One Country/Volume 1/Issue 4/Text

←Issue 3

One Country Volume 1 Issue 4 - Oct-Dec, 1989

Return to PDF view

[Page 1]

ONE flea COUNTRY

October—December 1989

Perspective: “Popular Participation,” a prerequisite for economic development, is more than a matter of human rights.

M

The Advocates for African Food Security, a unique coalition, offer a distinctive model for approaching the

United Nations system. Q

12

The balance between environment and development: a New York conference stresses the

A master artist searches for links between East and West: a review of

Drawings, Wm: @‘Belz'ef

“7746 earth 2': but one country and mankind its citizem”~ Baha’u’lléh

Vol. 1, Issue 4 Newsletter of the Baha’i International Community

Anis Zuni’izi School in Haiti emphasizes moral training and cooperation skills

Unique curriculum pays dividends by stimulating development at the grassroots

LILAVOIS, Haiti —A1th0ugh his formal schooling ended after grade six, Desanges Exama knows perhaps as much about development work— and why it has so often failed here — as any of the Western—educated specialists who flock to this island nation on the wings of multimillion-dollar aid programs.

Mr. Exama, now project worker for the Anis Zuni’izi Baha’i school here, has worked in various programs to help develop his native land since the early 19603, when he volunteered to help organize poor farmers into mini- cooperatives known here as “groupements.”

That effort ultimately failed. “The people didn’t trust one another,” said Mr. Exama, who is 53. “So it didn’t work.”

Today Mr. Exama believes the best path to development is through education — especially when it teaches moral values and cooperation skills. If people learn to work together, he believes, everything else becomes possible.

He shares this philosophy with others who administer and work at the Anis Zum’izi school, a tidy compound of attractive white buildings located

'about 15 kilometers north of Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital. '(Continued on page 6)

Dieudonné Francois, a student at the Anis Zunflzi Baha’i School in Haiti, spends his afternoons in the 11th grade, and his mornings in a teacher training program, working with 4th graders.

[Page 2]

is publishe ‘KQUa'rtEriy by the Office of Pubfic information of the Baha‘i international Community. The Baha'i {internationai Community is an international non- govern“ ten organization which encompasses and

represents the Worldwide

membership of the Baha'i Faith

For more information on any of the stories contained in this newsletter, or any aspect of the Saha’i international

ONE COUNTRY ‘ ‘

Office of Public infOrrhatidn‘

Baha’i Intemationai Community - Suite 120 866 United Nations Plaza New York, New York 10017 U.S.A.

Editorial Board: Douglas Martin ‘ ~ Hugh Locke ' Brad Pokorny Sandra Todd

Editor: Brad Pokorny

Production Assistant: Veronica Shotfstail

Inquiriesabout subscription information cffshouici he directed to,‘ the“ same address. Aii material in this newsletteris capyrighted by

the Baha'i international Community and subject to all applicable international copyright laws. Stories from this newsletter may be re-

COUN‘i'RY the newsletter at -

the Baha‘i international Community

© L1989_by The Baha'i Intemationai Community

ONE COUNTRY / October-Dcccmber 1989

Promoting Popular Participation

Despite billions of dollars in assistance, hundreds of thousands of man—hours, and an ocean of good intentions, many coun- tries are in worse condition than they were 30 or 40 years ago, before the advent of large-scale, Western-style development programs.

Specialists in social and economic devel- opment, accordingly, have turned in new directions. Among the most promising new approach is the idea of “grassroots” participation — or, to use a term which has gained currency at the United Nations — “popular” participa- tion. Sev- eral sto- ries in this edition of ONE COUNTRY touch on this topic, in- cluding our report on development in Haiti, the excerpts from a New York conference on development and the environment, and an article about the Advocates for African Food Security.

The impetus for involving the grassroots comes from the sense that traditional development projects often fail because the “people” themselves have not been consulted or involved. Without such in- volvement, efforts becomedetached from local reality. People become mere objects of development, with no control over their fate. Accordingly, they perceive no self- interest in sustaining the effort.

The emerging theory of grassroots par- ticipation holds that if the masses them- selves are encouraged to participate, their development needs will be more closely met. Accordingly, the effort is more likely to win local support, and overall success will be far more likely.

The impetus for the new thinking has been linked with the growing respect for universal human rights, and the recogni- tion that all people, whatever their level of education, social development oreconomic status, deserve equal status and treatment under the law.

In the Baha’i view, however, genuine popular participation will come when the world’s peoples — both developing and developed — incorporate into their think-

Perspective

ing several understandings that go beyond the current framework of human rights.

The first key understanding toward en- couraging genuine popular participation involves the recognition of the oneness of humanity. This recognition requires a change in attitudes on the part of all people -— both those who are helped, and those who would help.

The second such understanding is the recognition that human beings are spiritual creatures in their essence. As spiritual crea- tures, all men and women are created with an inherent nobility, and possess a reservoir of spiritual, intellectual and physical capaci- ties. True development occurs when these latent capacities are tapped.

In 1975, the Baha’i International Commu- nity issued a statement to the UN. Commis- sion for Social Development on this issue. In part, it read:

“...the popular participation so essential to economic and social development requires a basic change of values and attitudes on the part of each individual and his social group, [a change] rooted in a deeply—held convic- tion of the organic oneness of humanity. Successful development must center on the realization that each person is inseparable from the total body of mankind..."

“Successful development must center on the realization that each

person is inseparable from the total body of mankind.”

As development specialists probe more deeply into the meaning of popular partici- pation, and as they search for ways to imple- ment its ideal, they might find the experi- ence of the worldwide Baha’i community helpful.

Although Baha‘i institutions have a pri- mary basis in religion, they are also Charged with helping to improve the social and eco- nomic well—being of humanity. Further, all Baha’i institutions, whether at the local, na— tional, or international level, operate with a

(Continued next page)

Page 2

[Page 3]ONE COUNTRY / October-December 1989

Perspective: Popular Participation

(Continued from previous page)

built—in mechanism for popular participation in seeking to attain this goal.

At the lowest level, for example, the local Baha’i administrative council — called a Local Spiritual Assembly — is elected annu- ally by all adult Baha’is in that community. Beyond the participation inherent in the election process, however, is the require- ment for this council to meet with the com- munity at large at least once a month.

This meeting takes place in a gathering called “the Feast,” and it combines aspects of religious worship, a social meeting, and community administration.

During the portion of Feast devoted to community administration, each person is encouraged to present individual views, concerns and ideas about local projects, the

harmonious functioning of the commu- nity, and, virtually anything else on his or her mind.

The process is consultative in nature, and from it springs some of the most sin- cerely conceived grassroots development projects in the world.

In the Baha’i view, true development requires more than technology or money. It requires a new approach at organizing human affairs, an approach that relies on this type of “popular participation,” so that all points of view are included and all hu- mans are treated with equal respect.

The accomplishments of “developed” peoples and nations do not rest on techni- cal knowledge, natural resources, or even the accumulation of capital. Development springs from the degree of respect paid to the individual, and the resulting social evo- lution. 0

Convention on Rights of the Child adopted

Includes Mass Media Article from Baha’i International Community

UNITED NATIONS — More than 20 in- ternational non—govemmental organizations — including the Baha’i International Com- munity — contributed to the 10-year proc- ess leading to the Convention of the Rights of the Child, adopted 20 November 1989 by the UN General Assembly, the most com- prehensive human rights treaty ever.

The Convention modifies and consolidates existing international standards and com-

“Technological developments have facilitated mass communication in virtually every part of

the world. There are enormous potential benefits to be derived from chlld—oriented mass media activities.”

mitments to the protection of children. It also introduces a number of new rights for children, including the rights to an individ- ual name, nationality and identity; the rights to freedom of thought, conscience and reli- gion; and rights of development and to pro-

tection against exploitation.

The Baha’i International Community was among those NGOs who formed an Ad Hoc Group on the Convention in 1983, offering special knowledge and expertise to the 43-nationWorking Group that drafted the convention itself.

The Community offered several state- ments and position papers to the Working Group. A proposed article on children and the mass media was presented, for ex— ample, as was one on children’s education.

The article on the mass media, as sub- mitted by the Baha’i Community, was adopted with minor changes.

“The mass media have an enormous influence on children,” said Machid Fatio, a Baha’i representative to the United Na- tions. “Technological developments have facilitated mass communication in virtu- ally every part of the world. There are enormous potential benefits to be derived from child-oriented mass media activities.

“For that reason, we urged the United Nations to consider an article that will help to tap the vast potential of the mass media to benefit the world’s children. And, in- deed, with the passage of the Convention, it will be possible to help develop the mass media in a positive direction.” 3

Page 3

[Page 4]

“The Advocates are a coalition of both insiders and outsiders. So they overcome the disadvantages that many NGOs have, because the Advocates know how the UN really works.”

ONE COUNTRY / October—Dcccmbcr 1989

Promoting African Women Farmers in New York

The Advocates for African Food Security use an

insider’s approach to influence the UN.

UNITED NATIONS — Whether in the cavernous meeting rooms beneath the main floor, the offices of the steel and glass Secretariat building, or the General As— sembly hall itself, winning an adequate hearing for important ideas here is a com- mon preoccupation among both govem- mental and non—governmental organiza- tions alike.

The Advocates forAfrican Food Security take a different approach to this task — and offer an innovative example for other groups and other issues.

Dedicated to building international awareness of the role of women farmers in African food production, the Advocates are a coalition of non-governmental or- ganizations (NGOs), UN agencies and governmental organizations. They are perhaps unique at the UN for this distinc— tive combination of members, a mix that gives the Advocates a surprising degree of influence — despite a budget that is near to zero and a structure that is purposely left undefined.

“The Advocates are an unusual model,” said Barbara Adams, a consultant with the UN Non—Governmental Liaison Service (UN NGLS). “They are a coalition of both insiders and outsiders. So they overcome the disadvantages that many NGOs have, because the Advocates know how the UN really works. Many NGOs are very con- cerned about an issue, but they don’t nec- essarily know how to address the system.”

The Advocates were formed in 1986 fol- lowing a symposium sponsored by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Which focused on African women farmers. Anumber of those involved, principally women representa- tives of various NGOs and several UN agencies in New York, decided to stay in-

volved in the issue, believing that inade- quate support was being given to women farmers in Africa — despite the fact that women produce from 50 to 80 percent of that continent’s food supply.

Today, members of the Advocates include representatives from the United Nations agencies like the UN Development Pro- gramme (UNDP), UNIFEM, and the UN NGLS. The Organization for African Unity, a governmental organization, is also in- volved. through its New York representa- tive.

And the membership list of N 605 ranges from religious groups like the World Coun- cil of Churches and Church Women United, to development—oriented groups like Save the Children Foundation, Coordination in Development (CODEL) and the African- American Institute. The Baha’i International Community has been a member from the start, and this year serves as convenor.

As their main activity, the Advocates have organized a forum at the UN each year on the role of women farmers in Africa. But the group has also produced a play that drama- tizes the daily life of women farmers, along with several booklets and brochures. (See One Day In Her Life, right.)

By bringing women farmers and profes- sionals to these forums and featuring their points of view there and in publications, the Advocates have come to be highly appreci— ated for their down-to-earth treatment of the problems facing African development.

“The UN is a bureaucracy, and like most bureaucracies, things become routine after awhile,” said Elizabeth Okwenje, the direc- tor for Africa at OXFAM America and a member of The Advocates. “By bringing to the UN the reality of people’s experience in developing countries, these issues become more important to those in New York.

“In many ways,” Ms. Okwenje added, “I think it has more impact to see an African woman farmer speaking about her day than to have a foreign minister standing up in the General Assembly and trying to articulate the reality of the problems in his country.”

Page 4

[Page 5]ONE COUNTRY / October-Deccmbcr 1989

In addition to the diversity of its member- ship, several other factors have helped to make the Advocates far more effective than their size or budget would imply.

“An important aspect of the Advocates model is that it is an umbrella organization without an institutionalized bureaucracy,” said Ruth Engo, one the the Advocates’ founders, who spoke at the annual sympo- sium on 12 October in the Dag Hammar- skjold Library Auditorium. “We have no president, no director. We meet together to promote women farmers, not an institution. This has been our strength.”

Ms. Engo, who works with the Advocates as a consultant to UNIFEM, later elabo- rated: “Because we are dealing with an is- sue, and not with institutions, there is less danger of getting lost in the bureaucracy, or in your own propaganda.

“Instead, we have a common objective, which is helping women farmers bring food security to Africa. This has been the focal point, not UNDP, not UNIFEM, not any organization. Plus, because we are not an institution, we have nothing that people can fight with. We are taking nobody’s place. We are just reinforcing everybody’s willingness to solve the problem of hunger in Africa.”

The Baha’i International Community has

participated extensively in the Advocates because it focuses on several issues of great concern to the worldwide Baha’i com- munity: equal rights forwomen, food secu— rity and the development of all peoples. Said Mary Power, a Baha’i International Community representative to the United N ations, “In our work with the Advocates, these concerns come together.”

Ms. Engo and others also said the Advo- cates is effective because it focuses on a single issue — women farmers in Africa — and does not become diverted to other as- pects of the hunger problem, to women’s issues, or to Third World development. Nevertheless, said Engo and others, the Advocates could provide a model for other groups who desire to promote a particular issue at the international level.

“I think the model is applicable to other situations,” Ms. Engo said. “People can come together on peace, because of the new concept of peace and development. Or it could work even on a strong political issue, like the issue of commodities in Africa. With commodities, for example, you need strong expert advice. But the people themselves are the ones who pro- duce the commodities. And their perspec- tive is needed.”0

Logo of The Advocates for African Food Security

Excerpt from a one-person play about a day in the life of an African woman. Written by Sharon A. Billings, Ruth Bamela Engo and James M. Noss. First performed by actress Christine Campbe/I14 May 1987 at ”Programs for African Food Security: Lessening the Burden of Women” at the United Nations.

. “Ah, is it really time for me to rise? I feeI as if I’ve onijust lay down my

One Day I" head. But I need to get up; I have so much to do before the sun rises. I hope

Her L ife that i have some water left over from last night so that I can wash — Ah yes,

there is some here. But there is no time to enjoy it and besides, It is so cold.

Careful now, I need to leave enough for my husband and my children to

wash. If my children go to school without washing, then people will say that I fail to take care of my family. Now, quickly, I must light the fire for it brings heat, light is a sign that there is life in this house.

“While my husband's water is warming on the fire I will sweep the kitchen and outside area and tend to the chickens and goats. Here are several eggs. I can sell them in the market today. (Pause.) Wake up children. wake up, for the sun is beginning to rise. Bring the baby here; he is hungry and his crying wiII disturb yourfather. Here, help me to gatherthe gourds and buckets. Place those dirty dishes in this basket; we will wash them at the river.

“Fanta, my daughter, I have warmed some food for you and your brother. Don’t forget to eat and wash before you go to school. And please pay close attention in your classes, for it is very important that you learn. Come, little ones, let's go to the river. (Pause.) If my daughter was not at school she could help me with my burdens but I am willing to sacrifice for her education. I stood up to my husband and his family when they said that it was not necessary for her to go to school. I think it is, I want her to learn, I want her life to be better than mine...." 0

Page 5

[Page 6]

Anis Zunflzi teacher Evelyne Petit, 26, stands with her class of first graders, who come mostly from the semi- rural area that surrounds the school grounds. Anis Zunflzi is named after a young Persian who was martyred in 1850 with The Bab, one of the two founders of the Baha’i Faith.

ONE COUNTRY / OctoberDecembcr 1989

Anis Zunt’lzi School puts stress on moral tramlng and cooperatlon

(Continued from page 1)

Although established nine years ago pri- marily as a private school, Anis Zunlizi has gradually evolved into a multi—faceted development institute and helped to launch grassroots—oriented Baha’i development projects throughout Haiti. These projects include satellite pre—school centers, com- munity organization work, and local refor- estation efforts. A common thread runs throughout: the idea that learning to coop erate and to make decisions as a group is more important to long—term development than is material assistance.

A Harsh land

Although the country has received more than US$650 million in international devel- opment assistance since 1980, Haiti re- mains the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere. Per capita income in 1987 was $360 per annum, the lowest in the Americas and the 29th lowest in the world. More than 75 percent of Haitians cannot read or write, also the worst rate in the Americas, and the average life expectancy

is about 55 years.

The country’s harsh past accounts in part for this grim condition, say development specialists and others here. The island was colonized by the French, who brought Afri- cans for use as slaves. In 1804, the Africans revolted and established Haiti as the first in- dependent territory in Latin America. De- spite this heritage of independence, the legacy of slavery, with its degradation of human life and strict hierarchy of authority, has left an indelible mark.

“During colonial times, terrible, terrible things were done to the Haitian slaves,” said Ribentrop Louis, a 23-year-old Haitian, who serves on the development committee of the Haitian Baha’i community. “People were beaten, had their arms cut off, they were even buried alive, all to make them obedi- ent. That mentality of “the bosses” still remains in many people. Throughout much of society, you still have the concepts of chiefs or leaders, and many people find it difficult to act on their own.”

The Baha‘i approach to development in

Page 6

[Page 7]ONE COUNTRY / Octobcr-Dcccmbcr 1989

Haiti is distinctive, said Mr. Louis, because it seeks to overcome this legacy by training people to cooperate, rather than simply funnelling aid in from outside. This training is accomplished partly throughAnis Zunuzi’s innovative program of primary, secondary and vocational education, and partly through adult classes and institutes — often held at Ants Zunuzi — sponsored by the national Baha’i assembly. Teaching Moral Values

Although corporal punishment is officially banned, the majority of Haitian schools continue to beat and whip students to en- force discipline — a legacy of the harsh past. At Anis Zunuzi, beating has always been forbidden. Although to outsiders this may not seem significant, it sets Anis Zunuzi apart from other schools here and instills in the students a unique sense of responsibil- ity for their own actions.

“In most schools it is hard to have a rela- tionship between the student and the teacher,” said Dieudonné Franeois, an 11th grader who came to Anis Zunuzi three years ago. “Here, you are really friends with all the teachers and they will teach you until you’ve

Baha’i Development Projects in Haiti

Schools at

Pre—School Centers it

1. 0

Tree Nurseries

Groupemcnts

Page 7

really got it.”

Anis Zunuzi is also distinctive for its use of the native Creole language in beginning reading classes. “If you start in Creole, that means they can learn to think on their own,” said Hans-Jiirgen Thimm, the school’s former principal. “But if you start them in French, they just learn to parrot. So this is actually a profound reform.”

But the school’s real distinction lies in its effort to inject moral — Baha’is would say “spiritual” — values into the curriculum.

Creole primary books, written at the school and used in primary grades, use short parables to illustrate various new words and sounds. In the first—grade reader, the story of a boy who helps his father and learns the values of work is used to illus- trate the “0" sound. Another Vignette tells of a woman who painstakingly re-stitches a wedding dress, even though she is tired and would prefer to leave the job halfdone.

“Even if kids don’t put the morals into practice all the time, they have something at the bottom of their heart that tells them they shouldn’tbe doing things like lying or stealing,” said Gabrielle Rose Marcel, an

o Pitimi n MI

Map of Haiti, below, shows

the location of Bahé'i

development projects. Shown

are schools, pre-school

centers, tree nurseries and groupements. Nearly all are in some way the result of Ants

Zunflzi's influence, either

through its outreach program,

or because of training

programs in cooperation and group decision—making skills that have been held at the school, which in turn have improved the organizational ability of the Haitian Baha’i

community.

um HAITI

0 Font Benoit

m . O L1ancourt

fig,-

Lilavois

Port—au—Prince

DYIHHJEPJ NVOINIWOCIA

[Page 8]

“...each child must acquire a vision of his own future, and sense it to such a degree that it becomes contagious and spreads to others. This is what we are trying to accomplish."

Vocational education is also offered at the Anis Zunuzi school. Here, a typing class is shown.

ONE COUNTRY / Octobcr-Dcccmber 1989

11th grader who has attended Anis Zunuzi since 1981. “It’s at the school that they learn that.”

An Engine for Development

The adult training institutes at Anis Zunuzi likewise stress moral values and, especially, a method of non—adversarial group decision-making, which Baha’is call “consultation.” As individuals from around the country have become familiar with the principles of consultation and other tech— niques for community cooperation, they have in turn organized or shouldered the administration of development projects in their own regions.

The outreach program, established in 1983, received about $60,000 from the Ca- nadian International DevelopmentAgency (CIDA) at its start. Gradually, however, the Haitian Baha’i community has taken responsibility for funding. Some money also comes from other Baha’i communi- ties around the world.

To date, four pre—school centers have been established, in addition to the center at Anis Zunuzi, and are now overseen by locally elected Baha’i councils. (See story on opposite page.)

Three other primary schools, each offer- ing kindergarten through the fourth grade to about 100 students, have been estab— lished in the cities of Liancourt, Pont Benoit and Pitimi. All are also overseen by the local Baha’i council in each town. A small tree nursery has also been established in Liancourt, as part of a nationwide refores-

tation effort. (See story on following page.)

At Anis Zunuzi itself, there are several out- reach development efforts. The school also operates a seedling nursery, and helps to distribute young trees to local farmers. Mr. Exama serves as the “animateur” for this program, working with farmers to educate them about tree types, care and benefits. Mr. Exama also works with a number of small groupements, in an attempt to assist them in forming small economic projects, such as selling beans or raising small ani- mals. These groupements are smaller than the ones Mr. Exama worked with in the 1960s, and Baha’i principles of consultation are stressed in special training programs.

An Evolutionary Process

Although founded in 1980 by a $250,000 donation of outside money, and steered at first by an international council of advisers, the school has gradually evolved into an institution that draws its support and direc- tion from the grassroots.

The school is now run by a committee of local council members and, this year, the school’s American born principal stepped aside in favor of a Haitian—born educator, Mr. Frangois Lhorrisson-Fils.

“In general in Haiti, we lack hope, we lack vision — this is our biggest barrier to devel- opment,” Mr. Lhorrisson-Fils said. “To overcome this barrier, each child must acquire a vision of his own future, and sense it to such a degree that it becomes conta- gious and spreads to others. This is what we are trying to accomplish.” Q

[Page 9]()NE COUNTRY / Octobcr—Dccembcr 1989

BEUDE’I‘, Haiti — Rosanna Petit Frere uses a Creole colloquialism to describe how she realized the importance of send- ing her children to school. “Je’m te vin klere,” she says, which means, literally, “my eyes became brightened.”

Mme. Frere, like many rural Haitians, lives in a small cinder-block and tin-roof house, among a dense settlement of per- haps two dozen other such homes, draw- ing water from a common well and sur- rounded by the fields that she and her neighbors laboriously farm.

Unlike many other rural Haitians, how- eVer, Mme. Frere can send her young children to a neighborhood pre-school cen- ter, where they are exposed to ideas and early socialization that most Haitian chil- dren go without. For this, she is grateful.

“For a long, long time, I never used to really think about sending my children to school, but my eyes became brightened," she said. “Because now my kids are devel- oping really well. They are curious and keen.”

Although the Baha’i-run pre-school cen- ter in this small village is physically mod- est — it is an open-air affair, with meter- height block walls, a thatched roof and dirt floor —— it has had an important impact on life in this small, unnamed enclave, Where the next meal is ever in doubt and outside jobs are virtually non-existent.

Originally established as an outreach

Page 9

"fi-a NI-r '-- N—n ~— ~n— "-e M— w-i

4”“ .m'

Pre—School Centers Seek to be Self—Sustaining

project of the Anis Zumtzi Baha’i school in nearby Lilavois, administrative responsi- bility for the Beudet pre—school center has since been assumed by the Beudet Baha’i SpiritualAssembly, a locally elected Baha’i council.

As such, the center represents grass- roots development at its most basic level: local people paying for and supporting a locally-run project, which serves the genu- ine needs of local residents. It is one of five such Baha’i-run pre—schools around the country.

Although parents are asked to pay $1 a month per child — at the present time there are 13 three- to five-year—olds en- rolled — the Beudet Assembly covers the $30 a month cost of hiring teacher Anna Louise Seraphin for half the day and over- sees her work.

“This little center is the only one in the area,” explained Mlle. Seraphin. “The par- ents like that. The kids are small and they can’t go too far.”

Mlle. Seraphin, who received her teacher training in a summer institute at the Anis Zumizi school, said that she sees a marked change in the children who attend. “The children at first, they wouldn’t answer back and they didn’t know how to play and they didn’t talk much. But now they are playing together and talking more and even the parents are saying that they are develop- ing well.” 9

Pre-school teacher Anna Louise Seraphin, left, works with 3- to 5year-olds each weekday morning at the Beudet preschool center, which is operated by the local Baha'i council there. Rosanna Petit Frere, who has two children at the center, stands to the right of Mlle. Seraphin.

“I’m really poor and I have five children, but even if! can ’t eat, I make an effort to put them in school. ” - Rosanna Petit Frére

[Page 10]

Desanges Exama, left, stands with farmer Renee Breau in front of several dozen fast~growing neem trees that she planted, with Exama‘s help, two years ago. The trees were started in the nursery at the Anis ZunUzi School. Exama is one of the school's outreach development workers.

ONE COUNTRY / Octobcr-Dcccmbcr 1989

Private Organizations Play a Key Role in Haiti’s Reforestation

LILAVOIS, Haiti — During the rainy season, it is said, rivers of brown mud streak out into the cemlean waters of the Caribbean from the shores of this island nation. The cause is massive deforesta- tion, among the worst examples in the Western Hemisphere, which allows pre- cious topsoil to be washed into the sea.

“Estimates are that between 50 million and 60 million trees are out each year,” said Arlin Hunsberger, project director for the Haiti Agroforestry Extension Project of the Pan American Development Founda- tion (PADF) —- one of the principal agen- cies working for Haiti‘s reforestation. “But it is estimated that only about 6.7 million replacement trees were planted by farm-

ers here last year."

Haiti’s scarcity of trees can be traced to the early 18005, when the slaves revolted and entire regions of the country were burned. Many people sought refuge in the mountains and began hillside farming, which further reduced the forests. Unchecked commercial extraction of wood by lumber companies accounted for continued defor- estation in the 19th century.

In recent years, Haiti’s reliance on char- coal for cooking fuel and tree clearing by peasant farmers has continued to drain the nation’s forest resources, leaving a once lush island only about five percent forested.

For decades, appeals by the Haitian gov- ernment to protect the country’s trees have

Page 10

[Page 11]ONE COUNTRY / Octobcr-Deccmbcr 1989

been generally ignored. Likewise, numer- ous international and bilateral aid organiza— tions have attempted to plant trees in one or another pad of Haiti. Yet these attempts have failed to reverse the situation.

Hunsberger, nevertheless, is optimistic about PADF’s project, because of its distinc- tive approach. The aim, he said, is to work with private voluntary organizations, like the Haitian Baha’i community and other religious groups, to change the way Haiti’s peasants think about trees.

“What we’re trying to do is to train the farmers to grow their own trees,” Hunsberger said. “And we’re also trying to build an awareness that it is okay to harvest trees, just as it is okay to harvest corn and beans."

The key to preventing further deforesta- tion, he said, is to extend that argument so that farmers understand, “just as you don’t harvest someone else’s corn, likewise, you shouldn’t harvest someone else’s trees.”

Likewise, PADF encourages the planting of fast-growing trees that have useful, prac- tical purposes, such as animal feed, soil enrichment, lumber or charcoal production.

The program fits well into the Baha’i concept of promoting an integration between environment and development. The Anis Zunuzi school has participated in PADF’s agroforestry program since 1985, when it established a small tree nursery. Currently,

Page 1 1

that nursery produces about 120,000 seed- lings a year, which are then distributed to local farmers. Another nursery has been established by the local Baha’i council in Liancourt, to the north, producing about 80,000 trees each year.

“The Anis Zunuzi school is a prime ex- ample of how PADF works,” Hunsberger said. “We work entirely through private voluntary organizations (PVOs), such as the Baha’i school, the Baptist mission, and so on. About 70 organizations are involved in all.”

By working with private groups, Hunsberger says, PADF is able to reach the level of Haitian society where tree planting and education about reforesta- tion can make a difference. “PVOs tend to have theirfeeton the ground,”Hunsberger said. “And they will probably be here much longer than we will.”

One farmer who has benefited from the program is Victor Dumay, who planted cassia and neem trees four years ago in his neighborhood. Already, they stand more than 20 feet tall, providing shade and improving the soil’s moisture.

”The trees increase the value of the land,” said Mr. Dumay, who received the trees from Anis Zum'izi project outreach worker Desanges Exama. “F mm the time that you have good trees, you’re sure to have some rain. Because the trees bring in the rain.”0

Nurserymen Bernard Metélus, center, and assistant nurseryman Ronald Bayard, left, work in the Anis Zunuzi School tree nursery, helping to produce more than 120,000 seedlings each year. The young trees are then distributed to local farmers. Shown also is Matty Thimm, left, former principal of the school. The nursery works in collaboration with the Pan American Development Foundation's Agroforestry Extension Project.

[Page 12]()NF, COUNTRY / ()cmber-Dcccmbcr 1989

On September 11, the Club of Rome, the United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service, and the Baha’i International Community co-sporzsored aforum entitled “A ica — Environment and Development: NGO Perspectives for the 1990’s.”

As the title implies, the day—lohg gatheringfocused oh the relationship between Africa’s development and its environment and the bearing of this interplay on the world’s environ— mental quality. This will increasingly be a critical topic in view 0fthe increasing competition for land, timber, wildlife and other resources as Africa attempts to becomefully developed.

Theforum was all the more distinctive for the diversity of its participants. Those attending represented a wide range of disciplines, agencies and organizations having an interest in the topic. Included were representatives fi'om high profile Western aid agencies and environ- mentalgroups like USAID and the World Wide F and forNature; from grassroots—based non- governmental organizations (NGOs) like the Forum of African Voluntary Development Organizations and the African Development Foundation; and from thihk-tank type institu- tions like the North-South Institute and the Club of Rome.

The forum began by putting Africans at the podium and Westerners in the audience. Afternoon workshop sessions in small discussion groups then soughtfarther to break down old assumptions and traditional relationships. The day ended with a talk by Mr. Bertrand Schneider, the Secretary—General of the Club of Rome.

The format also provided numerous opportunities for questions and answers, and the discussion rangedfar beyond conventional thinking on how development and the environ- ment intertwihe. The role of debt and structural adjustment was highlighted. The trend towardspopularpafiicipation in the developmehtprocess and the need to re-think thegeneral approach to development communications were also discussed extensively.

The event was held at the Baha’i International Community oflices in New York.

ENVIRONMENT AN D DEVELOPMENT: A VIEW FROM AFRICA

Excerpts from a C OHfC I'C [ICC held by Professor Adebayo Adedeji, Executive Sec-

, retary of the United Nations Economic Com-

ThC Clllb Of ROITIC, the Umtcd mission for Africa, started the conference,

Nations NOH' Governmental Liaison speaking about the debt crisis and how West-

, , y . erh attempts to enforce structural adjustment

Serv1ce and the Baha 1 International programsaflectdevelopmentahdtheenviron- Community ment in Africa.

“For years we talked about development and took for granted environment... Increas- ingly, the link between environment and development is now well established. But there is one third aspect which is yet to be established. And that is the link between de- velopment, environment, and adjustment.”

“We tend to think that if a country is in serious economic crisis we should keep ‘on hold’ everything there is while that country adjusts to resolve the problems of the crisis, and then once those problems are solved,

Page 12

[Page 13]

ONE COUNTRY / ()ctober-Dccembcr 1989

the development process and, hopefully, the environmental issues will be tackled.”

“Senegal is a Sahelian country threatened day and night by increasing desertification... [Yet] , we now put all resources, all attention, on how we can balance the payments for Senegal.”

“In making these decisions, we tend to forget that they have consequences, long- term consequences, on the development prospects of Senegal and on the environ- ment of Senegal. Although we have kept ‘on hold’ these issues, nature does not keep ‘on hold.’ The forces of nature continue to be at work.”

“By the time we wake up to the problems in the long-term development and t0 the environment of Senegal, thousands more miles of Senegal have become desertified. The environmental problems have become worse and, of course, development, instead of stagnating, has retrogressed. Therefore, we came to the conclusion that we need to add the third dimension to this frontier of development theory — and that is the ad— justments dimension.”

“In Africa, the problem of environmental degradation is not a futuristic problem. It is one of the fundamental causes of the crisis we face... [E]very day hundreds of kilome- ters are becoming desert in Africa and, if we do not reverse this, the whole continent will become a huge desert. We cannot keep it on hold for a day, not to talk of a year, while we try to solve the debt problem, while we try to solve the budgetary problems, and while we try to solve the exchange problems.”

Mr. MazidN’Diaye, president ofthe Forum ofAfricah Voluntary Development Organiza- tions, spake of the difliculty of balancing the environment against the needs of develop- ment, especially when the Western nations have already achieved industrialization and a high standard of living.

“As Africans, what do we gain in this problem of environment? I was once in a meeting where people were talking about lending money to forest countries to save the ‘capital’of the forests. I say ‘No, we can- not have more debt.’ I say if it is ‘capital,’why

Page 13

do we have to borrow the money?”

“If you ask a Senegalese person to pro- tect his environment because of this or that, it is immaterial. Ifhe can’t survive, the environment is nothing for him. If he dies because he can’t find food to eat, protect- ing the environment is not for him —— it’s for someone else.”

“When people say that the major profit for the African countries is because of tourism, for example, I laugh. The plane ticket is not for us. The hotel money is not for us. The tourist’s camera? We don’t produce cameras. His film? We don’t produce film. His car? We don’t produce cars. His petrol? We don’t produce petrol, except Nigeria. Even the food is some- times imported for the tourists. So, what do we gain by tourism? Nothing.”

“What is clear is that now the world is not able to continue to sustain this level of wealth which you, in the north, have for everybody. It is not possible. Are you ready to lower your level of wealth, your standard of living?”

“Something has to be done from your level. To be realistic, the ozone layer has been created by the CFCs which are cre- ated by making a room like this one, with air conditioning... This is so because you won’t agree, or your government won’t agree, to stop this pollution immediately.”

“I don’t think, we, in Senegal, are able to solve the problem of desertification. If it were only tree planting, that would mean every Senegalese will have to plant at least one hundred thousand trees and then irri— gate those trees. It is not possible.”

“If we, from the north and from the south, want the environmentto be strength- ened, to be protected, we have to pay something. Thatthing is not only money... It is a matter of reconsidering the way we are living. This way is not the right one. It is a bad one. It’s dividing the world into ‘the rich’ and ‘the poor.’ It’s creating a con- dition of life which is not sustainable for the world. The world cannot produce this level of life for everybody; the world can- not produce this level of life forever.”

Prof. Adebayo Adedeji

Mr. Mazid N’Diaye

[Page 14]

Mr. Bertrand Schneider

ONE COUNTRY / Octobcr~Dcccmbcr 1989

Mr. Bertrand Schneider, Secretaiy-Gen- eral of the Club of Rome, author of ‘The Barefoot Revolution, ” President ofthe Inter- national Association for the Quality of Life, and a Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science, spoke about the need to take a global approach to the environment, while at the same time understanding that genu- ine action and change came come only from the grassroots.

“The adjustment of structures involves also a change of mentality and of behavior. This means that we won’t solve the prob- lem of the developing countries without... changing our style of life in the northern countries.”

“The Sahel problem, which is both de— sertification and development, won’t be solved if not in a global approach — be- cause desertification is a global problem — but with a lot of micro projects. Sahel is a mosaic of small lands which are so differ- ent in geology, in climatology, that there is no one ideal solution for Sahel. These problems have to be discussed and tackled with the people who are living there.”

“Let me illustrate these concerns with a project which started in Yandi in 1986. We had there a meeting of the Club of Rome, and we were asked by many African lead- ers to take an initiative in Sahel.”

“The first step has been a meeting of 60 heads of villages or former chiefs of vil— lages, African leaders of micro projects, who are very different from each other, and African experts from six different countries of Sahel....This meeting will lead to the setting up of a number of pilot proj- ects which will be started next year.”

“We will start with 20 projects. Two years later we will jump to 50. Two years later we will go to 100. It is a very ambitious program. All these projects will be sup- ported by local existing projects. We hope that, little by little, we Will create these green spots and these windbreaks in dif- ferent parts of the Sahel before going fur- ther to include the English-speaking coun- tries. This is a long process.”

“Environmental threats are not perceived

in the same way in the south and in the north. In the north we have built up our economic growth, ignoring completely the pollution and the environment, and we have sacrificed very often the environment to this economic increase. N ow, in the south, people who are conscious of the importance of the environment are saying, ‘You want us to pay for your mistakes. You have set up your industries and now we are just developing and you say don’t use your local resources because it is a danger for the world. This is not fair.’ ”

“What we have suggested is to organize a meeting, a North—South conference on envi- ronment, to discuss these problems. This meeting should be a regular meeting, but not only of governments — including also industrialists, unions, NGOs — all of the people who are more or less partners in this problem. This should lead to the creation of a United Nations Security Council for Envi- ronment. Now, the major priority of the world is not the problems of war and peace. It is the problem of environment.”

Dr. Eddah Gachukia, Chairperson of the African Women‘s Communication and De— velopmentNetwork andformermemberofthe Kenyan Parliament, spoke about the need to improve communications with those who are to be “developed,” and to seek the inputfi'om the grassroots, if either issue is to be properly addressed.

“We are concerned with the gap between knowledge and practice. Communication cannot have any meaning —— information cannot have any meaning—until it achieves your objective, until men and women, chil- dren and youth, have internalized the envi— ronmental message, so that environmental conservation becomes a way of life, not something that we listen to and dismiss.”

“It is in that context, then, in analyzing the social organization of the population at the grassroots level, that you begin to wonder what are the reliable channels of communi- cation, communication that will enable, that will empower populations at the grassroots level to change their behavior, their way of life, to internalize the message, so conserva- tion is good, and not something the govem— ment forces people to do.”

Page 14

[Page 15]ONE COUNTRY / Octobcr~Deccmbcr 1989

“People at the grassroots level actually know What their problems are. You need to hear what their concept is of environmental protection. You need to hear what tree planting means to them. Is it something they do once a year? Is it something that they try to do throughout the year? What about water? In Kenya we are trying to demonstrate that you may not need irriga- tion. There are ways and means of getting

these trees planted, taking care of them. What kind of incentives can you offer at the community level.

“When something is happening in Af- rica today, all of you know all about it. The people next door don’t know anything about it. People, even in Kenya itself, will not know anything about it. The problem of communication is avery crucial issue.”0

Review: An Artist’s Search for Links between East and West

(Continued from back page)

which evolved from a sense of the comple- mentary nature of “that which is loosely called East and West.” OfWestern heritage, but born and raised in the East, Mr. Leach asked himself: “Whence was the seed of Life? How was that core, that belief about the meaning of Life — J ewish, Hindu, Buddhist, or Muslim — conceived through the millen- nia of human history?... How could I equate my own inheritance of Christianity with Buddhism?”

He found an answer to these questions in the Baha’i Faith, which he first heard about during World War I. The Baha’i Faith, he writes, “recognizes the essential unity of all inspired religions. The paths are many, but the mountain of God has now been revealed as the bedrock of world society.”

“Here then,” he adds, “is the link between East and West, and here too, hope for the unity of mankind.”

Mr. Leach was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1962 for his contribution to the development of British pottery. In 1966, for his cultural services to

J apan, he received the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Second Class, the highest honor the Japanese government bestows on a foreigner. He was honored by the World Crafts Council at a gathering in Dublin in 1970, and, in a private audience with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace in 1973, he became the first crafts— man ever to be made a Companion of Honor. In 1974 he received the Japan Foundation Cultural Award. A retrospec- tive exhibition of his work was held at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, in 1977, and resulted in publication that year of TheArtofBemardLeach (london: Faber and Faber).

Eva Gillies, appraising the book in Re— surgence, remarked: “It is heartening, towards the end of our confused and frag- mented century, to be reminded that wholeness is, after all, possible, and to be offered so beautiful and genuine an ex- ample of its achievement.”

This is the heritage Bernard Leach af- fords us. — by Roger White 0

World Baha’i Population, year by year, in millions, 1963—1989

63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 8182 83 84 85 86 87 88 89

Page 15

STATISTICAL SNAPSHOT: The worldwide Baha’i community has grown rapidly in recent years. As shown left, membership in the Baha'i Faith has grown from about 400,000 in 1963 to about 5 million in 1989, making the Baha'i Faith the fastest growing of the world's independent religions. The decline in the figures between 1975 and 1976 reflects a change in demographic methodology rather than in membership.

[Page 16]An Artist’s Search for Links between

East and West

Drawings, Verse & Belief

By Bernard Leach

Oneworld Publications

London

ONE COUNTRY / Octobcr-Dccembcr 1989

Toward the end of his life, master potter Bernard Leach lost his eyesight, and his ability to continue work as a craftsman and artist. Nevertheless, he accepted his blind- ness with philosophic resignation, remark- ing that with the loss of outer sight he had gained “far greater inner vision.”

Drawings, Verse and Belief offers a glimpse of a such a man: an artist who was profoundly in contact with his own spiri- tual resources, who expended them in service of others, and who ulti- m a t e 1 y made peace with himself and his world —— despite the pressures of fame and acclaim that his work generated.

Longstanding admirers of the work of Mr. Leach, as well as those discovering it for the first time, will be grateful to One- world Publications for producing this re- vised and enlarged edition of a book that first appeared in 1973 (Bath: Adams and Dart) and in a second slightly revised edi- tion in 1977.

Within the 168 pages of the Oneworld edition are drawn together black-and-white reproductions of numerous drawings made by Mr. Leach in a period spanning more than six decades;occasiona1verse he wrote in the same period; and prose reflections in which he meditates on his role as artistic courier and mediator between east and west, and the contribution his spiritual beliefs made to his art and his life.

Born in 1887 in Hong Kong, the son of a colonial judge, Bernard Leach spent his early years there and in Singapore and Japan. He began drawing at age six and quickly grew to trust the intuition that impelled him irresistibly to a life devoted to art. At 16 he became a student at Slade, under Henry Tonks, where he perfected his drawing skills; later, under Sir Frank Brangwyn, he learned how to etch.

In 1909, Mr. Leach returned to Japan with the first etching press ever to reach that country. In J apan, he records, “it took years of surprise to find out how unlike Eastern man was to Western,” a realization which set him on the course, over most of the rest of his life, of discovering “the unfamiliar common groundwork of human- ity in search of truth and beauty.” En-

thralled by the experience of seeing raku pots being made, he apprenticed himself to J apanese potters working in the Ogata Kenzan tradition and achieved distinction in the craft.

Returning to England in 1920, Leach es- tablished his famous pottery in Saint Ives, Cornwall, with the help of his friend, the great J apanese potter, Hamada Shoji. From that time, for over a period of almost sixty years, he exerted a tremendous influence on the growing studio pottery movement in England, becoming in time its most cele- brated practitioner. He nevertheless re- mained humble despite the praise and hon- ors heaped upon him, and tireless in his en- couragement of other artists and craftsmen.

Although Leach was known primarily for his pottery, Drawings, Verse & Belief as the title implies, highlights his skill with the pen, both in drawing and writing.

Verse

‘ _&Beliqf ,

‘ONEWORLD

The drawings in Drawings, Verse & Belief demonstrate the degree of influence the Orient has had upon the work of Mr. beach and his superb assimilation and mastery of eastern disciplines; the execution appears deceptively simple and effortless, the ap proach almost playful.

Unabashedly personal and often religious in content — “confessional” verse in the purest sense — the poems are free of liter- ary devices. They seem to be the overflow of a sensibility teeming with creativity, some taking the form of impassioned devotionals.

Mr. Leach also writes about his beliefs,

Page 16