Bahá’í News/Issue 688/Text
| ←Previous | Bahá’í News Issue 688 |
Next→ |
 Proofread onceReturn to PDF view
|
| Bahá’í News | July 1988 | Bahá’í Year 145 |
A statement on nature
REJOICE ANNOUNCE APPOINTMENT COUNSELLOR MEMBERS INTERNATIONAL TEACHING CENTRE FOR FIVE-YEAR TERM BEGINNING MAY 23, 1988: DR. FARZAM ARBÁB, DR. MAGDALENE CARNEY, MR. HARTMUT GROSSMANN, MR. MAS’ÚD KHAMSÍ, MRS. LAURETTA KING, MR. DONALD ROGERS, MRS. ISOBEL SABRI, MRS. JOY STEVENSON, MR. PETER VUYIYA. VIEW SUPREME IMPORTANCE ACCELERATION TEACHING WORK THIS STAGE FORMATIVE AGE, NUMBER COUNSELLOR MEMBERS NOW RAISED TO NINE. EXPRESS PROFOUND GRATITUDE MR. ‘AZIZ YAZDÍ AND MISS ANNELIESE BOPP FOR THEIR ASSIDUOUS DEVOTED SELF-SACRIFICING SERVICES TEACHING CENTRE OVER SO MANY YEARS.
MAY 18, 1988
Bahá’í News[edit]
Resolution in U.S. Congress condemns persecution of Bahá’ís in Iran | 1 |
Bahá’í House of Worship in India welcomes 207,992 visitors in March | 3 |
A further report on the sixth Bahá’í International Convention in Haifa | 4 |
The Faith’s statement in support of the World Wide Fund for Nature | 6 |
The United Nations and the problem of the world’s homeless people | 8 |
Around the world: News from Bahá’í communities all over the globe | 12 |
Bahá’í News is published monthly by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States as a news organ reporting current activities of the Bahá’í world community. Manuscripts submitted should be typewritten and double-spaced throughout; any footnotes should appear at the end. The contributor should keep a carbon copy. Send materials to the Periodicals Office, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, U.S.A. Changes of address should be reported to the Office of Membership and Records, Bahá’í National Center. Please attach mailing label. Subscription rates within the U.S.: one year, $12; two years, $20. Outside the U.S.: one year, $14; two years, 24$. Foreign air mail: one year, $20; two years, $40. Payment must accompany the order and must be in U.S. dollars. Second class postage paid at Wilmette, IL 60091. Copyright © 1988, National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. World rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.
United States[edit]
Congress again decries persecutions[edit]
On May 23, U.S. Senators Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and John Heinz of Pennsylvania introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution 120 urging the government of Iran to respect the human rights of members of the Bahá’í Faith in that country.
The resolution, which was co-sponsored by 33 other senators from both parties, was referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
The text of the resolution and Sen. Dodd’s remarks were published in the Congressional Record on May 23.
“This is a particularly opportune day for the submission of this concurrent resolution,” said Sen. Dodd. “May 23, 1988, marks the 144th anniversary of the founding of the Bahá’í Faith.
“Bahá’ís throughout the 160 countries and territories where they reside celebrate this day as one of the holiest of the year.
“Today they reflect on the past decade, when the successors of those clergymen (who persecuted the early Bahá’ís) continue to torment the small law-abiding Bahá’í community, many of whose members are descendants of those who were killed 140 years ago.
“At the time that our country is about to complete the process of its accession to the Genocide Convention,” Sen. Dodd pointed out, “it is instructive to recall that the possibility for actual genocide to occur has not been eliminated even in this supposedly enlightened age.
“It can be argued that measures taken by the government of Iran against the Bahá’í minority in recent years have, in fact, constituted the most recent example of this horrendous crime against humanity.
“Mr. President, it is time again to call the attention of the government of Iran to the international norms of civilized behavior.
“By supporting our concurrent resolution, our colleagues can take a small step in trying to restrain and eliminate religious intolerance from this world. I urge my colleagues to do just that.”
Dr. Firuz Kazemzadeh (left), secretary for External Affairs of the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly, talks with Elliot Abrams, then-Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights, during a Congressional hearing in 1984.
On June 2, Reps. John Porter of Illinois and Tom Lantos of California introduced a similar resolution in the House of Representatives (H. Con. Res. 310) with the co-sponsorship of 81 other members of the House also showing wide bi-partisan support.
Reps. Porter and Jim Leach of Iowa added remarks about the House resolution in the Congressional Record on June 3.
“... Iranian Bahá’ís have suffered severe persecution,” said Rep. Porter, “solely for their belief in the divine authority of the founder of the faith.
“... it is time again,” he said, “for Congress to join over 100,000 American Bahá’ís in support of their brothers in Iran and elsewhere throughout the world.”
“While there have been recent reports of the release of a number of Bahá’ís from prisons in Iran,” said Rep. Leach, “and while executions appear to have declined, the international community dares not be silent until all such grievous human rights abuses have ended.
“Far too fresh in our memories are the executions of over 200 Bahá’ís in Iran since 1979, the pattern of brutal torture and imprisonment, the desecration of property sacred to members of the faith, and the economic hardships visited upon the Bahá’ís.
“The terror which has befallen this vulnerable religious community is unconscionable.
“Until the campaign of religious persecution and genocide against the Bahá’ís comes to an end,” Rep. Leach added, “this body and the executive branch have an obligation to monitor events in Iran, to work with other governments to bring pressure on Iranian
[Page 2]
authorities to cease their human rights
violations, to press the case of the Bahá’ís in international fora, and to provide appropriate assistance to those fleeing persecution.”
A concurrent resolution is one that contains similar wording in both the Senate and House versions.
Hearings on the resolution, which was referred to a subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, are expected to take place this summer.
Whereas the Congress has, by concurrent resolutions adopted in 1982 and 1984, and in numerous other appeals, declared that it holds the Government of Iran responsible for upholding the rights of all its nationals, including members of the Bahá’í faith, Iran’s largest religious minority; Whereas the Congress has condemned the Government of Iran’s actions against the Bahá’ís on account of their religious beliefs, and has urged the President to work with appropriate foreign governments and with the United Nations in efforts to appeal to the Government of Iran concerning the Bahá’ís; Whereas nearly 200 Iranian Bahá’ís, including many elected leaders of the religious community, have been executed since 1979, on account of their religious beliefs, thousands more have been imprisoned, and many subjected to torture and demands for recantation of their religious faith; and Whereas the Government of Iran has not only undertaken to deprive Bahá’ís of civil, economic, and social rights, but also has in many cases confiscated Bahá’í community and personal property and denied access for Bahá’ís to education, employment, pensions, insurance, and other benefits available to other Iranians; Now, therefore be it Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), that the Congress— (1) continues to hold the Government of Iran responsible for upholding the rights of all its nationals, including Bahá’ís, in a manner consistent with the Government’s obligations under international agreements guaranteeing the civil and political rights of its citizens; (2) welcomes reports of the recent release of Bahá’ís from prisons in Iran and takes note of the decline in the numbers of Bahá’ís and others executed in that country; (3) expresses the hope that these developments may indicate a greater willingness on the part of the Government of Iran to act in a manner consistent with its obligations under the various international agreements to which it is a party; (4) urges the Government of Iran to restore fully the rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including freedom of thought, conscience and religion, education, and equal protection of the law; and (5) calls upon the President— (A) to continue to observe and report on developments affecting the Bahá’í minority in Iran, and to monitor developments affecting the Bahá’ís in countries in which their rights might be abridged on account of their religious beliefs; (B) to cooperate with other governments in continuing to make appeals to the Government of Iran concerning the situation of the Bahá’ís; (C) to initiate and support efforts in the United Nations and its agencies on behalf of measures to promote the protection of the religious rights of Bahá’ís; and (D) to provide, and to urge others to provide, for refugee and humanitarian assistance for those Bahá’ís who flee their homelands for reasons of religious repression. Sec. 2. The Secretary of the Senate shall transmit a copy of this concurrent resolution to the President. |
Peru[edit]
Last December the Bahá’í youth group of Cajamarca, a northern mountain city of Peru, distributed Identification Cards of World Citizenship to prominent people in that city.
The group, calling itself “Universal Friendship,” presented cards to the nationally known singer Camucha Cartes and other persons.
The following week, during a celebration of the “National Day of Peace,” the young people organized a showing of a film about peace. Radio and television reporters attended the event, which was held in the city’s main square.
In January, 38 children between the ages of four and 14 years from the Aguaruna tribe of Bajo Naranjillo in the jungle region of Peru attended a Bahá’í Children’s Summer School.
Non-Bahá’í children also took part in an atmosphere of spirituality and cooperation.
A seminar: for youth entitled “A New World” was held February 6-7 in Punta Hermosa Beach near Lima, Peru, during an International Bahá’í Summer School held in Lima from January 31-February 14.
The goals of the seminar were to include the participation of several non-Bahá’í youth groups and to strengthen the bonds between the Bahá’í community and those groups.
In all, nearly 20 youth groups sent representatives to the seminar.
Dominican Republic[edit]
The Sheila Rice-Wray Gallery of Art was inaugurated at the Dominican-American Cultural Institute last year in a beautiful ceremony presided over by Dr. Federico Garcia Godoy, director of the prestigious Institute in Santo Domingo, the country’s capital city.
Sheila Rice-Wray, for whom the gallery is named, has been a distinguished teacher of art and has held administrative posts at the Institute for 40 years since she first went to the Dominican Republic in 1947 as a pioneer.
India[edit]
Temple continues to draw big crowds[edit]
The highlight of activities during March at the Bahá’í House of Worship in Bahapur, India, was the Naw-Rúz celebration sponsored by the Spiritual Assembly of New Delhi.
Included in the program, which drew an audience of more than 300, was chanting by a 26-member choir. The Temple was specially illuminated for this joyous occasion.
During the nine-day Navratri Mela (Fair) organized each year by the nearby Kalkaji Temple, the House of Worship received some 112,365 visitors.
Jose Hermogenes de Andrade, a well-known writer from Brazil who had visited the Temple in March 1987 and made a video tape which he later presented to the Bahá’í community of Rio de Janeiro, returned this year with his wife and a group of 21 Brazilians, one of whom is a minister of the Catholic Church.
At their request, a special prayer program with only Bahá’í prayers and recitations was arranged, and when the visitors came out of the prayer hall they said they had felt “the presence of God” inside.
Jagdish Dhingra, an engineer who first came to the Temple in the company of the head of the Laxmi Narayan sect, visited again with two friends, one of them an engineer from Illinois.
This gentleman was much impressed by the Bahá’í principles, and the first question he asked after seeing the audio-visual program was, “How can one become a Bahá’í?”
After a gap of five months, two groups of Israelis visited the House of Worship. They proudly said that they live close to our Holy Shrine in Haifa and have visited it too.
One of the women said, “I like the Bahá’í philosophy; it is so open, it is for everybody.”
It has been noted that more and more visitors of Islamic background are visiting the Temple, especially younger people, and that they are asking pointed questions. One Muslim youth was so attracted by the Bahá’í principles and the House of Worship that he declared himself a Bahá’í.
The Bahá’í House of Worship at Bahapur, India.
Among the dignitaries visiting the House of Worship in March was Dr. John B. Taylor, secretary-general of the World Conference on Religion and Peace International.
Others included Col. Gen. Wolfgang Reinhold, deputy defense minister of the German Democratic Republic; Margaret Catley Carlson, president of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA); Dadi B.K. Prakashmani, administrative head of the Brahmakumaris; Stephen Lewis, the Canadian ambassador to the United Nations; and Dadi Hari Devi Vaswani, a revered member of the Sadhu Vaswani Mission.
In all, the House of Worship welcomed 207,992 visitors in March.
World Centre[edit]
The 6th Convention: a further report[edit]
“A silver lining to the dark picture which has overshadowed most of this century now brightens the horizon. It is discernible in the new tendencies impelling the social processes at work throughout the world, in the evidences of an accelerated trend toward peace.
“In the Faith of God, it is the growing strength of the Order of Bahá’u’lláh as its banner rises to more stately heights. It is a strength that attracts.”
These stirring words from the Riḍván message of the Universal House of Justice were read to the assembled delegates by the Hand of the Cause of God Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum at the first consultative session of the sixth Bahá’í International Convention held April 29-May 2 in Haifa, Israel.
They struck the keynote of the inspired and inspiring message—“a new paradigm of opportunity” has emerged, and “new prospects for teaching the Cause at all levels of society have unfolded.”
The message continues:
“The present challenge calls for teaching on a scale and of a quality, a variety, and intensity outstripping all current efforts.”
The theme was to recur repeatedly in the consultations of the delegates.
The Convention was officially opened Friday morning, April 29, with prayers in four languages. Six hundred sixty-three delegates representing 132 of the 148 National Spiritual Assemblies were present in Haifa Auditorium to take part in the election of the Universal House of Justice.
In addition, mail ballots were cast by delegates from the 16 countries who were unable to attend.
The spectacular array of humanity, many wearing national costumes, colored the atmosphere of solemnity as each delegate stepped forward to cast a ballot.
A highlight of the balloting was the presence of two delegates from Cuba, which had never before been represented at an International Convention. They were warmly applauded as they crossed the stage to cast their ballots.
A highlight of the balloting was the presence of two delegates from Cuba, which had never before been represented at an International Convention. They were warmly applauded as they crossed the stage to cast their ballots.
The results of the voting were announced at noon on Saturday, June 30, by the chief teller, Dr. Firuz Kazemzadeh, vice-chairman of the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly. The members of the House of Justice are:
‘Alí Nakhjavání, Glenford Mitchell, Hushmand Fatheazam, Ian Semple, Peter Khan, David Ruhe, Hugh Chance, Hooper Dunbar and Adib Taherzadeh.
Of the 1,296 ballots cast, only one was invalid. The members were elected by a total of 7,880 of the 11,655 individual votes cast.
The nine members of the House of Justice were called to the stage as the delegates applauded.
Then wave after wave of sustained applause swept the auditorium as the two retiring members of the Universal House of Justice, David Hofman and H. Borrah Kavelin, were called to the stage and saluted by the audience of delegates and World Centre staff members for their long and dedicated service.
Three other former members of the House of Justice were affectionately called to mind: Charles Wolcott, recently deceased; Amoz Gibson and Lutfu’lláh Hakím, whose daughter and grand-daughter, respectively, were present as delegates to the Convention.
A special sadness coupled with a feeling of pride pervaded the hall as the absence of delegates from Iran was noted.
In paying tribute to the sacrifices and continued suffering of “our brothers and sisters in Iran,” Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum announced that a closing prayer would be offered in their memory, and called for an enormous bowl of 120 red roses, a gift from the Bahá’ís in Iran, to be brought to the center of the stage.
Five of the Hands of the Cause of God were present for the opening session, lending a special dignity and the spiritual force of their high office: Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum, ‘Alí Akbar Furútan, Dr. ‘Alí Muhammad Varqá, William Sears and Collis Featherstone.
These dear “remnants of the Guardian” each participated in unique ways during the five days of the Convention.
The topic of Huqúqu’lláh was addressed by Dr. Varqá who pointed out that this institution should be seen as a spiritual obligation based on the love of the believer; it is a tangible aspect of the Covenant of God, and it strengthens the relationship between God and man.
The other Hands of the Cause of God contributed their guidance on themes dealt with in the Riḍván message. Mr. Sears brought special greetings from those Hands of the Cause who were not present: Dr. Ugo Giachery, Jalál Kházeh and John Robarts.
From April 30-May 2, all sessions were chaired by Counsellors: Dr. Magdalene Carney, International Teaching Centre; Zena Sorabjee, Asia; Dr. Wilma Brady, Americas; Joy Stevenson,
[Page 5]
Australasia; Lucretia Mancho Warren,
Africa; and Polin Rafat, Europe.
Under the gilt emblem of the Greatest Name, and occupying the entire center stage, a magnificent, large, full-color aerial photograph featuring the Shrine of the Báb, set against a skillfully overlaid architect’s rendering of the future terraces with their myriad young cypresses, paths, fountains and shrubs, and the Arc with its five edifices completed, constantly reminded the delegates of the compelling needs of the Arc Project.
The architect and project manager, Husayn Amánat and Faríburz Sahbá, drew further attention to the detail, grandeur and financial needs of this project in their slide presentations.
Two Holy Days were celebrated by delegates, visitors and World Centre staff during the Convention period.
The Ninth Day of Riḍván was commemorated in the forecourt and gardens of the Haifa Pilgrim House adjacent to the Shrine of the Báb with the Hand of the Cause of God William Sears presiding.
Readings in five languages—Arabic, English, Spanish, French and Persian—were followed by the recitation of the Tablet of Visitation, after which the friends silently and reverently circumambulated the Shrine of the Báb.
Following the close of the last Convention session, on the Twelfth Day of Riḍván, the distinguished visitors and World Centre family gathered in the Haram-i-Aqdas at Bahjí where the celebration was opened with forceful remarks by the Hand of the Cause Collis Featherstone about the significance of the occasion.
Readings in five languages were followed by the solemn but joyous circumambulation of the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh by more than 1,000 of His followers.
For four days prior to the Convention, the delegates enjoyed a series of visits arranged for them to the Holy Places of the Faith in Haifa and ‘Akká.
Also, scores of consultative sessions were held among groups of National Spiritual Assemblies which share common goals and interests. These took place on the days before the Convention opened and in the evenings after the general sessions, often lasting into the late hours of the night.
Delegates to the sixth Bahá’í International Convention visit the House of ‘Abbud in the prison-city of ‘Akká, Israel.
Counsellors from all five Continental Boards attended the Convention— 16 from Africa, 16 from the Americas, 12 from Asia, eight from Australasia, and nine from Europe—61 in all.
Special meetings and events were held for the Counsellors under the auspices of the International Teaching Centre. Five “continental” sessions were held for members of each of the Boards and the National Spiritual Assemblies in their areas.
Following the Convention, from May 3-8, the Hands of the Cause and Counsellors remained in Haifa to take part in a Counsellors’ Conference and to consult with the Universal House of Justice and the International Teaching Centre.
World Centre[edit]
The Faith’s statement on nature[edit]
In September 1986 the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) launched its Network on Conservation and Religion, bringing religious leaders representing Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jews and Muslims together with environmental leaders in Assisi, Italy. Each of the five religions represented there issued a declaration on nature. In October 1987 the Bahá’í Faith became the sixth major religion to join the new alliance, and put forward this statement in support of the Network’s goals.
“Nature in its essence is the embodiment of My Name, the Maker, the Creator. Its manifestations are diversified by varying causes, and in this diversity there are signs for men of discernment. Nature is God’s Will and is its expression in and through the contingent world. It is a dispensation of Providence ordained by the Ordainer, the All-Wise.”
With those words, Bahá’u’lláh, the Prophet-Founder of the Bahá’í Faith, outlines the essential relationship between man and the environment: that the grandeur and diversity of the natural world are purposeful reflections of the majesty and bounty of God. For Bahá’ís, there follows an implicit understanding that nature is to be respected and protected, as a divine trust for which we are answerable.
Such a theme, of course, is not unique to the Bahá’í Faith. All the world’s major religions make this fundamental connection between the Creator and His creation. How could it be otherwise? All the major independent religions are based on revelations from one God—a God Who has successively sent His Messengers to earth so that humankind might become educated about His ways and will. Such is the essence of Bahá’í belief.
As the most recent of God’s revelations, however, the Bahá’í teachings have a special relevance to present-day circumstances when the whole of nature is threatened by man-made perils ranging from the wholesale destruction of the world’s rain forests to the final nightmare of nuclear annihilation.
A century ago, Bahá’u’lláh proclaimed that humanity has entered a new age. Promised by all the religious Messengers of the past, this new epoch will ultimately bring peace and enlightenment for humanity. To reach that point, however, humankind must first recognize its fundamental unity—as well as the unity of God and of religion. Until there is a general recognition of this wholeness and interdependence, humanity’s problems will only worsen.
“The well-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established,” Bahá’u’lláh wrote. “The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.”
The major issues facing the environmental movement today hinge on this point. The problems of ocean pollution, the extinction of species, acid rain and deforestation—not to mention the ultimate scourge of nuclear war—respect no boundaries. All require a transnational approach.
While all religious traditions point to the kind of cooperation and harmony that will indeed be necessary to curb these threats, the religious writings of the Bahá’í Faith also contain an explicit prescription for the kind of new world political order that offers the only long-term solution to such problems.
“That which the Lord hath ordained as the sovereign remedy and mightiest instrument for the healing of the world,” Bahá’u’lláh wrote, “is the union of all its people into one universal Cause....”
Built around the idea of a world commonwealth of nations, with an international parliament and executive to carry out its will, such a new political order must also, according to the Bahá’í teachings, be based on principles of economic justice, equality between the races, equal rights for women and men, and universal education.
All these points bear squarely on any attempt to protect the world’s environment. The issue of economic justice is an example. In many regions of the world, the assault on rain forests and endangered species comes as the poor, legitimately seeking a fair share of the world’s wealth, fell trees to create fields. They are unaware that, over the long term and as members of a world community which they know little about, they may be irretrievably damaging rather than improving their children’s chances for a better life. Any attempt to protect nature must, therefore, also address the fundamental inequities between the world’s rich and poor.
Likewise, the uplifting of women to full equality with men can help the environmental cause by bringing a new spirit of feminine values into decision-making about natural resources. The scriptures of the Bahá’í Faith note that: “... man has dominated over woman by reason of his more forceful and aggressive qualities both body and mind. But the balance is already shifting; force is losing its dominance, and mental alertness, intuition and the spiritual qualities of love and service, in which woman is strong, are gaining ascendancy. Hence the new age will be an age less masculine and more permeated with feminine ideals....”
Education, especially an education that emphasizes Ba-
[Page 7]
há’í principles of human interdependence, is another prerequisite to the building of a global conservation consciousness. The Faith’s theology of unity and interdependence relates specifically to environmental issues. Again, to quote
the Bahá’í sacred writings:
“By nature is meant those inherent properties and necessary relations derived from the realities of things. And these realities of things, though in the utmost diversity, are yet intimately connected one with the other....Liken the world of existence to the temple of man. All the organs of the human body assist one another, therefore life continues....Likewise among the parts of existence there is a wonderful connection and interchange of forces which is the cause of the life of the world and the continuation of these countless phenomena.”
The very fact that such principles should come with the authority of religion and not merely from human sources is yet another piece of the over-all solution to our environmental troubles. The impulse behind the Assisi declarations on nature is testimony to this idea.
There is perhaps no more powerful impetus for social change than religion. Bahá’u’lláh said: “Religion is the greatest of all means for the establishment of order in the world and for the peaceful contentment of all that dwell therein.” In attempting to build a new ecological ethic, the teachings of all religious traditions can play a role in helping to inspire their followers.
Bahá’u’lláh, for example, clearly addresses the need to protect animals. “Look not upon the creatures of God except with the eye of kindliness and of mercy, for Our loving providence hath pervaded all created things, and Our grace encompasses the earth and the heavens.”
He Himself expressed a keen love and appreciation for nature, furthering the connection between the environment and the spiritual world in Bahá’í theology. “The country is the world of the soul, the city the world of bodies,” Bahá’u’lláh said.
This dichotomy between spirituality and materialism is a key to understanding the plight of humankind today. In the Bahá’í view, the major threats to our world environment, such as the threat of nuclear annihilation, are manifestations of a world-encompassing sickness of the human spirit, a sickness that is marked by an over-emphasis on material things and a self-centeredness that inhibits our ability to work together as a global community. The Bahá’í Faith seeks above all else to revitalize the human spirit and to break down the barriers that limit fruitful and harmonious cooperation among men and women, whatever their national, racial or religious background.
For Bahá’ís the goal of existence is to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization. Such a civilization can only be built on an earth that can sustain itself. The Bahá’í commitment to the environment is fundamental to our Faith.
United Nations[edit]
Battling growing problem of homeless[edit]
1987 was designated United Nations International Year of Shelter for the Homeless. This article, “Building for the Homeless,” is reprinted from a publication devoted to that theme produced by the UN Department of Public Information.
The problem of homelessness[edit]
The spectre of homelessness and squalid, unhealthy housing for the poor is as old as civilization. Writing in the second century, the poet Juvenal described the plebeians living in noisome, ramshackle tenements so flimsy they were “bestirred by every wind.” In a memorandum dated 1684, the Chief of Police of Paris, France, referred to the “frightful misery that afflicts the greater part of the population of this great city,” where between 40,000 and 65,000 were reduced to outright beggary. Thomas Carlyle wrote eloquently from the next century about the rural poor in their “clay hovels and hutches” on the eve of the French Revolution. On a visit to Liverpool in the 1830s, Herman Melville was shocked to see a homeless woman and her two children lie dying in a cellar opening under the sidewalk, not to be picked up until after their bodies had begun to rot.
These children are among the many who live in ‘paralyzing insecurity’ in shanty towns that have sprung up all over the world.
For one billion people living at the end of the 20th century, the passage of time has not noticeably changed things. The homeless today—the pavement dwellers, those who sleep in doorways, subways and recesses of buildings, those made homeless by natural or man-made disasters, and the hundreds of millions who do not have access to safe water and sanitation, who do not have security of tenure and personal safety, and who, because of their poverty, are confined in slums and shanty towns—live under conditions that duplicate those under which the plebeians of Juvenal lived.
Today an estimated one-fifth of the world’s population does not have adequate shelter. About 100 million people have no shelter whatsoever. Every 24 hours, more than 50,000 people, most of them children, die of malnutrition and disease—deaths generally linked to lack of adequate housing.
The problem is evident nearly everywhere. In industrialized countries, officials are concerned about the deterioration of the inner cities. Any visitor to the great cities of the world, where vagrancy has long since ceased to be an enforceable offense, has seen the homeless who wander the streets.
In the developing world, the picture is even worse. There, up to 50 per cent—in some cities nearly 80 per cent—of the urban population lives in slums and squatter settlements. The population of these settlements is increasing at twice the rate of the cities themselves—representing a yearly growth rate of 3.5 per cent, or some 49 million people. And, within the next 15 years, the urban population of the developing countries will double.
In the shanty towns, which spring up virtually overnight, the poor live in paralyzing insecurity, evicted repeatedly from homes they have often seen razed to the ground, and facing hostile officials who refuse to recognize their existence and deny them medical care and education for their children. In slum and squatter areas, shelters are often constructed on marginal lands vulnerable to floods, fire and land- and mudslides. Slum-dwellers have no
[Page 9]
Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, has seen such a proliferation of slums that overcrowdedness in some areas reaches nearly 600 people per acre.
means of getting cheap building materials. Most lack the technical and organizational skills necessary to make more than marginal improvements on their shelters. They cannot use public transportation, either because it does not extend to their neighborhood or because it costs too much. Absence of transportation in turn limits their access to health, education, welfare services, and employment.
In rural areas of the developing world, housing conditions are too often marked by mass poverty, malnutrition, poor water supply, inadequate sanitation and lack of other services. As many as one-third of the rural population do not have title to the land they occupy and have little hope of acquiring it. Only 41 per cent of these people have access to safe drinking water—as against 71 per cent of the world’s urban population. Only 12 per cent are served by adequate sanitation—as opposed to 59 per cent of the urban population. They suffer from high infant mortality rates, low life-expectancy and a high incidence of disease. Because of these factors, coupled with lack of employment opportunities, more and more of them are drawn to the cities.
The United Nations and the homeless[edit]
The groundwork for United Nations action on behalf of the homeless was laid in 1976, at Habitat: United Nations Conference on Human Settlements, held in Vancouver, Canada. At that meeting, representatives of 132 governments formally addressed the many formidable problems existing in the condition of shelter, and, in the Vancouver Declaration on Human Settlements, committed themselves to improving the quality of life for all peoples through the development of human settlements, and adopted 64 recommendations for national action to this end. These recommendations covered settlement policies, settlement planning, provision of shelter, infrastructure and services, land use and land tenure, the role of popular participation, and effective institutions and management.
In 1977, the United Nations General Assembly decided to establish an intergovernmental Commission on Human Settlements. It merged various existing UN human settlement units into a new United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), with headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. It charged the Centre with assisting its governing body, the Commission on Human Settlements, in coordinating human settlements activities in the United Nations; executing human settlements projects; providing the focal point for an exchange of information about human settlements; and promoting collaboration with an involvement of the scientific community working in this field.
In the late 1970s housing problems worsened, particularly in the developing world. Population increases and unplanned, too-rapid urbanization deepened the housing crisis. The world-wide recession that began in the mid-1970s also had an impact on government economic plans. Short on funds, many governments that had planned housing efforts were forced to reorder their priorities and even reduce expenditures for shelter.
In an address to the General Assembly in 1980, Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa of Sri Lanka termed the special international provision of adequate housing “a basic aspect in the global assault on poverty,” and urged the declaration of a year dedicated to the problems of the homeless and those living in substandard housing. In December 1982, the General Assembly,
[Page 10]
by consensus, adopted resolution
37/221 proclaiming 1987 the International Year of Shelter for the Homeless.
The Assembly set two primary objectives: the first was to improve the shelter and neighborhoods of some of the world’s poor and disadvantaged by 1987, especially in the developing countries, according to national priorities. The second was to demonstrate ways to improve the shelter and neighborhoods of the poor by the year 2000.
To help achieve these larger objectives, the Assembly set a series of subsidiary goals. It called for renewed political commitment by the international community to improve shelter and neighborhoods of the poor and disadvantaged and to provide shelter for the homeless in developing countries. It asked for consolidation and sharing of new knowledge and experience, so as to offer tested and practical alternatives for improving and providing shelter. New methods were to be developed to assist directly the efforts of the homeless poor and disadvantaged themselves to obtain or improve shelters and neighborhoods, and to provide a basis for new national policies and strategies to achieve these ends by the year 2000. Finally, the Assembly asked countries to exchange experience and provide support in order to meet the objectives of the Year.
The United Nations Centre for Human Settlements was put in charge of coordinating the efforts of UN bodies and other concerned organizations to promote action against homelessness for the International Year. The Centre drew up a plan of action needed to launch the Year. The Plan of Action was endorsed by the General Assembly in 1983.
A Plan of Action[edit]
To pursue the goals of resolution 32/221, the Plan of Action encouraged states to adopt innovative approaches toward ameliorating the problem of homelessness for at least some of the poor before 1987. It encouraged them to undertake various “shelter demonstration projects” (i.e., pilot projects in housing) in which new schemes for improving housing in their countries would be tested.
It divided efforts surrounding the Year into three phases:
In the first phase, the international community was urged to review and evaluate, between 1983 and 1986, existing information and experience relating to shelter, and to put shelter demonstration projects into operation.
Taking one’s morning bath in a Brazilian slum.
In the second phase, governments and other participants were asked to evaluate, in 1987, during the International Year itself, the information derived from the shelter projects and to share it with the international community. The year 1987 was seen as a crucial transition period between the search for solutions and their extensive application.
Between 1988 and the year 2000, the third phase, new shelter policies, programs and methods based on the information gained in the first two phases were to be implemented as integral parts of national economic and social development plans. This phase, especially, would require an effective program of international cooperation and support.
The entire program was to be funded by voluntary contributions, most of which would go directly into actual projects and project support services. There was no call in the Plan of Action for a major global conference or a global information effort to publicize the International Year. The Year’s information campaign was to concentrate on supporting the search for solutions, on making successful results more widely known, and on training and direct project support.
When the UN Commission on Human Settlements held its 10th (commemorative) session in Nairobi on April 6-16, 1986, one of the purposes was to review and evaluate progress on implementing the Plan of Action for the International Year of Shelter for the Homeless. It also looked at future perspectives, major human settlements trends up to the year 2000, and national and international cooperation in the field of human settlements, in an effort to make plans for a strategy in advance of the year 2000.
| The urban habitat |
| Reaching the limits
Around one billion people now live in cities in the developing world, and by the year 2000 this number will double to 2.1 billion. The challenge to city planners is overwhelming: Housing Employment Health Transport Source: UNFPA
|
| Life in the slums | |
| There are many characteristics common to life in these marginal urban areas: | |
| Roots Most slum and shantytown dwellers are of rural origin. The majority of migrants are driven to town by poverty, and start their urban life in the worst areas. |
Squalor Overcrowding and lack of drainage and sanitary systems create conditions hazardous to health. Rubbish piles up in the street and is not removed. |
| Youth The average age of slum inhabitants is very low. Large families are traditional in the countryside, and people continue to have them. |
No services In these conditions, the need for water and sanitary disposal services is acute. Most slum households must fetch their water from a standpipe, and deposit their waste in open drains. The rate of infection is therefore high; there is a constant risk of epidemic. |
| Overcrowding Population density is the highest in the world. It is common to find a family of ten members sharing one room. |
Malnutrition Slum dwellers are dependant for their food entirely on cash. As incomes are very low, children are malnourished. |
| Women householders In many slums women — abandoned or divorced — are the only providers for 50% of the households. |
Premature adulthood Most mothers earn, and are absent from home. Children fend for themselves, in the care of older ones. Many are abandoned, or leave home, at an early age. |
Source: IYC Discussion Paper, UNICEF, 1979
| |
| Housing | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| After food, housing is the largest item of poor families’ expenditure. The welfare effect of proper shelter and location are important. Housing typically constitutes 15%-20% of household expenditures. | |||||
| Cost of the cheapest house available in certain cities | |||||
| Cities | GNP per capita (1982 figures) |
Cost of unit (US$ 1970 prices) |
Monthly payment (US$) |
Income required (US$) |
% of house- holds unable to afford |
| Mexico City | 2,090 | 3,005 | 38.8 | 259 | 66 |
| Hong Kong | 4,240 | 1,670 | 21.5 | 143 | 57 |
| Nairobi | 420 | 2,076 | 26.8 | 178 | 77 |
| Bogota | 1,180 | 1,474 | 19.0 | 127 | 61 |
| Ahmedabad | 240 | 616 | 8.7 | 58 | 79 |
| Madras | 240 | 570 | 7.3 | 49 | 79 |
| All estimates in US dollar equivalents; the interest rate is assumed to be 15%; 15% of household income is assumed to be devoted to housing; the repayment period is assumed to be 25 years. | |||||
| Transport |
|---|
| The level of traffic congestion in the cities of the developing world is chronic, in spite of the fact that comparatively few people own cars. Public transport is generally deficient, and squatter settlements often lack bus services. However, buses account for two-thirds or four-fifths of motorized trips in many poorer cities. They are supplemented in many cities by communal taxis, auto-rickshaws, etc. |
| Motorized trips in selected cities | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| City | Automoble % |
Bus % |
Other motorized(1) % |
| Kuala Lampur | 47 | 35 | 18 |
| Caracas | 46 | 35 | 19 |
| Kinshasa | 33 | 58 | 9 |
| Bangkok | 29 | 59 | 12 |
| San José | 23 | 74 | 3 |
| Hong Kong | 22 | 55 | 23 |
| Mexico City(2) | 19 | 65 | 16 |
| Bogota | 17 | 71 | 12 |
| Karachi | 16 | 63 | 21 |
| Seoul(2) | 8 | 89 | 3 |
| (1) Includes taxis, “jitneys,” etc. (2) Rail services are also important | |||
Source: World Bank Sector Policy Paper, 1975.
| |||
| Public health services | |
|---|---|
| Population of developing countries (excluding China) currently lacking access to community water supply and sanitation services. |
The world[edit]
Weekend institute in Papua New Guinea[edit]
A weekend institute for local Spiritual Assemblies was held March 25-27 on Watom Island, Papua New Guinea. Nineteen people took part in the institute, which was organized by the Bahá’í youth of Rabaul.
Among the speakers was Auxiliary Board member Habib Yaganegi who spoke about the Covenant and the functions of the Bahá’í Center.
Other talks covered such topics as the election of a local Assembly and its functions, Bahá’í administration, community development, women’s activities, the roles and duties of Assembly officers, the Bahá’í Fund, the Nineteen Day Feast, Holy Days and the Bahá’í calendar, and teaching the Faith and deepening.
Between 40 and 50 people attended a video presentation during one evening of the institute.
Pictured are some of those who attended a weekend institute for local Spiritual Assemblies held March 25-27 on Watom Island, Papua New Guinea. Seated in front center is Auxiliary Board member Habib Yaganegi.
Taiwan[edit]
Li Ya-Chiao (center), magistrate of Tainan County, Taiwan, receives a copy of ‘The Promise of World Peace’ from Danel Boone (to Mr. Li’s left), representing the Spiritual Assembly of Hsin Ying. Also pictured are members of the magistrate’s staff of 300, each of whom also received a copy of the statement, as did Mayor Yen Ji-Wu of Hsin Ying. Mr. Boone was helped in making the presentations by his wife, Auxiliary Board member Jean Wu Boone.
Chad[edit]
Several years of diligent work by the Bahá’ís of Chad were rewarded recently when they were given a Diploma of Participation from the Trade Chamber at the fourth International Fair of UDEAC (Customs and Economic Union of Central Africa).
Since 1983, the Bahá’ís of Chad have incorporated social and economic development projects into their regular activities, initiating many activities including training health agents, constructing dispensaries, opening village pharmacies, training agricultural agents, and creating tutorial schools.
When invited to take part in an International Fair at N’Djamena, the Bahá’ís in that region responded enthusiastically. They created an attractive exhibit explaining the history of development, how to support it, and how to protect against economic crises.
Cameroon[edit]
More than 50 Bahá’ís from 14 communities attended the eighth Bahá’í Summer School held last December 23-27 at the national Hazíratu’l-Quds in Limbe, Cameroon. After morning talks followed by lively discussions, the friends were divided each afternoon into smaller groups to study in depth the topics presented in the classes. After supper there were slide shows, songs, games and a dramatic presentation illustrating collaboration among the institutions of the Faith.
Sri Lanka[edit]
On their eighth annual observance of World Religion Day, the Bahá’ís of Sri Lanka received wide coverage in newspapers, on radio and television in three languages: Sinhala, Tamil and English.
The articles mention the principles of the Faith, and also note that Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Bahá’ís all observe this day in Sri Lanka.
The Kandy Teaching Project, launched in July 1987 by the Spiritual Assembly of Kandy, Sri Lanka, ended its expansion phase with the gratifying total of 286 localities opened to the Faith, 11 new local Assemblies formed, and 706 new believers enrolled.
Consolidation activities have begun and plans are being laid to strengthen all Assemblies in the district.
Hawaii[edit]
As a part of their contribution to the “Year of the Hawaiian” proclaimed by Hawaii’s governor, the Bahá’ís of Honolulu and other communities on Oahu worked together to sponsor an event last July to honor the Polynesian voyagers of the Pacific.
The program, called a “tremendous success” by the National Spiritual Assembly of Hawaii, had a large non-Bahá’í audience (250 total) to witness the love and respect the Bahá’ís showed the native Hawaiian honorees.
The August 1987 issue of Hawaii Architecture carried an article about the Bahá’í House of Worship in India.
In addition to a half-page photo of the Temple, there were smaller pictures of the Houses of Worship in the United States, Germany and Uganda.
The Temple in India was called “a triumph for the Indian construction industry ... a marriage of old and new technology, craftsmanship and computers.”
In keeping with the United Nations International Year of Shelter for the Homeless, the Bahá’ís of Hawaii presented their 1987 Agnes Alexander Award for Service to Humanity to Donald R. Hanson, chairman of several organizations in Honolulu devoted to self-help housing projects.
Mr. Hanson was previously active in similar efforts in Asia, the Caribbean and Africa.
Italy[edit]
PROF. ALESSANDRO BAUSANI
Prof. Alessandro Bausani, a renowned Orientalist and eclectic scholar who served for many years as a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Italy, died March 12 in Rome after a long illness.
On March 15, a moving funeral service for Prof. Bausani was attended by hundreds of people, among whom were local authorities and many representatives of the academic world.
In addition to prayers and readings from the Sacred Texts, the program included a brief review of Prof. Bausani’s life and achievements, prepared by the National Spiritual Assembly of Italy, and talks by two eminent representatives of the academic world, Prof. Francesco Gabrieli and Prof. Achille Tartaro, both of the University of Rome.
France[edit]
On the Day of the Covenant last November, a local radio station in the Basque area of France broadcast an hour-long program on the Faith.
Regular announcements told of the evening program and invited listeners with questions to phone the station where three Bahá’ís, two of whom were natives of the Basque region, supplied answers.
Philippines[edit]
Twenty-seven new local Assemblies were formed and 848 new believers enrolled in the Faith during a recent three-week teaching campaign on Marinduque and Mindoro Islands in the Philippines.
Through the efforts of local Mangyan believers, unit conventions were held and delegates elected on Mindoro. The Mangyans are a significant ethnic and linguistic minority group in the Philippines who have enrolled in the Faith in large numbers.
A “Bahá’í Mothers’ Deepening Project,” developed by the National Teaching Committee of the Philippines, began last February, offering guidance to Bahá’í mothers and mothers-to-be on such tasks as the care, education and training of children; maintaining a Bahá’í atmosphere in the home; and cultivating a rapport and understanding with husbands and families.
So far, 21 deepening classes have been held in various parts of the country. The project was to end with seven large Family Life Conferences in March and April of this year.
Kenya[edit]
The Bahá’í Faith is now included in the Christian Religious Education syllabus of Kenya as a new topic for study. As most teachers know little about the Faith, one of them, at Shanzu Teacher Training College in Mombasa, invited members of the Bahá’í community of Mombasa to speak about the Faith to first-year students at the college. The presentation was given to an attentive audience by Bahá’ís Amal Rouhani (seated at left), Caroline Jeza (seated second from left) and Dr. Chowghi Rouhani (standing at right).
The sixth National Youth Conference at Nakuru, which ended last December 18, drew together more than 200 young Bahá’ís from Kenya and several from Tanzania and Sudan who were joined on the second day by Counsellor Edith Senoga.
The five days of spirited activity included a competition of choirs from many localities.
Many of the youth pledged to take an active part in a major teaching campaign scheduled to follow the conference.
Republic of Ireland[edit]
The recently established Cork Shee School in the Republic of Ireland has decided to close its doors on the anniversary of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh. Five Bahá’í children are enrolled in the interdenominational school whose board chairman, Pat Barry, is a Bahá’í.
The chairman of the Dundalk County Council (left) and chairman of the Louth County Council meet the Irish Bahá’í youth on their monthly ‘Walk for Peace.’ Some 60 Bahá’ís took part in the walk from Dundalk to Drogheda. Afterward, 10 people expressed their desire to become Bahá’ís. The project illustrates the new spirit of excitement that has been released into the Irish Bahá’í community.
Sweden[edit]
Pictured are many of the 60 Bahá’ís from Sweden, Norway and Finland who attended a 1987 Arctic Midsummer Camp held in Karesuando, Sweden, about 200 miles above the Arctic Circle. Special visitors were two American Indians, Vern Longie and Ruby Gubatayao, who were traveling and teaching in Scandinavia last summer.
In January, the Winter School for the North of Sweden was held in Sundsvall with 90 participants, 40 of them children. Three days were given to consultation and deepening, emphasizing pioneering to northern regions of the country.
India[edit]
A comprehensive article commemorating the first anniversary of the Bahá’í House of Worship in New Delhi, India, appeared in a recent issue of the daily newspaper, The Punjabi Post.
The article includes a large photograph of the House of Worship, mentions the names of a number of prominent people who have visited there, outlines the purpose of the House of Worship and the principles of the Faith, and includes extensive quotations from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh.
Hundreds of people visited a one-month book exhibit conducted by the Spiritual Assembly of Bangalore, India, as part of “Crafts India” held on the palace grounds in Bangalore. Many of the visitors already were familiar with the Faith as a result of having visited or heard about the Bahá’í House of Worship in New Delhi.
Switzerland[edit]
“Peace with the Environment” was the theme last October 30-November 1 of a Bahá’í-sponsored conference at Switzerland’s Landegg Centre.
About 250 people attended the two-day event; 40 Swiss organizations concerned with peace and/or the environment sent delegations.
Australia[edit]
The Spiritual Assembly of Croydon, situated in a semi-desert area in far northern Queensland, Australia, has been formed as a result of the patient teaching and deepening efforts of two couples, Steve and Mosiana Johns and Fineeva and Dolores Taufelele, who are homefront pioneers there.
Aboriginal believers constitute the majority of the new Assembly.
The devoted teaching efforts of three Iranian Bahá’ís who recently settled in Australia, Farhad and Roofia Noranbakht and traveling teacher Hassan Derakhshan, have resulted in the enrollment of 10 more Aboriginal Bahá’ís in Mareeba, also in far northern Queensland.
Bahá’ís Russ and Gina Garcia (background) entertain children onstage at the Australian National Teaching Conference held last December 29-31 at Sutherland, near Sydney. Besides their popular singing sessions with the children, the Garcias produced a rousing show, presented by the youth, entitled ‘Peace Is Possible.’
A team of 28 young Bahá’ís who call themselves the Wildfire Project toured Australia in February giving a show entitled “It’s Not the End of the World.”
The modern, energetic show, which includes music, dance and comedy centered around peace themes, met with a warm response from the 3,000 people—many of them Aboriginal—who saw it during its two-week tour that covered large areas of New South Wales, South Australia, and Victoria.
More than 360 young people from every state in Australia gathered last January in Perth for a National Youth Conference, a highlight of which was the participation of the Hand of the Cause of God Collis Featherstone.
The youth year of service, according to a message sent to the World Centre, is gaining momentum in Australia. The message added that, following the conference, a teaching team had set out to visit areas of Western Australia.
Trinidad/Tobago[edit]
On December 4, 1987, Sen. Sahadeo Basdeo, a professor of history at the University of the West Indies, spoke to an audience of more than 200 people including a number of non-Bahá’ís about his impressions of the Bahá’í House of Worship, which he and Mrs. Basdeo had recently visited. The gathering was held at the home of Dr. M.H. Jamalabadi, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Trinidad and Tobago, and his wife, Auxiliary Board member Shahnaz Jamalabadi, in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Sen. Basdeo, who had requested the meeting and was effusive in his praise of the Temple, is pictured second from the left in this photo, his wife is standing to his left.
Virgin Islands[edit]
On January 18, the governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Alexander Farrelly, was given a copy of the peace statement by a delegation of Bahá’ís representing the National Spiritual Assembly of the Virgin Islands.
Among the members of the delegation were Counsellors Wilma Brady, Ruth Pringle and Alan Smith.
Joan Bennett, chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly, made the presentation in the governor’s private office in Government House, St. Thomas, just prior to the official government observance of the anniversary of the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., at which Dr. Brady was the featured speaker.
New Zealand[edit]
A long, spear-like Maori weapon carved into a digging tool was presented last December by the Bahá’ís of New Zealand to the Bahá’í community of India to mark the first anniversary of the dedication of the Bahá’í House of Worship in New Delhi.
The carving was made by Wallace Heteraka, a Bahá’í who is Master Carver of the Tai Tokerau people. Steeped in symbolism, it converts a traditional design usually related to war into a symbol of peace.
“This carving,” said Mr. Heteraka, “says we will teach no more war....I felt a great calmness, a real sense of satisfaction and humility with the knowledge that a weapon once used violently (is) now a tool of peace.
“This is a challenge to all the craftspeople of the world to do this with their weapons. This is my ancestors’ contribution to world peace.”
Dr. Paul Friedman, a dedicated Bahá’í and Esperantist from Hamilton, New Zealand, has been elected, unopposed, president of the New Zealand Esperantist Association.
Dr. Friedman is also active in BEL estraro (Bahá’í Esperanto League).
Following his election, which took place at the annual Esperanto Congress in Howick, Auckland, Mr. Friedman presented an informal talk on the Faith. Some pamphlets and copies of the peace statement in Esperanto were distributed among the guests.
Cyprus[edit]
Oneworld Publications, a publishing house owned by Bahá’í pioneers to Cyprus, entered its edition of The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh in a competition for “Best Designed Books from All Over the World” at an exhibition last year in Leipzig, Germany, in which publishers from 49 countries participated.
The book won an award for “high artistic merit and technical standards” which was presented at a ceremony in March during the International Book Fair in Leipzig.
Possibly the largest Bahá’í teaching conference ever held in Cyprus took place last October 18 at the newly renovated and redecorated Hazíratu’l-Quds in Nicosia. According to a telex from the National Spiritual Assembly, a “vigorous and exhausting children and youth program” was much appreciated.
Sarawak[edit]
At the request of the Universal House of Justice, Dr. Ethel Martens of Canada, a consultant on primary health care, visited Sarawak in February to discuss the possibility of setting up health care programs there.
Dr. Martens has developed a program for training primary health care workers that is being implemented in India and in several African countries.
Tanzania[edit]
Pictured is one of two new buildings soon to be completed at Tanzania’s Bahá’í Teaching Institute, located in the town of Mombo in the Usumbara Mountains. A student hostel and resident teachers’ quarters will complete the Institute complex.
In September 1987, the National Spiritual Assembly of Tanzania met with Counsellor Oloro Epyeru, four members of the Auxiliary Board, and members of the National Teaching Committee to plan two teaching campaigns in designated mass teaching areas.
The two three-month campaigns were begun shortly thereafter, one in the Kasulu district of the Kigoma region on Lake Tanganyika and the other in the Morogoro region in central Tanzania.
The combined results included the enrollment of 575 new believers, the formation of 12 local Spiritual Assemblies, the revival of several lapsed Assemblies, and the opening of a number of new localities to the Faith.
In Kitungwa, the Assembly has begun daily children’s classes which include reading and writing as well as Bahá’í teachings.
A Bahá’í youth choir from Kigoma went to many villages in the Kasulu district, which attracted large numbers of people and was the foundation of the success of the Kasulu project.
In Morogoro, more than 4,000 secondary school and technical school students saw a slide program on the Bahá’í concept of peace and heard talks about the Faith.
of Bahá’u’lláh |
Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh
These significant and much loved Tablets include the:
From the U.S. Bahá’í Publishing Trust PS $4.50 Bahá’í Distribution Service |
