new Local Spiritual Assemblies through an ambitious campaign covering 42 Villages and cities in thirteen days. A youth group formed in the Czech Republic, engaging in such activities as regular Visits to a home for the elderly, street teaching, and planning Holy Day obser-i vances. Anthems of Unity, their youth workshop, began offering performances. In Trinidad, two special teams were formed which focused on teaching the Faith and Visiting Bahá’í communities to stimulate and encourage them.

The Youthfor One World ,, '6 ‘ Bahá’í youth workshop from New Zealand performing on 9 August -- 2 1995 in the park in ‘ ' h i I Nagasaki, Japan, which . * marks the place where an atomic bomb was ‘ dropped exactlyfifly years before.

The Bahá’í youth of Zaire organized two days of reflection on 23 and 24 July 1995 on the theme of “Supporting Our Youth.” The event took place in the Regional Bahá’í Center of Lubumbashi and was attended by over 200 people from various denominations and nongovernmental organizations, as well as the local

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Mauritian Bahá’í'

youth visiting the President Ofthe Republic 5‘2; I and presenting to him

a proposed contribution to a charter for the youth ofMauritz'uS,

' July 1995.

authorities. Three young people traveled through Portugal to share the Bahá’í Faith, Visiting Maia, Viana do Castelo, and Braga. The youth in Wa, Ghana, have formed an environmental group to help neighbors clean their surroundings free of charge and a football club as a way of teaching the Faith. Young Bahá’ís have been active in Seoul and Taejon, South Korea. A peace club and a dance workshop have been organized in each city and include the participation of both Bahá’í youth and those of other religions.

Members of the European Bahá’í Youth Council and youth from the American Bahá’í community participated in “Youth ’95: Alliance for Progressive Global Change,” a conference held in San Francisco, in the United States, from 17 to 20 June 1995. The event’s chief organizers were Project Global 2000 and the World Federalist Association. It was also cosponsored by 52 international and national organizations and United Nations agencies, including the European Bahá’í Youth Council itself. Participants explored possible United Nations reform initiatives in light of the recommendations contained in the report of the Commission on Global GeVemance, Our Global Neighborhood. The Youth Council also sponsored a workshop on “Global Consciousness and the Bahá’í Faith,” presenting the Bahá’í View of the individual’s relationship to society and the world.

Eighty-one young Bahá’ís from six localities attended the Youth Music and Art Festival held on Majuro, in the Marshall Islands, from 25 to 30 December 1995. The enthusiasm and energy from the festival carried over to the National Deepening

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Conference, also organized by the Youth Committee, which took place from 1 t0 3 January 1996 on Majuro and which was also attended by the 81 youth.

The first Bahá’í Youth Camp was held in Georgia from 6 to 10 July 1995 “amidst luscious greenery, the environment being most suitable for meditation, prayer and contemplation.” Fifty youth from all over Georgia attended the event. Bahá’í youth conferences were held in Bolivia, England, Germany, India, Madagascar, Malaysia, the Marianalslands, and South Africa.

In addition to youth gatherings with diverse activities, Bahá’í communities often hold special study institutes for youth. The Bahá’í community of Argentina held a course entitled “Future Society” as one means of educating the youth. Some 25 facilitators traveled throughout the country during the year to hold classes. The aim is to transform the youth through the knowledge of Bahá’í texts and the promotion of learning. Youth study institutes were also held in Australia and Ireland.

Women

A particular emphasis is placed in the Bahá’í writings on the special contributions women will make to the peace process. This fact and the principle of the equality of men and women necessitate that systematic efforts be'made both to assist women to reach their potential and to build families which assist this process.

Bahá’í women and men took part in a workshop in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on 30 September 1995 with a theme of “Health,

Singaporean Bahá’í' youth Jordan Melic presentin g F rance ’3 UN ambassador with a copy of A World in Our Hands, which was commissioned by the UN and which he coedited.

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Harmony, and Human Rights of Women,” sponsored by the United Nations Development Program. The participants of the Fifth Swiss Congress of Women, held from 19 to 21 January 1996, passed a resolution based on the Bahá’í submission which calls upon the Swiss government to include education for peace in the normal school curriculum, giving due consideration to the question of human rights and Violence—free conflict resolution.

Six members of the Union Luxembourgeoise des Femmes Bahá’íes attended and presented a written statement to a public hearing on the status of women held by the Parliament of Luxembourg on 29 J anuary and 2 February 1996. At the International Women’s Conference held in Belarus from 24 to 26 November 1995, the Bahá’í model of consultation was hailed as an effective tool for conflict resolution. The Bahá’í Office for the Advancement of Women of the Eastern Caroline Islands was represented at an in—country workshop on counseling and interpersonal communication skills which was held on Yap from 11 to 15 December 1995. Swedish Bahá’í women were active and noticeable participants in the Women’s Day ceremonies on 8 March 1996 in their country. Then from 19 to 21 April 1996 the Bahá’ís Of Orebro, Sweden, participated in an exhibition focusing on the role of women in enterprises, held by the Women-Vision organization. A twenty-minute Video entitled Waves of One Sea was produced by Token Productions 011 the women, and particularly Bahá’ís, from all over the continent of Africa who had gathered in Dakar, Senegal, in November 1994, for the 5th Preparatory Conference for the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women. The film was broadcast during the Beijing conference on 7 September 1995 by the 25 national affiliate broadcasters Of WETV, a global access television network based in Canada.

Bahá’í communities are increasingly organizing events aimed at encouraging, educating, and empowering women. The Olinga Institute in Kerala, India, reported that its fifth course specially designed to promote the empowerment of women was held from 24 to 26 November 1995. Participants included many families.

The Bahá’í women of Ikot Oko Ibon, Nigeria, secured a piece of land to farm, using the proceeds to support women’s activities

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’31

in the state. The women also conducted an institute 0n the Baha 1 Faith and family life.

In Kenya, the ninth annual National Women’s Conference was held from 10 to 13 August 1995 in Nakuru. The theme of the conference was “Women and Peace.” Women of the Bulgarian Bahá’í community held the first National Women’s Seminar this year, organized by the European Task Force for Women. The theme of the seminar was “Encouragement.” In the Baltic States, a seminar was held incorporating the three themes of “Encouragement, Transformation, and Service.” The event was attended by five representatives of the three Baltic State Bahá’í communities, who gathered in Kaunas 0n 5 and 6 August 1995. Bahá’í women in the Czech Republic held a seminar on 18 and 19 November designed to encourage Bahá’í women to arise and use their talents to serve the Bahá’í Faith.

The European Task Force for Women sponsored a training course to assist Bahá’í women in “Becoming Ensigns of Peace.” Held in Acute, Italy, the course attracted 73 women from 26

countries.

The Minister of Social Affairs and Promotion of Women in Chad, Mrs. Achta Selgue, approached the Bahá’í community of N’Djamena this year to ask for help with organization of a program for Pan—African Women’s Day. Consequently, the Bahá’í community hosted a public meeting for prayer and meditation and participated in a round table discussion about the status of women and eradication of poverty.

In honor of International Women’s Day this year, the Bahá’í women of the Central African Republic offered an exhibition of

This tapestry, designed and assembled by Vickie Hu Poirier, a renowned

Am erican Bahá’í' artist, was displayed for the first time at the F ourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. Bahá’í’ women from around the world contributed to the piece.

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sewing, soap—making and other handicrafts, as well as a display of books on women, and made a presentation on women in the Bahá’í world community during activities sponsored by the Organization of Women of Central Africa.

In Malawi, the Local Spiritual Assembly of Lilongwe sponsored a reception in celebration of International Women’s Day on 8 March 1996. Participants included various people of prominence in Malawian society, including Mrs. F. Malewezi, the wife of the Vice—President.

In Gabon, a public conference on equality of rights of women and men was held in Libreville on 7 March, organized by the Local Spiritual Assembly to observe International Women’s Day. Radio Africa No. l, which is broadcast in all francophone countries of Africa, covered the event. Then on 8 March, a Bahá’í speaker kicked off a seminar organized by the Ministry of Women’s Status in recognition of International Women’s Day. The President of the Republic was in attendance, as well as the Minister of National Education, the wife of the Prime Minister and other personalities, the media and an audience of nearly 300 women from all over the country. The Bahá’í address was covered by a television channel and by 1 ’Union, the national daily newspaper.

In Bariloche, Argentina, five distinguished women were honored by the Bahá’í community on 8 March to commemorate International Women’s Day. The women were also interviewed for a program on a popular radio station. The National Spiritual Assembly of India’s Office for the Advancement of Women, in collaboration with the All India Women’s Conference, observed International Women’s Day by holding a conference at the National Bahá’í Center on 15 March. The theme chosen was “Women and Men: Partnership for a Healthy Planet.”

Various Bahá’í communities have arranged other types of events to promote the advancement of women and their participation in the peace process. In Nepal, David Walker has won acclaim for his work with women who are illiterate. Reports indicate that as Regional Director of PACT, a USAID organization, he has been instrumental in bringing literacy to 150,000

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women a year in Nepal. His efforts were the subject of a documentary Video, part of the Visionaries program by the Public Broadcasting System in the United States. Mr. Walker credits the Bahá’í Faith as the source of his inspiration for this work.

On Rarotonga, in the Cook Islands, the Bahá’ís held a public meeting on 9 October 1995 on the topic of the equality of women and men. More than thirty people attended the event, including a number of the island’s prominent women.

A conference entitled “Active Role of Women in the New World Order,” held in Adana, Turkey, on 7 April 1996, attracted 550 participants, including members of the Union of Adana Women’s Associations, and on 9 April a live program was aired on local television in which Bahá’í Views were discussed. L’Association baha’ie de Femmes in France hosted on 20 J anuary the symposium “Women—A Constructive Complementarity,” held in Clemenceau Hall, at the Palais du Luxembourg, the seat of the French Senate.

Bahá’í women’s committees all over the world have given special attention to family life, believing that the condition of women in society and family functioning powerfully affect each other. In Ethiopia, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs invited the participation of the Bahá’ís in a two—day national workshop on the situation of displaced/dislocated families and street children, on 29 and 30 June 1995.

Chile hosted two events regarding women and family this year. On 3 and 4 June 1995 a conference in Labranza attracted participants from both north and south. On 30 September and 1 October the Local Spiritual Assembly of Puerto Montt hosted a meeting with the assistance of the Committee for Women and the Family for the South and the Bahá’ís Of Bollilco, Loncopulle, Osomo, Temuco, and Valdivia.

Reports were received of two fora held in Malaysia on the subject of the family. The Office for the Advancement of Women organized a public forum on laws pertaining to the family, held 17 June 1995, in which the Minister of National Unity and Social Development participated. In Ipoh, the Local Spiritual Assembly sponsored a National Forum on Family on 1

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October. The Bahá’ís of Sri Lanka also related news of two such events in their community this year. On 31 December a regional family conference was held in Colombo, and another was held in Adams Peak Estate on 7 J anuary 1996.

The National Bahá’í Women’s Committee of Albania held a conference from 27 to 29 October 1995 on the theme of “Man, Woman, Family, Society: In Search of a New Paradigm.” Special efforts were made to include both women and men in this conference, and keynote talks and workshops were offered by Albanian professionals and Bahá’í speakers from Europe. Albanian State Television filmed part of the opening evening session, brief segments of which were shown on prime time news.

The special concern within Bahá’í communities for eradicating Violence within families spurred seminars and conferences across the globe over the past year. On 5 November 1995 a symposium on creating a Violence—free society was held by the Bahá’í community of Yokohama, Japan. During the event the need was cited to create unity—based families rather than families based on power and pleasure.

In Antigua, in the East Leeward Islands, a symposium was held from 24 to 26 May 1995 to consult on strategies for eradicating family Violence. Representatives from eleven Caribbean nations, the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), and the Caribbean Community Secretariat gathered for this event, which was cosponsored by the Bahá’ís of the East Leeward Islands, the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), and UNICEF.

On 15 April 1996 a seminar was held in Nuku’alofa, Tonga, on the “Violence—Free Family,” attended by the Honorable Prince Ma’atu and his wife the Honorable Alaileula, who is the granddaughter of the Malietoa, the Head of State of Western Samoa; the speaker of the Legislative Assembly; the High Commissioner of Tonga to the United Kingdom; and the Head of the United States Peace Corps. Drs. Moojan and Wendi Momen, Bahá’ís from the United Kingdom, spoke about the causes of Violence in the family and creating peaceful families. The seminar was also noteworthy in that it was the first time the issue of family Violence had been addressed in that manner in Tonga.

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In Gaborone, Botswana, a conference was arranged by the Bahá’í National Women and Child Education Committee which was entitled “Creating a Violence—Free Family,” to follow up on issues raised during the United Nations Year of the Family. The formal program was followed by music, folk dancing, and a short dramatic presentation by the Gaborone Bahá’í youth.

The tragedies befalling families in war-tom areas of the world inevitably affect their most vulnerable members in especially brutal ways, as is apparent in the former Yugoslavia. The National Spiritual Assembly of the United States has participated in efforts to bring the issues of concern to women to the attention of those implementing the Dayton Accords. Because of these efforts, Katharine Cosby and Firuz Kazemzadeh of the United States Bahá’í community were invited by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton to a coffee reception at the White House on 29 January 1996 in recognition of ongoing humanitarian assistance to the people of Bosnia. The work of integrating women’s concerns and issues more fully into the Bosnian peace process continues.

Cultural Events and Indigenous Bahd ’l's

Members of the Bahá’í community of Canada participated in the first Sacred Assembly held between aboriginal and non—aboriginal peoples from 6 to 9 December 1995 in Hull, Quebec. The Bahá’í presence in the Assembly received media coverage in the form of three interviews for the official Video, a television and a radio interview, and the airing by the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation of the Pow-Wow Eskimo Drum performance given by a Bahá’í, his presentation about the Faith, and an interview in the Inuktitut language.

On 24 and 25 November 1995, the Bahá’ís of Malaysia held a cultural festival in the Kapit Division, which included performances of Iban cultural dances, the reciting of “pantun” (poems), and field events for women and children.

The Bahá’í community of Coronado, Costa Rica, organized a celebration of the Day of the Cultures which was attended by about 1,500 people, including many school children. The highlight of the event was a performance by a group of Guaymi Bahá’ís who had traveled from their homes in the hills near the

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Panamanian border to the program’s site near the city of San Jose.

Approximately one thousand Inuit people from Greenland, Canada, Chokotka (Russia) and Alaska converged on Nome, Alaska, from 24 to 30 July 1995 in order to participate in the Inuit Circumpolar Conference. The Nome Bahá’í community contributed significantly towards the success of the event.

The Pacific Horizons International Conference, held in Auckland, New Zealand, from 10 to 13 January 1996, attracted over 1,500 Bahá’ís from 26 countries. The conference program was a blend of workshops, keynote speeches, and entertainment, with a focus on issues that affect indigenous people.

Patricia Locke, who is a Bahá’í from the United States, is the first Native American woman to win a MacArthur Fellowship. Mrs. Locke served as the chair of the Indigenous Women’s Caucus at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing and is the executor of an international institute dealing with Native American language issues. She has helped seventeen American Indian nations establish postsecondary institutions on their reservations and has assisted Indian nations in enacting language, culture, and educational policies within the area of their jurisdictions.

Race Unity

In the United States and Canada, a great many significant gatherings were convened in various communities in honor of Race Unity Day, reflecting those Bahá’ís’ continuing response to the special appeals addressed to them by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi for their “ceaseless exertions” in addressing this “most Vital and challenging issue.” The following are some representative examples.

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Memorable moments from the Pacific Horizons Conference in New Zealand, January 1996: facing page, a Maori performance; this page, from top, a Samoan group; the children ’s presentation;

a performance by

T ongan visitors.

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The Bahá’ís in Salt Lake City, Utah, organized a “Color Me Human” conference in late June/early July 1995 whose theme was “raising the first generation free of prejudice.” The event was extremely successful, was attended by members of a number of Bahá’í Youth Workshops, and included the participation of about eighty Bahá’í youth in a local parade. The mayor of Salt Lake City proclaimed “Color Me Human” week, and the conference concluded with an outdoor festival.

A number of Bahá’í communities in Indiana participated in and hosted celebrations of Race Unity Day. The Bloomington Bahá’ís organized festivities in a park which included a presentation by a representative of Indiana University. In Fort Wayne, the Bahá’ís took part in the Black Expo, at which the Indian Dawnbreakers Bahá’í Youth Workshop performed and invited people to the next day’s Race Unity Day program. Observances were also held in Gary and Indianapolis.

An observance of Race Unity Day in Peoria, Illinois, called upon the expertise of Reginald Newkirk, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Canada and a worker in the field of human rights and race relations for more than two decades. Mr. Newkirk spoke at a meeting on 10 June 1995 to students and parents of the group Tomorrow’s Scientists, Technicians and Managers, at which the Central Illinois Bahá’í Youth Workshop also performed. The Mayor of Peoria declared 11 June “Race Unity Day.”

On 10 June the Bahá’í community of Jackson-Madison County, Tennessee, were joined by Bahá’ís from Henderson and Decatur counties at the first—ever race unity gathering in the three neighboring counties, held at Jackson’s Highland Park. A city councilman proclaimed “Race Unity Day” in J ackson.

From 22 to 25 February 1996, the Local Spiritual Assembly of Charleston, South Carolina, sponsored a conference with the theme of “Race Unity: A Prescription for the Healing of the Nation,” during which an array of speakers “diagnosed” the problem of racial disunity and “prescribed” remedies from the teachings of Baha’u’llah.

Each year many Bahá’í communities in the United States take part in local events commemorating the life and work of Martin

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Luther King Jr. In Torrance, California, Bahá’ís made an effort to unite diverse groups in the city on 14 January 1996 in the “Revitalize the Dream” event, dedicated to remembering and recommitting to Dr. King’s dream of racial harmony.

Hard work on 1996’s Martin Luther King Day events in Savannah, Georgia, earned the Bahá’ís an even greater role in the

Participants in a conference on racial unizjz organized by the Bahd ’z’s

‘ ofRomania.

future. The Bahá’í community was one of the celebration’s maj or sponsors, alongside various corporations, and Bahá’ís worked behind the scenes on several of the weekend’s events, including the annual parade—billed as the nation’s largest, as Atlanta’s parade was not held this year. In addition, a Bahá’í was named to the mayor’s newly formed Human Relations Commission.

At the end of March 1996, the National Spiritual Assembly of Canada presented its fourth annual Bahá’í Race Unity Award to Sylvia Hamilton, a noted filmmaker, human rights educator, published author, and coeditor and contributor to the first—ever collection on African-Canadian women’s history.

I Late April 1995 saw more than 30 students from schools throughout the Cowichan Valley in British Columbia, Canada, plus more than 70 students from the Maxwell International Bahá’í Secondary School, gather together for a conference entitled “Healing the Wounds Of Racism,” held at the Maxwell School in British Columbia.

For the fourth year in a row, many mayors across Canada proclaimed “Unity in Diversity Week,” a concept originally put forward by the Bahá’í community. Educational fora, multicultural suppers, pancake breakfasts and many arts evenings with

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entertainment from representatives of different cultures were held. The focus of Unity in Diversity Week is to celebrate diversity as a source of strength and unity.

Efforts to promote race unity are not exclusive to American and Canadian Bahá’í communities. In Bermuda, the Bahá’í community organized a concert in Victoria Park, Hamilton, in celebration of Race Unity Day. Subsequently, the House of Assembly of Bermuda voted to send a letter of thanks and congratulations to the Bahá’í community.

From 27 May to 3 June 1995, the Bahá’í community of Rockdale, Australia, in association with other concerned groups in that country, hosted a week of prayer for reconciliation between non—Aboriginal Australians and Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. The Honorable George Thompsom of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, who was asked to give an address, later spoke in Parliament about the program.

The Albury and Wodonga Bahá’í communities of Australia held their annual multicultural evening on 24 June 1995 to commemorate National Refugee Week. Held at the Wodonga Civic Center, the event attracted 400 people of 30 different nationalities. The Honorable Lou Liebermann, Federal Member for Indi, opened the evening.

On 24 March 1996, the Council of Churches of Leiden, the Netherlands, held an interreligious meeting on Anti—Racism Day with the cooperation of the Bahá’ís of Leiden and Leiderdorp, a Buddhist group, representatives of several Christian churches, and a Muslim community. The motto of the event was “Unity in Diversity.” The program included a performance by the Bahá’í youth workshop Awake and the reading of a few Bahá’í texts on the theme.

On 19 August 1995 in Hawaii, as part of the activities for Aloha Peace Week, which commemorates the end of World War II, Joy DeGruy Leary offered insights into “Post—Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury” during a seminar held on the university of Hawaii campus. More than 70 people attended the event. Mrs. Leary, a cultural diversity consultant and a Bahá’í, stated that world peace will only be

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established after the long—standing prejudices that separate people are abolished.

Peace

Innumerable presentations, big and small, are made on the subject of peace each year by Baha' 1 communities throughout the world. The following are just a few of the efforts which have taken place in the Bahá’í world this year.

The Bahá’ís in the Congo played a leading role in the organization of the World Peace Day observance held on 19 September 1995 at the United Nations Information Center in that country. The Bahá’í speaker represented all the national religious communities at the event.

The Bahá’ís Of Quetta, Pakistan, organized a peace walk on 17 September 1995, involving about 1,300 students from six different boys’ schools. The walk ended at the Bahá’í Center in Quetta, where 2,000 gas balloons were released.

The Local Spiritual Assembly of Athens, Greece, decided to create a poster in commemoration of the United Nations International Day of Peace. The text was quoted from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “...1etus try. . .peace, and if the results of peace are bad, then we can choose. . .to go back to the 01d state of war!” As the Bahá’ís put up the posters during September they met with many positive responses. The quotation was published in Athens News on 19 September 1995.

More than one hundred people attended a celebration of International Peace Day on 17 September 1995 at the Bahá’í House of Worship in Panama City, Panama. The celebration included a devotional program and presentations on peace.

The Local Spiritual Assembly of Puerto de la Cruz in the Canary Islands organized a series of activities for World Day of Prayer for Peace on 24 September. The theme for the effort, which was supported by the municipality and a number of civic organizations, was “United for Peace.”

The Fourth Festival for International Understanding, organized by Bahá’ís, was held 111 Altenkirchen, Germany, on 21 May 1995, with the motto “World Peace through World Unity,” under the patronage of the Minister of State for the Interior and

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Sport in Rhineland—Palatinate. The event was also attended by the district council president, the mayor and some 450 guests. This year on World Environment Day, soil from sixteen additional countries was deposited into the Peace Monument in Brazil.1 The countries which contributed soil this year were the Bahamas, Bermuda, Guinea, Jordan, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Latvia, Malaysia, New Caledonia, Peru, Romania, the Philippines, the Slovak Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Ukraine, and Vanuatu, bringing to 84 the total number of nations and territories contributing thus far. This year’s ceremonies were attended by approximately 200 people, including diplomats from Switzerland, Latvia, and Romania, and the Secretary of the Environment for the state of Rio de J aneiro.

The Peace Pavilion, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, dedicated on

24 June 1995.

On 16 June 1995 in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, the foreign ministers attending the conference of the “Group of Seven” richest industrial nations (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, J apan, the United Kingdom, and the United States) being held in Halifax officially unveiled the World Peace Pavilion. On 24 June, more than 500 people came to the pavilion to celebrate peace and to participate in its local dedication. The idea of the World Peace Pavilion was conceived in 1989 by a group called Metro Youth for Global Unity, whose members were from various cultural and religious backgrounds, including the Bahá’í

1. See also The Bahá’í World 1992—93, pp. 185—87, The Bahá’í World 1993—94, p. 135, and The Bahá’í World 1994—95, p. 147.

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Faith. The words of Bahá’u’lláh, “Let your Vision be worldembracing,” are inscribed in the concrete of the monument in letters 25 centimeters high, extending across fourteen meters. For the inauguration, Dartmouth’s mayor, a federal member of Parliament, and the Premier of Nova Scotia all gave short talks applauding both the spirit of the project and the initiative of the youth who had begun it.

Interfaith Activities

On 13 August 1995, an “Interfaith Gathering for Peace with Justice” was held at Kakaako Waterfront Park in Honolulu, Hawaii, officially kicking off the Aloha Peace Week. A peace offering was made on behalf of the Hawaiian Bahá’í community in the form of conch shell blowing, and the Hawaiian Institute of the Bahá’í Faith offered sacred Hawaiian chants and sang the words of Baha’u’llah which begin “Blessed is the spot.”

Each year one of the major churches in the Bhunya region of Swaziland holds a unity night Vigil, the purpose of which is for the different churches to gain a better understanding of each other’s beliefs and activities. The Bahá’ís have been invited to participate each year; this year they were able to introduce an audience of about 450 to the Faith and to offer Bahá’í songs.

On 5 November 1995, Bahá’ís of Drogheda, Ireland, were the only non—Christian group represented at a special ecumenical service held to commemorate the 700th anniversary of the arrival of Augustinian friars in the area. The President of the Republic of Ireland, Mary Robinson, was in attendance at the ceremony, during which a verse from Bahá’í writings was read. The Bahá’í Faith was one of the four faiths featured in a symposium organized by the Faculty of Catholic Theology of Burgos, in Spain, for the study of leading monotheistic religions, attended by the Archbishop of Burgos.

Other interfaith activities in which Bahá’ís participated this year included the following: on 30 July 1995, Bahá’ís in the Cook Islands participated in and sang three songs for a national prayer service organized by the Religious Advisory Committee and attended by over 1,000 people, including the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister; Bahá’ís participated in an interreligious

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gathering held on 6 August in the gardens of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s offices in Paris, France, offering writings of Baha’u’llah and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá during the service; and from 19 to 22 October in Geneva, Switzerland, Bahá’ís offered their perspective during a program featuring round table discussion about teaching tolerance in schools.

Bahá’ís have taken a central role in interfaith efforts initiated since the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in the United States. A Bahá’í was elected chairman of Interfaith Disaster Recovery of Greater Oklahoma City, and the new organization’s mission statement begins with the words of Baha’u’llah “So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth.” The mission statement has been distributed to all churches and synagogues in the area, as well as to governmental and other agencies involved in cleanup and recovery. ‘

The Bahá’ís of Angola are now represented on a Council of the National Institute of Religious Affairs in Angola, which has the task of coordinating the activities of the various religious organizations in the country. The Bahá’í representative has also

been invited to participate in a Commission for Humanitarian Assistance.

World Religion Day Observances sponsored by Bahá’í communities in Singapore, Tanzania, and Sri Lanka each involved the participation of leaders of various religions.

Environment

David Chittleborough was the representative of the Bahá’í International Community at the Earth Charter Workshop, held at the Peace Palace in The Hague from 29 to 31 May 1995. The intent of the Earth Charter is to set out the moral imperatives of sustainable development as well as norms and standards for state and interstate behavior. Former Prime Minister of the Netherlands, R. Lubbers, chaired and addressed the opening session of the workshop, as did the heads of the two partners for the Earth Charter Initiative, Mikhail Gorbachev as President of Green Cross International and Maurice Strong as Chairman of the Earth

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Council. During the workshop, several interventions were made giving the Bahá’í perspective on global environmental problems. At the end of the workshop, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands invited a group of about ten members to a reception and lunch which she and Prince Claus held in Noordeinde Palace. At that event, Dr. Chittleborough was introduced to the Queen as the representative of the Bahá’í International Community.

The Bahá’í community of Brazil, through its Office of the Environment and Development (EMAD), participated in ECO APLICADA 95, the Third Latin American Encounter Of Environmental Educators, from 12 to 15 October in Rio de Janeiro. Parallel to the encounter, the Second International Show of Ecological Video Tapes took place. The Video of the Bahá’í environmental art education project “Tomorrow Belongs to the Children” received two prizes.

The Bahá’í International Community was invited to send a representative to participate in the “Revelation and the Environment” symposium sponsored by the Ecumenical Patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church and held from 20 to 27 September on a cruise ship based in Piraus, the main port for Athens, Greece. William Hatcher, as the Bahá’í representative, presented a paper.

From 21 to 26 April 1995, an exhibition of children’s art from 38 different countries around the world was held at the Singapore Science Center. Entitled “Our Fragile Environment,” the exhibition consisted of 220 pieces of artwork mounted onto specially designed and individually decorated canvas panels. The event was jointly organized by the Bahá’í Office of the Environment for Singapore and its counterpart in Taiwan, where the exhibition was first shown.

The Bahá’í Office of the Environment for Taiwan, with the assistance of the Nantou and Tsaotun Bahá’í communities, and the sponsorship of the Jong Hsin New Village Provincial Library, held a showing of the Second Annual International Children’s Art Exhibition “Animals and Me” from 17 to 22 October.

From 27 January to 4 February 1996, the Bahá’í community of Macau organized an exhibition resulting from an international

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art contest for children to promote environmental awareness. Four schools then invited Bahá’ís to conduct workshops for their students which used games and activities to help teach the children to preserve the environment.

The Bahá’ís of India marked 1995 1' World Environment . Day with a special conference in the ' Village of Sondhwa, organized with the f _ assistance of local . . _ 1. Women’s groups and

1 1‘ of volunteers from .. ,_ 1, __ 1 twenty Villages in Actzvity associated with the International the Dhaf and Jhabua

Children ’S Art Exhibition (Animals and Me, ” held districts and under in Macau in early 1996.

the auspices of the Bahá’í Vocational Institute for Rural Women in Madhya Pradesh. About 200 women and men gathered for this conference, Which was the first of its kind to be held in the area.

Three students from PRODES, a social development program, organized a seminar held in Santa Ana, El Salvador, on 10 November 1995. The event was entitled “Working for Our Future and the Environment,” and presenters offered comments on “Approaches to the Environmental Crisis,” “Reconceptualizing the Environmental Problem,” and “Alternative Solutions—A Moral Perspective.”

Social and Economic Development

From 5 to 16 June 1995, ten Bahá’ís in Vanuatu took part in the Literacy Awareness Workshop in Tanna, sponsored by the National Community Development Trust. Following the participation of three Bahá’ís in a literacy training workshop at the beginning of 1995, an agreement was made between the Bahá’í community and the Literacy Association of Vanuatu for the funding of a three- y—ear literacy project The Bahá’ís are to offer trainers and trainees.

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The National Spiritual Assembly of Guinea is operating a Bahá’í Village Schools project, consisting of three phases: establishing schools in four Villages during a period of three years; literacy training , ‘ . _ for the women of the 3-11 “ " a

q

1"

same Villages; and 3 ER social and economic 7‘ development project with a special empha— .3 sis on women. As of 1 1995, seven communities were involved 3% in the project, With ‘ 1 3“ three Villages in phase ‘ . ’ ' 1 . one, three in phase two, Ch’ld’” :21: :2”; ??zzenféé ?CUWW, and one in phase three. ’ y ‘

The Bahá’í community of Pakistan reported that it held its first national conference on social and economic development on 26 December 1995 in Rawalpindi. Projects included a tree planting, free medical or eye camps, and academic tutoring.

In Uganda, the Local Spiritual Assembly of Nabyoto initiated a number of social and economic development activities, including working With other concerned parties to begin adult literacy classes. The Bahá’ís of Dalkeith Estate, Sri Lanka, began conducting a class in English and one for literacy Which has a focus on women. The Bahá’ís of Guyana are involved in several initiatives, including the development of a pilot literacy project targeting preadolescent youth.

On 5 August 1995, ten members of the Radio Bahá’í Institute in the Philippines completed a course on broadcasting, Which featured hands—on training in programming, production, and broadcasting. One of the goals of Radio Bahá’í is the upliftment of the social, economic and cultural life of the people. The sixth seminar for Bahá’í radio stations was held in Vinto, Bolivia, from 3 to 13 February 1996, with radio personnel from the five Latin American stations—Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Chile—as well as Radio Bahá’í in the United States.

F a' v 1'

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The third North American Bahá’í Conference on Social and Economic Development took place in Orlando, Florida, United States, from 21 to 26 December 1995. The conference had as its theme “Paths to Peace: Global Prosperity through the Advancement of Women, Human Rights, and Moral Development,” and was attended by about 800 people from 28 countries. Guests of honor at the event were the Honorable Luiz Gushiken, member of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies, and David Hofman and David Ruhe, former members of the Universal House of Justice. Eight National Assemblies sent representatives.

The emphasis in the Bahá’í Faith on service to humanity finds \ expression in a number of ways in community life. One such expression is the contribution to the health of various segments of society. The organization Health for Humanity joined with the University of Tirana in Albania to hold the first International Medical/Surgical Conference of Tirana, on 30 and 31 May and 1 June 1995. The event attracted more than four hundred Albanian physicians and 34 Visitors from Switzerland, Holland, Spain, the United States, Canada, England, France, and Germany. Twenty Albanians and 16 Visiting professors made 38 presentations in surgery, internal medicine, obstetrics/gynecology, and pediatrics. The national television aired a summary of the scientific proceedings and some interviews four times a day throughout the country. 1995 was also the first year of Health for Humanity’s project to improve eye care in Albania, with a goal of reducing Vision loss and blindness in that country.

‘.t,.—\\ ”w." 3' “N 1 ’. . \

Family greenhouse

‘ ‘ project sponsored by the ‘ ' ‘ 1111i: Mongolian Development Center, an agency based 0n Bahd ’z'principles. The project aims at encouragingfamilies to grow vegetables, thus

‘ . improving the nutrition of children.

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Village representatives in Vientiane, Laos, purchase cement

rings for two water-wells destroyed by floods, October 1995.

The Bahá’ís Of Céte d’Ivoire are taking part in a nationwide effort to eliminate river blindness. Local Bahá’í communities participated this year in distributing the medicine used to combat the disease.

In February 1996, the Bahá’í Health Agency of South Africa, with the assistance of that of the United Kingdom, carried out a health care proj ect in Polini in which 60 people were served by a doctor and nurses. The doctor, who is a Bahá’í, also addressed the women in the Village about child care, hygiene and primary health care and gave a presentation to the students of two. schools on primary health care. This same health agency assisted the community of Zingqayi in, conducting a feasibility study and submitting to the authorities a request for a supply 'of water to the area.

The continuing problem of polio was highlighted in a health proj ect in Uganda, jointly funded by the Bahá’í community and the Canadian Public Health Authority. The obj ectives of the campaign were to increase immunization coverage against the six “killer diseases” and to' improve general health through health education in the community. As a result of the campaign, immunization coverage has been shown to have doubled or tripled in more than half the communities where health workers have been trained, new immunization centers have been established, at least 80 percent of the communities have cleaned their water sources, some have collected funds and repaired their boreholes and others are building protected springs, and there are an increased number of pit latrines in many Villages.

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In Kenya’s Primary Health Care Course, held from 13 to 25 July 1995 at the Menu Bahá’í Teaching Institute in Bungoma, 24 women and men were trained as primary health workers for their home communities. A Bahá’í development committee held a seminar for community health agents from 22 to 31 May in Kaboke Nundu, Zaire, with participants from Fizi, Mwenga and Uvira. Trainers were provided by the committee and by a nearby hospital.

Mrs. Lyowa of Zambia undertook a similar, two-week training course in March 1995 to become a Bahá’í community health educator. Upon returning home, she cleaned up the family compound, dug a rubbish pit, and held a workshop for the people in her compound and for the teachers in the neighboring high school. She and J eddah Bradley, a Bahá’í youth from Australia serving in the area, arranged to teach the importance of primary health care and education for children through a four—day program which resulted in the formation of a women’s club, called Twikatane (Come Together United). Many of the club members then took steps to improve sanitation in their homes and around their compounds. Mrs. Lyowa and Miss Bradley, joined by five other Bahá’ís, scrubbed and disinfected the women’s ward of the Mporokoso District Hospital, and the Local Spiritual Assembly of Mporokoso agreed to adopt a part of the hospital grounds for flower gardens. Mrs. Lyowa and two other Bahá’í community health educators joined another Bahá’í in much-needed volunteer work in the hospital’s pediatrics clinic, through which they noticed that the clothes for the patients were being washed by their relatives and put on the ground to dry. This fact was brought to the attention of the Local Assembly, which consequently had a clothesline built outside the ward. In August, a refresher course was held for the Bahá’í health educators, after which there was a special ceremony to unveil on the hospital grounds a plaque declaring that part of the hospital grounds had been adopted by the Bahá’ís of Mporokoso. This prompted a representative of the secondary school to say that the school would also adopt some of the hospital grounds and would go into competition with the Bahá’ís in making the area beautiful. These many improvements in the lives of the people of Mporokoso are

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the result of the effort to offer just a short period of training to one woman.

Involvement in the Life ofSociety

In obedience to the behest of Baha’u’llah to “be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age ye live in, and center your deliberations on its exigencies and requirements,” Bahá’ís the world over are stepping up the tempo of their contributions to dialogue on the issues confronting humanity today.

The Bahá’ís in the Eastern Caroline Islands presented a paper at the recent Federated States of Micronesia Economic Summit held in Pohnpei. The paper, which was entitled “The Purpose of Development and the Decision—Making Process,” included concepts from the Bahá’í statements T urning Point for All Nations (see pp. 241—83) and The Prosperity ofHumankind (see The Bahá’í World 1994—95, pp. 273—96) and was the only paper offered by a nongovernmental organization.

J aime Duhart—a Bahá’í and a member of the board of Universidad Bolivariana of Chile—toured a number of Latin American countries this year including Peru, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Cuba. In each country he presented The Prosperity of Humankind to nongovernmental organizations, university staff, and other interested groups. His efforts were covered by local media in many of the places he Visited.

As a follow up to the Copenhagen Social Summit, the Bahá’ís of Botswana hosted a seminar on human prosperity at the University of Botswana, in Gaborone, on 26 September 1995.

The Cook Islands Bahá’í community of Te Au 0 Tonga, working with its National Spiritual Assembly, presented The Prosperity Qf Humankind to 150 people, beginning with the Queen’s Representative, the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister, various other ministers, and the country’s Arikis (chiefs). On 15 July 1995, a public meeting was held to introduce the statement, which was attended by Pa Ariki—one of the traditional leaders—and the Minister of Health and Tourism. Subsequently, a television program about The Prosperity Of Humankind was aired by the Bahá’ís, followed two weeks later . by the screening of the same program translated into Maori.

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Presentations and meetings on the theme of human prosperity were also held in Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Venezuela, Senegal, India, and Guyana. Swaziland hosted a meeting on the subject as one of a series of monthly fora on various related toplcs.

Presentation of The Prosperity Of Humankind in August 1995 to Her Excellency Dame Nita Barrow, Governor General " ofBarbados, by a member Ofthe National Spiritual Assembly of Barbados.

On behalf of the Bahá’í International Community, Guilda Navidi-Walker and Arthur Dahl attended a conference in Bucharest, Romania, called by President 1011 Iliescu, entitled the Workshop WorldWatch Conference on Sustainable Development and International Co-operation, and held on 22 and 23 March 1996. Dr. Dahl presented Bahá’í Views on the spiritual dimension of sustainable development, which were eagerly received by participants.

The Fourth International Dialogue on the Transition to a Global Society was convened at the University of Maryland at College Park, from 14 to 17 October 1995. The conference was organized by the Bahá’í Chair for World Peace and the university’s Department of History on behalf of the Center for International Development and Conflict Management, and Landegg Academy, and held under the auspices of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The theme this year was “Divisive Barbarity 0r Global Civilization: The Ethical Dimensions of Science, Art, Religion and Politics,” and the obj eetives Of the dialogue were to find answers to the challenge of building a global civilization

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and to inspire action by leaders in all realms of society to realize the proposed solutions. The keynote speaker was the Hand of the Cause Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum, who was followed by five other speakers: His Excellency Amine Gemayal, former President of Lebanon; Her Royal Highness Princess Rahma bint E1 Hassan of Jordan; ERVin Laszlo, President of the Club of Budapest and International Adviser to the Dialogue; Dr. Bertrand Schneider, Secretary-General of the Club of Rome; and His Excellency Dr. Karan Singh, head of the Auroville Foundation in India and former Ambassador of India to the United States. The final speaker of the session was His Excellency Amata Kabua, President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, who delivered a special address. Also in attendance were Ambassador PaulMarc Henry, Ambassador—at-Large of France; Lily Boeykens, former President of the International Council of Women, and currently the Commissioner of Belgium to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women; Ambassador Tahseen Basheer, Director of the National Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Cairo, Egypt; Edy Kaufman, from the Center for International Development and Conflict Management at the University of Maryland at College Park; and Eberhard Zeidler, a prominent North American architect.

The Landegg Academy held a forum on global governance in Germany’s Haus der Demokratie on 20 September 1995. Some 40 nongovernmental organizations delivered statements in the presence of more than 200 participants, calling for a variety of measures to reform and restructure the international order and the UN.

The “First European Bahá’í Conference on Law and International Order” was held in the Netherlands this year at the de Poort Conference Center. Presentations addressed such subjects as the Kitab—i—Aqdas; international law and the new world order; the ethical aspects of crime and punishment; and the coming of world peace. One evening the gathering was Visited by two prominent jurists, one working at the State Council and the other at the International War Crimes Tribunal for former Yugoslavia, both of whom offered presentations.

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France’s Association médicale baha’ie sponsored a dialogue on the ethics related to medically assisted procreation on 25 November 1995 in Nice. The meeting entitled “Embryo: Who Are You?” benefited from the contributions of a Justice of the Supreme Court and Vice-President of the National French Committee of Ethics, and the Director of the Center of Bioethics at the Catholic University of Lyon.

A National Consultative Workshop on Adolescent Health and Youth Development Programs was held on 11 March 1996 in Quezon City, in the Philippines. A representative of the Bahá’í community actively participated in group discussions and workshops.

Many Bahá’í communities this year put special efforts into observing the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations and presenting the statement T urning Pointfor all Nations to government officials, hoping to win wider appreciation for the need to strengthen the United Nations and improve its capacity to coordinate the responses of nations to the challenges facing humanity (see pp. 159—70). '

The National Spiritual Assembly of the Russian Federation sponsored a reception to commemorate UN 50, highlighting the T uming Point document. Programs were also held in both Bamenda and Limbe, Cameroon, on 24 October, accompanied by presentations of T urning Point for All Nations and radio coverage of the events in English, French and a number of vernacular languages.

In April 1996, the Mayor of Velika Gorica, Slovenia, was given a translation of T urning Pointfor All Nations and other Bahá’í literature. Inspired by. the contents, the mayor asked the Bahá’ís how to make Velika Gorica a “Model City” in order to promote the idea of world peace, harmony and justice. He also suggested that a series of seminars could be held on world and local governance according to the Bahá’í teachings.

The United Nations-sponsored Human Rights Day was also observed by many Bahá’í communities. The National Spiritual Assembly of Greece hosted a reception in its honor on 7 December 1995 in Athens. The reception was held under the

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auspices of the United Nations Informatien Center in Athens, the main United Nations Office in Greece. The National Assembly of Romania also held such a reception, on 12 December 1995 , in the Diplomat Club of Bucharest. Among others, the event was attended by their Excellencies the Ambassadors of Austria, France, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, and the United Nations. Other prominent guests included some twenty members of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies and over 40 senators. The Bahá’ís of Luxembourg observed Human Rights Day by hosting a reception for prominent people who had assisted Bahá’ís in Iran by defending the community. Bahá’ís were interviewed on Tele Cartagena and on Onda Cera as a result of the Human Rights Day celebration held in Spain, on 12 December 1995, and a long report about the event was aired on Radio Voz. The observance took place at the Regional Bahá’í Center in Murcia, and involved the participation of eight different representatives of various organizations in a roundtable discussion about human rights.

A seminar was held for directors of homes for ' the elderly, at the Blame Cervantes Hospital in San José, Costa Rica, and was cosponsored by the Bahá’í community and the National Crusade for the Protection of the Elderly. Some 125 directors of such facilities from every part Of the country attended, and several asked to have the a a ‘ program repeated in their ,_ .1._. __ 1 . communities. The Representative in Greece offhe UNHz'gh

' ' Commissioner or Re u 665, Janvier de Ried A pubhc meetmg 0n martenspeakiifg at affNHuman Rights Day

the topic Of tOIeranca-Was reception held by the National Spiritual held 1n Mons, Belglum, Assembly ofGreece, December 1995.

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at the City Hall on 11 December 1995. It was organized by the Bahá’í community.

The European Bahá’í Business Forum (EBBF) participated in the third annual conference on “Moral and Ethical Principles in a Social Market Economy” from 20 to 22 October 1995 in Sofia, Bulgaria. The event was cosponsored by EBBF, the Bulgarian Association of the Club of Rome, the Institute for Sustainable Development, the College of Management, Trade and Marketing, the Sofia Commodity Exchange, and the National Spiritual Assembly of Bulgaria. Sixteen papers were presented, including four by members of EBBF.

Several national Bahá’í communities had the opportunity this year to contribute to the constitutional processes in their countries. The National Spiritual Assembly of the Gambia sent a representative to public hearings held by the Constitutional Review Committee which took place in the Parliament building and contributed Bahá’í viewpoints on national unity, the equality of men and women, and the use of consultation in governance. The National Assembly of Eritrea submitted its Views to the Constitutional Commission in that country. In the Mariana Islands, the Third Constitutional Convention in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands provided that National Assembly with an opportunity to hold a luncheon for the convention delegates during which Bahá’í principles of governance were offered.

In the Netherlands, the newly established Commission for Equal Treatment, which has been given the role of an independent legal consultant able to pass verdicts on disputes submitted to it or refer them to courts of law, has one Bahá’í member out of a total of 24. The Commission is designed to combat all forms of injustice, and will make recommendations to the government and advise judges about how to ensure fair treatment of all people.

The Bahá’í community of Brazil published a document in 1995 addressed to the “new governors and legislators of Brazil.” The statement deals with such essential matters as education and the rural population; the advancement of women; leadership and

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morality; and the prosperity of humanity. In July 1995 the Bahá’í community of Brazil was invited to send a representative to be a member of the Human Rights and Citizenship Special Commission.

The Bahá’í community of the Canary Islands was one of only a small number of nongovernmental organizations invited to participate in the Tri-Continental Conference of the parliamentary commissioners from Africa, the Americas, and Europe, organized by the parliamentary deputies of the Canary Islands and inaugurated by the King and Queen of Spain. The commissioners consulted on their role in the defence of human rights. The Bahá’ís were able to offer many of the commissioners a document on world citizenship, which was relevant to discussions on the movement of people fleeing poverty and the xenophobia they often face in other countries.

In France, many prominent individuals gathered on 2 May 1995 at the Bahá’í National Center for the presentation of the National Order of Merit to Christine Samandari-Ḥakím, a Bahá’í of that community. Dr. Samandari-Ḥakím was elevated by the French Government to the rank of Knight in the National Order of Merit in recognition of her humanitarian activities and her contribution to the promotion of human rights in general.

Recognition

Although the Bahá’í Faith is now represented in Virtually every country in the world, the process of obtaining various forms of official recognition continues. In the Cook Islands this year, for the first time Bahá’ís were invited to take part in the religious ceremony for the opening and closing of Constitution Week (30 July and 6 August 1995). The Bahá’í community of Vanuatu succeeded in obtaining on 11 December a certificate of registration under the Religious Bodies Act of 1995. The Faith was also registered in Tonga this year under the Government Incorporated Societies Act, Section 7. In Hong Kong, government authorities have approved the Bahá’í community’s application to license the Bahá’í Hall as a place of public worship; thus, Bahá’í marriages conducted there can be legally recognized. The government of St. Eustatius in the Netherlands Antilles has issued a letter to that

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Bahá’í community recognizing the Faith as a religion, the Spiritual Assembly of St. Eustatius as the administrative body of the Faith for the Bahá’í community on Statia, and the National Spiritual Assembly of the West Leeward Islands as its regional administrative body. On the local level, the Bahá’í communities of Tallinn, Estonia, and Asmara, Eritrea both succeeded in registering with their national governments.

Landmark Occasions

Occasionally in Bahá’í communities, certain landmark events occur which offer a glimpse of the potency of principles and teachings of the Bahá’í Faith. One such event occurred in Burundi, in early 1996. It was reported at that time that the Local Spiritual Assembly of Rohero had been reformed and was actively taking up its duties, Rohero being the zone which includes what is known as downtown Bujumbura. The Assembly elected was made up of two people from the Hutu tribe, three from the Tutsi tribe, three Canadians and one Iranian and, as the report also stated, it, “unlike the rest of the country, meets in absolute harmony.”

During Riḍván 1995, the National Convention of Sierra Leone took place, in the face of dangerous civil upheaval, some of the delegates traveling through the most dangerous areas to reach the Convention. The first Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Gibraltar was elected that same Riḍván.

On 26 November, 150 people, including members of the media, gathered for a Day of the Covenant celebration held at the University of Liberia’s auditorium. The Director of the Catholic radio station (ELCM), Amelia Wreh, was present, as well as a representative from the national radio station (ELBC). Also present were representative journalists from the electronic press media and the New Patriot Journal. The keynote address focused on the significance of the Covenant in the Bahá’í Faith, and special prayers for peace in Liberia were read.

The first National Bahá’í Winter School of Estonia was held in December in Parnu. Its attendees came from Sweden, Finland, Latvia and Russia, as well as Estonia. The first National Bahá’í Summer School was held in Perm, Russia, from 11 to 15 August

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attracting the participation of 75 Bahá’ís from 12 cities in this landmark occasion.

The National Bahá’í Center of Bulgaria had its official opening in Sofia on 30 September 1995. It was reported that well over 200 Bahá’ís from Virtually every region of Zimbabwe congregated at the newly built Bahá’í National Center to witness its official opening on 21 October.

A handful of Bahá’ís joyfully gathered in Tasiilaq, Greenland, from 10 to 12 July for a summer school. The event was characterized by study of the Bahá’í Faith, high spirits and laughter.

The Louis G. Gregory Bahá’í Institute in South Carolina, USA, saw the Ninth Annual Black Men’s Gathering in July. Participants from Botswana, Canada, Kenya, Liberia, South Africa, and the United States, engaged in study of the Bahá’í Faith, consultation, prayer and song, in what was described as the largest and one of the most potent of these annual events. This year’s gathering was also distinguished by the presence of a large number of fathers and their young adult sons, adding a new Vitality to the occasion.

Tirana, Albania, saw the inauguration of a Bahá’í Cultural Center on 25 May, attended by the President of the Albanian Parliament, Pjeter Arbnori, five deputies, a representative of UNICEF, and the first secretary of the Italian Embassy.

The National Spiritual Assembly of Belize established an Office of External Affairs to maintain relationships between the Bahá’í community and both governmental and nongovernmental organizations.

In April 1996, Alice Buffet, the first native Norfolk Islander to become a Bahá’í, presented the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia with the text of a translation into the Norfolk language of the Short Obligatory Prayer which she had prepared. Translation of some of the Bahá’í writings into the Norfolk language was one of Australia’s goals for the Three Year Plan. Sharing the Message ofBaha' ’u’lláh The primary motivation for Bahá’ís to teach others about their Faith is their belief that its teachings represent the remedy prescribed by God for the healingand regeneration of human 109

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kind today. It is against the spirit of the Bahá’í Faith either to impose their religious beliefs on others or to offer material inducements in an effort to “convert” them.

Bahá’í communities often hold conferences, institutes and seminars designed to increase the capacity of individuals and of groups to teach. The Bahá’í community of Lithuania held its first such conference from 28 to 30 December, and it was attended by people from Poland, Russia, Scotland, Kaliningrad, Denmark and Lithuania, in spite of the many and long delays on public transportation due to the weather. Other such gatherings were held in Liberia, Malaysia, . Australia, Cambodia, France, Tonga, India, _. Sweden, Spain, Tur T he Bahá’í' Cultural Center, T irana, Albania. key’ BOtswana’ and the Faroe Islands.

The Bahá’ís of Australia participated in the annual Port Adelaide Parade in South Australia on Saturday, 25 November 1995 with a float on the theme of unity in diversity. On 20 and 21 May, Bahá’ís of Oulu, Finland, participated in a conference entitled “The Days of Spiritual Growth.” The community of Chinamora, Zimbabwe, set up a Bahá’í stand for both days of the Chinamora Agricultural Show, held on 13 and 14 July. The Bahá’ís also had an opportunity to offer musical and dramatic presentations and to say a few words about the Faith.

A special Tanzania/Zambia border conference was held from 9 to 11 June 1995 at Chiwezi Village, with the principal aim of introducing the Faith to all the Villages around the area, especially t0 the members of the Sinai Church, a large number of whom became Bahá’ís in recent months and hosted this event.

On 20 Au ust, the first in a new series of programs dedicated to the writings of Baha’u’llah was broadcast on Radio Sodre, an

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Uruguayan station that can be heard by peeple throughout the country and in parts of Argentina and Brazil. The series is named Imagine.

In Peru the staff of Radio Bahá’í on Lake Titieaca was asked by the Organization of Women in San Cristobal to proclaim the message of Baha’u’llah in its town. As part of their effort, the Bahá’ís performed two dramas about equal rights and opportunities for men and women.

Children on the Bahá’í' float for the annual Port Adelaide Parade, in Adelaide, Australia, held on 25 November I 995.

Teams of Bahá’í children on the islands of Tabiteuea and Nonouti in Kiribati participated this year in a number of Visits to each other’s communities for the purpose of sharing the message of Baha’u’llah with the people.

Bahá’í students at Ouagadougou University in Burkina Faso participated in an exhibition organized by an association of students of the Science and Economy Faculty and held from 26 to 29 April 1995. A similar informational activity was organized by students of the Faculty of Medicine.

Bahá’ís participated in Havana, Cuba’s International Book Fair, held from 7 to 13 February 1996. The exhibition takes place biennially and is a major event in Central America, with more than 30,000 people attending this year. This was the local community of Havana’s first opportunity to present the Bahá’í Faith to a broad cross-section of society, and the booth was one

of the most popular at the fair. About 100 titles were available at the Bahá’í stall. "

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The Bahá’í community of Hungary participated in Budapest’s International Book and Video Fair this year. The Hungarian Head of State, President Arpad Gonez, Visited the Bahá’í stand and was presented with a copy of The Promise of World Peace and some additional information. An exhibition of Bahá’í literature was also offered at the State Scientific Library in Liberec, Czech Republic.

Organized campaigns of teaching took place all over the world. Sierra Leone, Madagascar, South Africa, Uganda, and Rodrigues Island (with the efforts of Bahá’ís from Mauritius and the Seychelles) all reported teaching proj ects. The Light of Unity Campaign in West Africa comprised two teaching groups: a FrenCh—speaking drama and dance group, which Visited Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Niger and Togo; and an Englishspeaking musical and dance group, which Visited Cameroon, Ghana and Nigeria. The Enoch Olinga teaching project in the Kumi and Soroti districts of Uganda was kicked off with a special teaching conference. Another teaching project named after the Hand of the Cause Enoch Olinga was operating in Senegal this year. That effort includes literacy classes in several communities, so that new Bahá’ís will be able to read the Bahá’í scriptures for themselves. Women have been the focus of several activities. The Liberian Bahá’í community engaged in a flurry of activity in J anuary 1996, sharing the message of Baha’u’llah in Bamersville, J ohnsonVille, and Schefflin, and holding two study classes in Monrovia.

An unusual campaign of teaching was carried out in Zambia from December 1995 to March 1996. Those who took part were Bahá’ís who were refugees from Rwanda, and they contacted people in the four main francophone compounds around the town of Lusaka. Related initiatives include language classes in the Lusaka Bahá’í Center and ongoing courses for women.

Projects undertaken in the Americas this year included the Cabudare Project in Lara State, Venezuela; a special project in Canada aimed at reaching the East Indian population in British Columbia and Ontario, assisted by the participation of a member of the National Assembly of India; and an ongoing teaching

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project in Woodbum, Oregon, United States, which aims at bringing the Bahá’í Faith to migrant workers from Mexico.

In Paraguay, following the success of National Bahá’í Week in July 1995, which involved much radio and television coverage and intensive teaching, the National Spiritual Assembly called for a National Day of Teaching to take place on 17 September. Bahá’ís in many communities responded by holding introductory meetings in their homes and going out to Visit interested people.

The community of Nicoll’s Town on the island of Andros in the Bahamas has submitted a series of articles which have been printed in the local newspaper, the Chichamey T imes. Topics covered have included world order, happiness, love, the environment, and agriculture.

The Fazli Teaching Project was initiated in Andhra Pradesh, India, and the Marian J ack VII Project traveled across Russia, Siberia and Mongolia, with participants from Alaska, Canada, Russia and the United States. This year the Bahá’ís of Uzbekistan embarked on a special proj ect to introduce the Faith t0 the people of Karakalpakstan and to its officials and other prominent people. An effort was made in Japan to acquaint members of media organizations with the true nature of the Bahá’í Faith through an explanatory letter.

In Papua New Guinea a series of traditional teaching proj ects has been undertaken, each relying on local expressions of culture. Projects and campaigns to reach the indigenous peoples of the Pacific inspired by or growing out of the Ocean of Light Project carried forward efforts to introduce the Bahá’í Faith to traditional chiefs in the Cook Islands, New Caledonia, Fiji, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Tuvalu. The Holy Mariner Project reached out to the Maori people of New Zealand; the Heart of Australia Calling Project made strides in its efforts to reach aboriginal people. Related events included a cultural exchange Visit by Maori Bahá’ís from New Zealand to the Amooguna tribe of Napperby, Australia. New Zealand also saw the Ephraim Te Paa Project in Mangere, Auckland, in which Bahá’ís invited interested people to participate in weekly activities.

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A mixed group of Uzbek, T ajik, Kazakh, T urkmen, and Kyrgyz

Bahd ’z's in Samarkand, Uzbekistan,

prepares for an activity to Share

Bahá’u’lláh ’3

message with others, June 1995.

In 1992 a group of Maori Bahá’ís from New Zealand traveled across Canada on their return from the Second Bahá’í World Congress and Visited Native American Bahá’ís, finding bonds of commonality wherever they traveled. In 1994 a different group of Maori Bahá’ís traveled from New Zealand to Canada, making contacts with prominent Native American people, encouraging isolated Bahá’ís, and Visiting communities. In July 1995 Maori Vision III began with the arrival in British Columbia of a Maori Bahá’í family from New Zealand, with the explicit purpose of teaching the Bahá’í Faith. A reciprocal trip of Native Canadian Bahá’ís to New Zealand was planned.

Efforts to share Baha’u’llah’s message with the people of the former Yugoslavia have been made in Pula and Zagreb, Croatia; Velika Goriea, Slovenia; Belgrade, Serbia; and in the former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia.

Turkish Bahá’ís from Germany and Turkey traveled to the town of Komrad in Moldova from 8 to 12 October 1995 to Visit the Bahá’ís there and to help with the teaching work among the Gaugasian people—Moldovans of Turkish background.

In Iceland, a teaching campaign which began in October 1995 each week featured introductory meetings in several locations, a study class, and a public meeting. A “home page” on the World Wide Web was established with information about the Bahá’í Faith given in Icelandic and Faroese. The youth of the Faroe Islands embarked on an effort to bring Baha’u’llah’s message to the people of Térshavn and Toftir, while the Hackney Project

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in England is resulting not only in declarations of faith in Baha’u’llah but also in personal transformation. A successful teaching project was carried out in Nettemy and Tnnsberg, Norway, from 8 to 10 March 1996, which introduced the Bahá’í Faith to students. 15 to 20 April was “Bahá’í Week” in Lillehammer, and the event evoked a very positive response from the public. Activities included a midnight prayer gathering at the top of the Olympic Park. Local and regional media covered the events.

Communities all across the globe are encountering greater receptivity to the message of Baha’u’llah. In Gujarat, India, 95 students of the Vallabh Uttam Buniyadi Girls High School, with the consent of their parents, became Bahá’ís. In the Marshall Islands, training has been provided for those wishing to teach 0n the outer islands. As a result of the subsequent teaching endeavors over 100 people enrolled as Bahá’ís and four new Local Spiritual Assemblies were formed.

In Bangladesh, partly through the efforts of a youth volunteer, all the inhabitants of 88 Villages became Bahá’ís and Local Spiritual Assemblies were elected. In Zambia, a Chief and seven

. Guests assembled

• 17 for presentations

. 0n the Bahd ’z’ , Faith, as part ' ofa traditional teachingproject in the Chimbu , province of the highlands of - . Papua New Guinea, 1‘ ,. February 1996.

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of his family members and Visitors became Bahá’ís. Two new Local Spiritual Assemblies were also elected in that area. In Spain a number of Gypsies declared themselves to be Bahá’ís this year. Because of teaching efforts associated with a summer

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school in Girne, Cyprus, involving Bahá’ís from both the north and the south of the island as well as from several other countries, a sizeable group of people declared their belief in Baha’u’llah. Remarkable and dramatic teaching successes have been reported for Guinea—Bissau and Haiti.

A Bahd ’z' gathering in Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia,

summer 1995.

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During August 1995, three youth from Portugal Visited Maputo, Mozambique, initiating workshops and activities for introducing the Faith to the people, and then making themselves available for discussions, resulting in a number of enrollments in the Faith.

More than one hundred Bahá’ís gathered at Shin Hyub Institute near Taej on in South Korea to participate in the summer school held from 28 to 30 July 1995. After this event, a teaching project dedicated to the Hand of the Cause Raḥmatu’lláh Muhájir was launched, during which nine people declared their faith in Baha’u’llah, and one new Local Spiritual Assembly was formed.

Institutes

The absence of clergy in the Bahá’í Faith places responsibility on the shoulders of every Bahá’í. As a result, each Bahá’í community needs many individuals who are knowledgeable about the Faith and have the spiritual qualities and other skills and capacities necessary to promote its functioning. It follows that some sort of systematic training is needed to assist people to fulfill their own potentialities. Such a system exists in the Bahá’í community in various forms, one of which is that of the institute.

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An institute is not defined by a venue or by paid staff; institutes are simply organizational structures dedicated to systematic training with the purpose of endowing ever—growing contingents Of Bahá’ís with the spiritual insights, the knowledge, and the skills necessary to carry out the many tasks occupying the community.

Through the prompting and guidance of the Universal House of Justice, increasing numbers of communities are engaged in this institute process. Due to the large numbers of people who became Bahá’ís in Haiti in the summer of 1995, teams from the Anis Zum'izi School held successful institutes in three of the affected localities during November.

The National Deepening Institute of the Bahá’í community of Kazakhstan held its tenth course from 4 to 10 January 1996, in Almaty. The program was the first which was especially designed to train teachers of children’s classes.

Institute courses and programs have also taken place in communities as diverse as Tonga, Singapore, Myanmar, Colombia, Malaysia, the United States, the Solomon Islands, Togo, Uzbekistan, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Liberia, Brazil, Norway, Niger, and India, among many others.

S cholarship

In Bangladesh, the Institute of Personal Law and Research, which is recognized by the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, held its first certificate course on Bahá’í Personal Law in the first week of

Students attending the Anz’s Zumizz' School in

Port au Prince, Haiti, 1995.

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A group ofBahd ’z's consults on a new Bahá’í' radio program during an institute held in Monrovia, Liberia, September I 995.

A « «Way ....

December 1995. Nineteen people participated, including an assistant attorney general, a former assistant attorney general, and eleven other advocates of the Supreme Court.

The inauguration of Lucknow University’s Chair for Bahá’í Studies, endowed by the National Spiritual Assembly of India, took place on 14 December 1995, in the auditorium Of the University. His Excellency the Governor of Uttar Pradesh and Chancellor of the University formally inaugurated the Bahá’í Chair, which is situated in the Department of Western History.

Dorothy Nelson delivered the Second Annual Bahá’í Lecture at the University of Maryland at College Park on 15 May 1995. The event was held under the auspices of the Bahá’í Chair for World Peace and the Center for International Development and Conflict Management at the university. Her paper, “Alternative Forms of Conflict Resolution: A Pathway to Peace,” was well received by an audience of over 200, including university administrators, faculty and staff, and Bahá’ís from Washington DC, Virginia, and Maryland.

An interfaith symposium on religion and the environment, organized by the Association for Bahá’í Studies in Ghana, was held on 26 July 1995, chaired by the Minister of Environment, Science and Technology. Three speakers addressed the gathering on the role of religion in the conservation of nature. This activity was also the inaugural event of the Association.

The fourth annual conference of the Association for Bahá’í Studies in J apan took place in Yamaguehi in December 1995, with the theme “Family, Community, and the World.” Con 118

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The Ruhi Institute, 9 Colombia, 3; March, 1996.

ference activities included a display of works by Bahá’í artists, speakers on community development from Tonga, the premiere performance of a play about Lady Blomfield, an early British Bahá’í, and the presentation of a suggested model for the future J apanese House of Worship.

The annual conference of the Association of Bahá’í Studies for English-Speaking Europe was held on 14 October 1995 at the London School of Economics and Political Science, with a theme of “The Role of Morality and Ethics in Society.” Workshops were offered on ethics in business, the new morality, and morals and education.

The annual conference of the Association for Bahá’í Studies, North America, was held for four days in San Francisco, California, in mid—October 1995, with about 800 participants from more than a dozen countries. The theme was “Anarchy into Order: Uniting the Nations.” The event featured a seminar for leaders of community organizations outside the Bahá’í Faith to discuss with Bahá’ís various issues related to local community challenges, and it included a number of guest presentations in addition to presentations by Bahá’ís active in community work. The plenary sessions featured the participation of three guest speakers: Justice Frank Newman of the California Supreme Court, who spoke on human rights; Ben Crow of Stanford University, who spoke on global prosperity; and Betty Reardon of Columbia University Teachers College, who spoke on the advancement of women. On the last evening Amin Banani

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offered the Hasan Balyuzi memorial lecture on the subject of Táhirih.2 A four-day children’s program emphasizing Virtues in everyday life was held in the hotel.

Landegg Academy in Wienacht, Switzerland, this year began to offer Master of Arts programs in ethics, conflict resolution, Bahá’í studies, and spiritual psychology. These programs are oriented along the parameters of a new field of study designated as “Applied Spirituality.” Landegg’s programs focus on training scholars who are universal in perspective, scientific in approach, ethical in conduct, and humble in attitude.

The National Spiritual Assembly of the United States announced the establishment of a four—year study program focusing on “Spiritual F oundations for a Global Society.” The

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program aims at imparting knowledge; developing reading, writing, research, analytical, and teaching skills; strengthening the desire to serve others; and fostering Bahá’í identity. Europe’s first Irfan Colloquium in Persian was held in June 1995 at the Bahá’í Permanent Teaching Institute in Acute, Italy. The word “irfan” in Persian indicates mystical, spiritual, or theological knowledge. Irfan Colloquia, sponsored by the Haj Mehdi Arjmand Memorial Fund, are devoted mainly to scriptural studies and are conducted separately in English and Persian. Newcastle University, Neweastle-upon-Tyne, United Kingdom,

2. Táhirih was one of the disciples of the Bab, called Letters of the Living, and an outstanding heroine of Babi history. She is renowned for her audacity and courage in championing of the rights of women.

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was the venue from 8 to 10 December 1995 for the eighth Irfan Colloquium and the semiannual meeting of the Religious Studies Seminar of the Association for Bahá’í Studies for EnglishSpeaking Europe, cosponsored by the Institute for Bahá’í Studies, Wilmette, United States. The ninth Irfan Colloquium was held at the Bahá’í National Center in the United States from 29 to 31 March 1996, with a theme of “anti-Bahá’í polemic” and ways of responding to it.

Arts

Bahá’í individuals and communities continued to strive this year for excellence in the realm of the arts. A representative sample of efforts is provided below.

In South Africa, as part of the Johannesburg Art Biennial, the Karen Mckerron Art Gallery invited the National Spiritual Assembly to cosponsor an exhibition of art works by the winners of the 1995 awards in honor of Bahá’í artist Reginald Turvey and Of a small collection of Turvey’s later works. Four works were shown by each of the four merit award winners: Scott Bredin, Belinda Chapman, Arik Reiss, and Hester Pullinger. This year’s bursary winner, Henk Serfontein, exhibited thirteen works.

Bahá’ís in Térshavn, Faroe Islands, organized a multicultural concert and art exhibition from 18 to 24 March 1996. Local radio and a newspaper covered the event.

An exhibition of painting and sculptures by Bahá’í artist Sima Baher de Caballero opened at the National Library in Montevideo, Uruguay, with a ceremony which was attended by almost one hundred people. The theme of the work was “Nature: The Sublime Expression,” and the invitation for the exhibition featured Baha’u’llah’s words “Nature is God’s Will and is its expression in and through the contingent world.”

Syble Douglas, a Bahá’í from Georgetown, Guyana, participated in November 1995 in the Guyanese Women Artists’ Exhibition at Casteleni House, showing some of her paintings. She and her son, Allister Douglas, also mounted an exhibition of paintings and textile art at the Hadfield Foundation Gallery in Georgetown.

Radio Bahá’í Ecuador sponsored “NucanchiC—Tono,” the 15th Andean Music Festival, on 10 September 1995. The event

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was attended by more than 3,000 people. On the evening of the first day of the convention for the election of the Regional Spiritual Assembly of the Baltic States, the Bahá’ís held a Baroque concert in Tallinn, Estonia, with three themes which were expressed through music and through the reading of the words of Baha’u’llah in Estonian, Russian, and several other languages. The themes were “Love and Harmony,” “Compassion,” and “Unity.”

x 1 K e .. 1 Youth who participated ‘ ' r ‘ - in a performance of a play about Lady Blomfield, an early Bahd ’z’ in England, during a meeting of the Association for Bahá’í' Studies in Japan.

The musical group Light in the Darkness toured Europe in summer 1995, Visiting Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, and Lithuania. The Wilmette Choir performed in Paris, France, on 23 March 1996 as part of a tour of Europe. The Northern Ireland Bahá’í Choir was part of a six-thousand-voiee World Choir singing with the Irish National Symphony Orchestra to an audience of over 16,000 people at Landsdown Road Stadium in Dublin in the presence of President Mary Robinson Of the Republic of Ireland.

On 18 February 1996, a drama group sponsored by the Local Spiritual Assembly of Kampemba, Zambia, gave a presentation in the town’s family center of a cultural play entitled “The White Robe.” It demonstrated the importance of spiritual qualities for individuals and institutions.

About three hundred Bahá’ís made their way to Southport, United Kingdom, for the two-day “Arts Awakening” gathering. It included exhibitions, carnival displays, Videos, slide shows, a Persian tea garden, and a mural for the children to help paint. In a the Performance Cafe, people shared their poetry, dance, music,

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songs and even jokes. The evening “Stage Light” performance included songs from Gershwin, “West Side Story,” “The Phantom of the Opera,” and “Miss Saigon.”

A workshop entitled “Finding Our Creativity” was held in the National Bahá’í Center in Santiago, Chile, this year. A three-day drama and music program entitled “The Dawnbreakers” was held in May 1995 in Sri Lanka, in which stories from Nabz’l ’S Narrative3 were depicted through drama, poetry, songs, and speech.

In January 1996, over 200 Bahá’ís from various countries Visited Reno, Nevada, in the United States, for a weekend of arts and media activities, held in conjunction With the newly formed media and arts association. Events included the multicultural stage presentation “Global Village,” in which eighteen differing ethnic and religious groups performed and made presentations to an audience of over 400. NBC television news ran a special segment on the Saturday evening news featuring Visual artists and a theater piece. A Bahá’í drama series titled T 0 Catch a Glimpse was also filmed in a Reno television studio before an invited audience. The Local Spiritual Assembly of Reno was subsequently invited to work on a state arts foundation to secure a grant for a future exhibition of religious paintings.

3. Nabil ’s Narrative is an early history of the Babi Faith.

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