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October—December 1997

ONE

“The earth is [mt one country, and mankind its citizens”— Bahé’u’lléh

Perspective: A litmus test for possible new directions in Iran.

Bahé’is worldwide are gearing up for the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

In India, students are asked: What is real development? An automobile and a tractor or cooperation and unity.>

Review: Goal, Chance and Necessity — Keith Ward considers recent areas of conflict between science and religion.

”‘3 COUNTRY

Vol. 9, Issue 3 Newsletter of the Bahé’i International Community

In India? a new apprpach to vocational education

The New Era Development Institute seeks to provide students with skills to earn a living anal

impart a new Vision of community service. “Our product is basically a transformed individual.”

Shivaji Shinde, left, and Rahul Mahamuml at a house wiring course at the Satara Regional Bahé’i Development Institute.

SATARA, Maharashtra, India — In India’s now burgeoning economy, the building trades are flourishing, and learning how to install electrical wiring in homes is an important and potentially profitable skill.

But for Rahul Mahamumi, 16, and his friend Shivaji Shinde, 20, among the most significant benefits so far gleaned from a two-and-a—half month house wiring course at the Bahé’i Center here are an increased sense of self—confidence and a newly manifest desire to serve the community.

The course is different from similar programs because it includes instruction in “personal development” — a general term here for classes that help students improve their social skills and self image. And in this case, the instruction includes elements of spiritual and moral education designed to give students a new Vision of themselves and society.

“Basically all the courses in house wiring offer the same technical knowledge,” said Mr. Mahamumi. However, he said, the students at the Bahé’i Center are taught to share their skills freely and to use them to help others when they can, even without the prospect of profit. “When we are done, we hope to do service for the community,” said Mr. Mahamumi, “not just for making money.”

Adds Mr. Shinde, who comes from a farming village some 6 kilome- ters away: “The [personal development training] inspired us to think that (Continued on page 8)

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is published quarterly by the Office of Public Information of the Baha’i International Community, an international non-governmental organization which encom— passes and represents the worldwide membership of the Baha‘i Faith.

For more information on the stories in this newsletter, or any aspect of the Baha’i International Community and its work, please contact:

ONE COUNTRY Baha’i International Community — Suite 120 866 United Nations Plaza New York, New York 10017 USA.

E—mail: lcountry@bic.org http://www.onecountry.org

Executive Editor: Ann Boyles

Editor: Brad Pokorny

Associate Editors: Nancy Ackerman (Moscow) Christine Samandari-Hakim (Paris) , Kong Siew Huat (Macau) Guilda Walker (London)

Editorial Assistant: Veronica Shoffstall

Subscription inquiries should be directed to the above address. All material is copyrighted by the Baha’i International Community and subject to all applicable international copyright laws. Stories from this newsletter may be republished by any organization provided that they are attributed as follows: “Reprinted from ONE COUNTRY, the newsletter of the Baha‘i International Community.”

© 1998 by The Baha’i International Community

ISSN 1018-9300 "

Printed On recycled paper®

ONE COUNTRY / October~Dccembcr 1997

A litmus test for Iran

In recent statements, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran has talked of humanity’s entry into a “new century of hu- manity, understanding, and durable peace.”

Emphasizing the role of Iran in build- ing a civilization associated with such prin- ciples, President Mohammad Khatami spoke of the importance of “religiosity, liberty and justice,” stating that these are “the assets and aspirations of the Islamic revolution as it enters the 21st century.”

President Khatami also emphasized the importance of the rule of law, saying that “we s h o u 1 d , carefully Perspectlve prepare the ground for the implementation of law in our society.”

The Baha’i International Community welcomes such statements, in the hope that they will soon be followed by concrete ac- tions leading to the full emancipation oflran’s Baha’i community, which is composed of some 300,000 adherents and represents the largest religious minority in Iran.

At the present time, the Baha’is of Iran face a continuing religious persecution. Since the Islamic Republic was founded in 1979, more than 200 Baha’is have been killed, hundreds have been imprisoned and thousands have lost property and access to higher education. Last July, two Baha’is in Iran were killed under suspicious circum- stances. Currently, some 15 Baha’is are in prison and the community as a whole is deprived of freedom of worship.

In December, the United Nations Gen- eral Assembly expressed concern over these and other examples of persecution and called for the complete “emancipation” of the Baha’is of Iran. [See page 6] The United Nations resolution followed a re- port in October by a UN special rapporteur on human rights, Prof. Maurice Copithorne, which outlined the extent of continuing persecution and documented the recent killings and other examples of oppression.

Further, as Prof. Copithorne and other United Nations investigators have indi— cated, the Baha’is of Iran have been perse- cuted solely for their religious belief.

As many observers have long pointed

out, the Baha’is of Iran pose no threat to the Government. Their religious principles call on them to obey the law, to refrain from involvement in partisan politics and t0 prac- tice non—violence. They seek wholeheart- edly to join with their countrymen in an atmosphere of religious freedom to help in the construction of a more just and pros- perous Iranian nation.

Of special concern to the Baha’is of Iran, however, is the lack of legal protec- tions for their right to freedom of belief — a right upheld by several international covenants to which the Government of Iran is a party. Even if specific incidents of persecution were to abate significantly, Iran’s Baha’is would remain unprotected by the Iranian constitution from random acts of Violence.

In 1993, a secret Iranian Government document surfaced. Written in 1991 by the Secretary of the Supreme Revolutionary Cul- tural Council, the memorandum outlined a government blueprint for the quiet strangu— lation of Iran’s Baha’i community, stating

Freedom for Bahé’is to worship Wit‘hbut fear would, offer a singular litmus testastovimether theGovern-ment zofJ-ilran ‘ has's'et; a new_- Course.

specifically that their treatment should be “such that their progress and development should be blocked” and spelling out a series of guidelines for achieving such a goal.

To this day, the Government has not retracted this document or offered any indi- cation that it has changed its mind about its long-held and deepseated determination to eradicate the Baha’i community of Iran.

As the world community searches for a way to determine whether the new words from Iran constitute real change, tangible actions to end some 19 years of oppression and securely establish free- dom for Baha’is to worship without fear would offer a singular litmus test as to whether the Government of Iran has in- deed set itself on a new course. 3

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In Liberia, some members of the Baha’i community of Paynesville gathered last July in front of their new Baha’i Center, built with local materials.

Landegg Academy inaugurates new graduate studies program

WIENACHT, Switzerland — In ceremo- nies on 29 September 1997, Landegg Acad- emy formally inaugurated a new program of graduate studies, marking a new phase in the institution’s development as an inter- national academic center.

The new program will offer a Master of Arts Degree in eight areas: the Arts, Con- flict Resolution, Education, Leadership and Management, Psychology, Religion, and Women and Civilization. The program will be highly flexible, offering full—time, part- time or distance learning modes of study, aimed at serving a diverse and internation- ally far—flung body of students.

Central to all of the programs will be the concept of “applied spirituality,” said Dr. Hossain B. Danesh, Landegg’s rector, who delivered an inaugural address entitled: “The University of the Future — Fostering an Integrative Paradigm of Knowledge.”

Dr. Danesh explained that most of the world’s great universities were originally founded by religions. Today, however, uni- versity education encourages a separation

of religion from science and discards reli- gious views and their accompanying ethi- cal codes, regarding them with suspicion, he said. “The concept of applied spiritual- ity rejects this dichotomous approach to knowledge and replaces it with an integra- tive paradigm,” he said.

The inauguration was preceded by a conference on “Converging Realities: On Integrating the Scientific and the Spiri- tual.” The keynote address to that confer- ence was delivered by Professor Wang Yiqui, the executive Vice-president of Pe- king University in China. In his talk, which was “The Humanistic Spiritin Science Edu- cation,” Professor Wang identified five ar- eas in which science education can be- come humanized: inspiration, history, beauty, social consequences, and the meth- odology of scientific thinking.

Also in attendance during the inaugu- ration was Madame Rnhiyyih Rabbani, the leading dignitary in the Baha’i Faith. Landegg Academy is sponsored by the Baha'i community of Switzerland. 6

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Today, university education encourages a separation of religion from science and discards religious views and their accompanying ethical codes. The concept of applied spirituality rejects this dichotomous approach to knowledge and replaces it with an integrative paradigm.

— H.B. Danesh,

Rector, Landegg Academy

[Page 4]As reflected by US Bahé’i community efforts to promote CEDAW, Bahé’i communities around the world have long been active in promoting human rights. Many are planning activities in support of this year’s 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

()NE COUNTRY / Octobcr-Deccmbcr 1997

/

Baha’i communities worldwide gearing up for human rights education campaign

WASHINGTON — One of the particular features of the United States Constitution is that all international treaties must be ratified by a two-thirds majority of the US Senate — a legislative body composed of two representatives from each of this country‘s 50 states.

This makes it sometimes difficult for even the most deserving of pacts to win approval, even if it has widespread support among lawmakers. As students of history will recall, even though it was US President Woodrow Wilson who essentially proposed the League of Nations some 80 years ago, the US Senate refused to approve America’s membership in it.

The UN Convention on the Elimina— tion of All F orms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), a highly principled in- ternational accord that has already been adopted by more than 160 countries, is still awaiting ratification in the United States.

A broad coalition of non—govemmental organizations (NGOs) in the United States has recently stepped up a long-standing cam— paign to press for ratification of CEDAW, which, as its title implies, seeks to end dis- crimination against women worldwide. Among them is the National Spiritual Assem- bly of the Baha’is of the United States, which has played a distinctive role in the latest round of activity.

By using the Internet, as well as other media of communication, the Assembly — a democratically elected governing coun- cil that administers the affairs of the Baha’i community at the national level — has asked its members to write letters to their Senators, urging ratification of CEDAW.

What makes this effort noteworthy is the fact that there are active local Baha’i communities in every state in the country. As a result, the Assembly is able to call on a well-established grassroots organization in place where other members of the NGO coalition that supports CEDAW are some— times not as heavily represented.

A “Special Capacity”

“There are Baha’is in more than 7,000 localities in the United States, represent- ing every race, culture and ethnic origin,” said Kit Cosby, the Assembly’s Washing-

ton-based coordinator for external affairs. “In this sense, we have a special capacity for local outreach, and we are able legiti- mately to make contact with Senators, in whatever state they represent, to make the case for CEDA .”

This effort by the US Baha’is reflects the determination of the worldwide Baha’i community to engage in the general effort to promote human rights and especially human rights education - an effort which is being accelerated in View of the upcom- ing 50th anniversary of the Universal Dec- laration of Human Rights (UDHR).

Adopted by the United Nations Gen- eral Assembly on 10 December 1948, the Declaration is a simple yet elegant docu- ment that recognizes, in its own words, that “the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.” It defines not only basic civil and political rights, such as freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, but also basic economic, so- cial, and cultural rights, such as the right to work and the right to education.

The United Nations, various govern— ments, and numerous non—governmental organizations (NGOs) are planning obser- vances of the anniversary of the Declara- tion in 1998, a year which also falls in year four of the UN’s Decade for Human Rights Education (1994—2004). Baha’is hope to be at the forefront of such activities.

In October, for example, the Community’s United Nations Office sent out to Baha’i national communities around the world a special package of information on human rights. The package is designed to assist communities as they become fur- ther involved in promoting human rights education in their countries.

“The worldwide Baha’i community has historically been a strong supporter of UN human rights programs and activities,” said Nikoo Mahboubian, a representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Nations. “One of our principal aims with this new effort is to contribute to the global human rights education process by drawing attention to the connection be-

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tween respect for human rights and the emergence of world peace.”

Ms. Mahboubian said that as early as 1947, the Community issued a major state- ment in support of the Declaration. Since then, she said, Baha’i communities world- wide have been involved in numerous efforts to promote human rights. Among other ac- tivities, they have worked for the ratification of various human rights conventions, helped to disseminate (and translate) human rights documents, and organized various observa- tions of Human Rights Day.

Gearing Up Worldwide

In anticipation of the coming year, many national Baha’i communities have recently stepped up activities:

0 In Turkey, the Baha‘i community helped to organize a conference for NGOs to discuss the Decade. Sponsored by the Women’s Caucus of NGOs in Turkey, of which the Baha’i community is a member, the 8 December 1997 conference brought together a wide range of speakers includ- ing Mrs. Sema Piskinsut, a Member of Parliament and president of the Government’s Human Rights Commission.

0 In Norway, the Baha’i community has joined with other NGOs to plan a coun- trywide commemoration of the 50th anni- versary 0f the UDHR. With the support of the Norwegian Foreign Department, the group is planning an international confer- ence in Oslo next August, titled “The Oslo Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief. Accepting the Challenge: Building a Coalition to Protect Universal Freedom of Religion or Belief.”

0 In Brazil, the Baha’i community co- sponsored a major human rights confer- ence last September. Organized by the Brazilian Bar Association, the “First Inter- national Conference on Human Rights” was held in Brasilia and saw the atten- dance of more than 1,000 people. Other sponsors included the United Nations Edu- cational, Scientific and Cultural Organiza- tion (UNESCO) and the Brazilian Minis- tries of Justice and of Foreign Affairs.

' In Canada, the Baha’is are planning a campaign to develop special audiovisual and print materials in support 0fthe 50th anniver- sary of the UDHR “We hope to bring about a deeper awareness that we are truly one human family, that each individual is born into the world as a trust of the whole and that

the Violation of the rights of any member of the family is a w'olation of everyone’s human- ity," said Gerald Filson, the Community's director of external affairs.

In the United States, the Baha’i com- munity has been invited by the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute to become a member of the steering committee of a national campaign to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declara- tion of Human Rights.

“The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is significant because it is the first time that humanity has embraced a single code of behavior to which all nations are accountable, which is itself a precursor to the establishment of the oneness of hu- manity — a goal Baha’is embrace as the purpose of human existence," said Jeffery Huffines, the US community’s representa- tive to the United Nations.

In the campaign to ratify CEDAW, the US Baha’i Assembly is co-Chair with Am- nesty International USA. According to Ms. Cosby, they hope to win the support of at least 75 US Senators by 8 March 1998, which is International Women’s Day.

“The Women’s Convention is a tool that women around the world are using in the struggle against the effects of discrimi- nation, such as violence against women, poverty, lack of legal status, and so on,” said Ms. Cosby. “The Baha’is 0f the United States — because they are so widely spread and yet possess a strong consciousness of the importance of women’s rights —— find themselves in a unique position to push this important treaty forward.” Q

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The 2lst Annual Conference

of the Association for Baha'i Studies, held in Washington, DC, 14-16 November 1997, fo— cused on the theme of “Foster- ing Human Rights: Developing Pathways to Peace." Featuring more than 120 speakers and panelists, the event drew some 700 participants. Shown above are members ofa panel discus— sion (left to right): Shulamith Koenig, Techeste Ahderom, Augusto Lopez, and Susie Clay.

“The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is significant because it is the first time that humanity has embraced a single code of behavior to which all nations

are accountable.”

— Jeffery Huffines, UN representative of the United States Baha’i

community

[Page 6]The resolution follows the suspicious deaths of two Bahé’is in July and a subsequently strong report by a UN human rights investigator in October.

()NE COUNTRY / Octobcr—Decembcr 1997

UN General Assembly calls for

complete “emancipation” of Iran’s Baha’i community

UNITED NATIONS — For the twelfth time in 13 years, the United Nations General Assembly has passed a resolution express- ing concern over the human rights situa- tion in Iran, taking special note of “grave breaches” of the rights of Baha’is there.

The resolution, passed on 12 December 1997 by a vote of 74 to 32 with 56 abstentions, followedanOctoberreportbyMaurice Danby Copithome, a UN human rights special in- vestigator, which stated that there has been “no improvement” in the situation of Iran’s Baha’is, despite repeated calls by the interna- tional community for Iran to live up to inter- national laws that protect human rights and religious tolerance.

Prof. Copithorne reported, for example, that two Baha’is were killed in July and “those responsible for the deaths were en- joying impunity.” The two killings were the first reported deaths of Baha’is in Iran as a result of persecution since 1992.

In its resolution, the General Assem- bly called on Iran to “implement fully” the recommendations of a February 1996 re- port on religious intolerance, which found no legitimate basis for the continuing re- pression of Baha’is and other minority reli- gious groups and called for their freedom of worship. The General Assembly like- wise stated that the Baha’is and other reli- gious minority groups including Christians should be “completely emancipated."

“For Iran’s 300,000 member Baha’i community, which is the largest religious minority in Iran, this call for complete eman- cipation is extremely significant,” said Techeste Ahderom, the main representa— tive to the United Nations of the Baha’i International Community. ”This represents the first time that the General Assembly, that body which is most representative of world opinion, has called directly for Iran to allow complete religious freedom for Baha’is and other religious minority groups.

“Accordingly, we are extremely grate- ful to the United Nations and its various agencies,” said Mr. Ahderom. “Although there has been a recent change in govern-

ment in Iran, and the head of that govern- ment has voiced a new commitment to upholding human rights, we feel that ac- tions speak louder than words, and we are pleased that the international community apparently agrees.”

Two New Deaths

Prof. Copithorne, whose official title is Special Representative of the Commission on Human Rights on the Situation of Hu- man Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, said he received information that two Baha’is were killed in July 1997 under sus- picious circumstances.

“Masha’llah Enayait, a 63-year—old Ira- nian Baha’i, died on 4 J uly 1997 after being severely beaten while in custody in prison in Isfahan,” wrote Prof. Copithorne. “He was arrested under circumstances that are not clear during a visit to his native village of Ardistan to attend a Baha’i meeting. It was reported that on his death certificate, under the item ‘cause of death’, the doctor had entered ‘will be known later’. Another Baha’i, Shahram Reza’i, a conscript in the army, was shot in the head on 6 J uly 1997 by his superior officer on a military base close to Rasht. The officer concerned, who reportedly was responsible for weapons training, maintained that the bullets were fired in error and was released after a few days. It was said that because the dead soldier was a Baha’i, the court excused the officer from paying the blood money nor- mally required in such cases.”

Prof. Copithorne’s report also said that at least 12 Baha’is continue to be held in Iranian prisons because of their beliefs, and he expressed special concern over the cases of four Baha’is who are currently in prison and facing death sentences. These individuals are Bihnam Mithaqi and Kayvan Khalajabai, who have been imprisoned since 1989 and were sentenced to death in 1991, and Musa Talibi and Dhabihu’llah Mahrami, who were arrested in 1994 and 1995 respectively, charged with the crime of apostasy and sentenced to death. A fifth man, Ramadan-Ali Dhulfaqari, has also

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been condemned to death on the Charge of apostasy. Although he was released from prison in 1994, the sentence still remains.

Prof. Copithorne took note of the con— victions for apostasy, a Charge that is some— times applied when a Muslim converts to another religion. ”The Special Representa- tive considers that the right to change one's religion is a clearly established inter- national human rights norm, as articulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," he wrote. “The Special Represen— tative urges the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran... to take appropriate steps to prevent future prosecutions for acts of religious conversion, whether or not they be categorized as apostasy.”

Other forms of persecution against Iran‘s Baha'is also continue, said Prof. Copithorne. “Being active in the Baha’i

community and gathering for Baha’i meet- ings are in practice considered offenses," he wrote. “Short-term detention of Baha’is, disregard of their private ownership of property, eviction from and confiscation of their houses and destruction of their holy places continue to be reported.”

Since 1979, when the Islamic Revolu- tionary regime took power in Iran, Baha’is have been harassed and persecuted solely on account of their religious beliefs. More than 200 Baha’is have been killed, most in the early 1980s, and hundreds of others have spent time in prison. (As of Decem- ber, at least 15 Baha’is were imprisoned solely for their religious beliefs.) Thou- sands more have been deprived of prop- erty and access to education, and the en- tire community has been deprived of the right to freedom of worship. £3

Baha’is of the United States respond to Iranian President

WASHINGTON, DC — Responding to an invitation to the American people by Ira- nian President Mohammad Khatami for dialogue on the subject of Closer ties be- tween the people of Iran and the people of the United States, the Baha'i community of the United States issued a statement wel— coming the overture but suggesting that Iran’s Baha’is “be granted their full rights as law-abiding Citizens."

In a message issued on 13 January 1998 and published in the New York Times and Washington Post, Robert Henderson, the secretary of the National Spiritual As—

sembly of the Baha’is of the United States, said: “We are particularly encouraged by your assertion ‘that religion and liberty are consistent and compatible.m

“Your explicitly stated determination to fulfill the provisions of the Iranian Constitu- tion and to establish the rule of law gives us hope that the freedom of the Baha’i commu- nity in Iran openly to practice its religion will be guaranteed,” Mr. Henderson said.

The statement suggested that the most recent UN General Assembly resolution, which calls for the emancipation of the Baha'i community oflran, should be implementedfl)

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In the Philippines, the “Voices of Baha" choir gave a concert to raise funds for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). At center is UNICEF Representative Dr. Terrel Hill, who thanked the group for its efforts. The 29 July 1997 concert was held at the Philamlife Theater in Manila, was attended by more than 700 people, and raised more than US$1.100. The event was part of the choir's eight- nation tour through Asia last summer.

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Located on some 28 acres in the hill station town of Panchgani, India, the New Era Development Institute celebrated its 10th anniversary in October. It now has some nine main buildings. Shown at right is the administration building.

“Our aim is to give people a new vision, a new heart, a desire to give service, an increased self- confidence, and an understanding of the connection between service and their own

growth.”

— Sherif Rushdy, director, NEDI

In India, the New Era Development Institute

()NE COUNTRY / Octobcr-Dcccmbcr 1997

takes a new approach to vocational education

(Continued from page one) we can do things for ourselves and our community.”

The attitudes of these two young stu- dents, who are not Baha‘is, reflect the new directions in social and economic develop- ment being pioneered by the New Era Development Institute (NEDI), a Baha’i- sponsored research and training center located in Panchgani, a small hill station town about 30 kilometers away.

Over the last ten years, the Institute has developed an approach to rural devel- opment that combines hardheaded voca- tional training for rural areas with a special— ized curriculum in spiritual and moral prin— ciples. The effort is aimed at producing a group of capable and energized individuals who can return to their Villages and, while supporting themselves, undertake and en- courage local and sustainable development efforts.

“Ourproductis basicallyatransformed individual," said Sherif Rushdy, director of NEDI. “Our aim is to give people a new Vision, a new heart, a desire to give service, an increased self—confidence, and an un- derstanding of the connection between service and their own growth. And, further, that they have gained a trade by which they can earn an income and a few skills that can be helpful to their community."

The payoff to this new approach is just now emerging in places like Satara, in other villages near the Institute, and, indeed, throughout India. Drawing on and work- ing closely with the grassroots network provided by the two million-member Baha'i community of India, NEDI has established outreach projects in the states of Gujarat, Manipur, Sikkim and Madhya Pradesh, as well as here in Maharashtra.

So far, more than 600 individuals have undergone training at the NEDI main cam- pus in Panchgani, and at least several thou- sand more have participated in one of its outreach programs. In all aspects, NEDI, its outreach programs, and its graduates are involved in a wide range of develop- ment—oriented activities, from the provi- sion of Classes on literacy and basic hy- giene to schemes for tree—planting and en- vironmental conservation; from the cre- ation of small-scale income generating projects and rural businesses to efforts that promote the advancement of women.

In this regard, the New Era Develop- ment Institute currently stands as one of the largest and most fully realized Baha’i- sponsored development efforts in the world. It is a leader in conceptualizing how to apply the principles of the Baha’i Faith to development. Indeed, perhaps the most interesting facet of the Institute’s

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[Page 9]ONE COUNTRY / ()cmbcrrDecember 1997

work has been the creation of a curricu- lum that achieves an integration of the practical with the spiritual quite success- fully. NEDI administrators see such an integration as the key to inspiring indi— viduals to take action to develop them- selves and their communities. Vocational Education with a Twist

NEDI was founded officially some 10 years ago, but its beginnings can be traced to outreach service projects undertaken by the New Era High School in the early 1970s [see page 12]. Over time, NEDI has become known primarily as a center for rural vocational education, defining its mission in terms of providing both voca- tional and development training to village- level men and women.

And in terms ofproviding quality voca- tional education, NEDI’s success is remark- able. The Institute currently provides train- ing in nine vocational areas: diesel me- chanics, motorcycle repair, data process- ing, dressmaking, refrigeration and air con- ditioning repair, radio and television ser- vicing, agriculture and animal husbandry, and primary and pre—primary teacher train- ing. According to surveys by the Institute, more than 70 percent of graduates are working in the field for which they were trained, a relatively high rate in a develop- ing country like India.

W

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The 28-acre campus features nine main buildings: two Classroom blocks, four dormitories (two for women and two for men), a workshop, a staff housing unit, and an administrative building. The two classroom blocks and two of the dor— mitories were completed in 1997, thanks to development assistance grants from the governments of Canada and Norway. The Institute’s total staff numbers about 85, with some 30 involved directly in training and administration.

Currenton—campusenrollmentis about 175 students. Most are young, in their early 205, and they come from all parts of India and a handful of foreign countries. (Currently, the school has students from Bangladesh, Tanzania and the Congo.) Most are Baha’is, but at least 35 percent are Hindus, Muslims, or another religion.

The tuition is low. N EDI’s true cost of educating, housing and feeding each stu- dent runs about $1,300 a year. However, students are Charged from $150 to $475, with women receiving a 25 percent dis- count. Funding for this subsidy, and the work of the Institute in general, comes principally from the Baha’i community of India, from the Baha’i International Com- munity, and from long—running develop- ment assistance grants of the Canadian and Norwegian governments.

Placement Rates

Employed in their vocation

Not working in their vocation

40%

Estahiished a business in their field

Surveys of the Institute's graduates indicate that 30 percent have found employment in the vocation they were trained in and another 40 percent have established their own businesses, for a total of some 70 percent who are working in the field for which they were trained.

Among the course offerings at NEDI is a year—Iong program in computer science. Like all courses, it includes a core curriculum of moral education which focuses on equipping students with the tools to do community development once they return home. Shown in the photograph to the left is Surita Kushwah of Gwalior, center, helping Vyayananda Sharma of Manipur, right, with a programming problem.

[Page 10]

PANCHGANI, Maharashtra, India — In striving to illumi- nate what it means to integrate spiritual principles with economic development, the New Era Development Insti- tute (NEDI) has hit upon a simple but revealing exercise that can be used almost anywhere in the world.

Most of the Institute’s students come from India’s villages, and they attend expecting to return one day to help develop their home communities.

During the first week at NEDI, all are asked to draw a picture of what their villages are like. The drawings are often done with childish simplicity, showing stick figures and little regard for perspective, and the subjects are usually quite similar: they mostly depict a series of huts along a dirt road, surrounded by garbage and undernourished children.

Then the students are asked to drawwhatthey would like theirvillages to become. This time, most of the students draw a nice straight road, electric poles on one side, with a series of big buildings: a school, a hospital, a government office. There are nice houses, usually with television sets inside. And there are buses and cars, and tractors in the fields.

Usually, however, the pictures of the “developed vil- lage” lack people. And the NEDI instructors have learned at this point to ask about that, and to question whether all of those buildings, and amenities like electricity and tele- vision, will make the people happy.

A developed village, city—style, with big buildings

The students begin to think and discuss and soon realize that they have merely replicated what they have seen in Bombay or on a television show about New York. Then they are asked: are the people happy in Bombay or New York —— and would they themselves be happy in the “developed Village” that was just drawn?

After some discussion and thought, the answer is usually “No, the people are not happy.” There is fighting and crime and people are afraid to go out at night, the students say.

What is real development? Buses, cars and tractors or cooperation and unity?

()NE COUNTRY / October-Deccmbcr 1997

Othersmention pollution and corruptionThe students quickly realize, say NEDI instructors, that While the physical environ- ment has changed, the people and the community have not.

Then the instructors launch a discussion about what might make people happy —— and how that could be achieved. And the students inevitably start talking about honesty and cooperation and cleanliness. According to N EDI instructors, they soon conclude that people would be happier if there were no corruption and if people were more helpful to each other.

'EVETSEEI <1»wa

Samrléu

A developed village where people are the focus

More discussion is held and then, at the end of the exercise, the students are asked to draw another picture of what a “spiritually developed” village would be like. Then they draw a new sort of village, one with lots of people in it, and they are all working together or cooperating. The place is cleaner and more orderly, to be sure. But it also shows happy people.

“So the first step of development intervention is to help people understand who they are as people and to help them see how they can change theirbehavior,” said NEDI’s director, Sherif Rushdy.

He and others at NEDI are convinced that such change ultimately comes only through religious faith.

“Development is changing people and you cannot change people unless people are exposed to some Divine Writings or guidance -— whether it’s the Writings of Bud- dha 0r Krishna or Muhammad or J esus or Baha’u’llah — doesn’t matter,” said Mr. Rushdy. “The source of the Divine Writings comes from God and going back to that source of guidance is what empowers people.

“N 0w, there are other movements which have taken the religious teachings and have empowered people,” said Mr. Rushdy. “The Baha’i approach is no different from that, except that the teachings are based on the message of Baha’u’llah and what He has to offer for today.” o

Page 10

[Page 11]ONE COUNTRY / ()ct()bcr—l)ecc1nbc1' I997

As noted, the Institute also sponsors and/or coordinates regional training courses as part of its outreach program. In 1997, according to Mr. Rushdy, some 1,300 individuals were involved in such outreach courses, which run from two weeks to three months.

In addition to providing students with vocational training, the Institute has also directly undertaken a number of small— scale development projects in the villages around Panchgani. These projects have ranged from poultry and pig raising t0 literacy training to the promotion of bio- gas energy systems.

A “Technology of Training”

According to Mr. Rushdy, the local projects have served in part as a proving ground for the elaboration of a develop- ment curriculum, an elaboration that is one of the Institute’s most significant accom— plishments so far.

“What we have achieved is really a technology of training that gives a bal- anced development to the individual, re- leasing their potential as community devel- opers,” said Mr. Rushdy.

“Every course of study has four tracks: a service track, a spiritual track, a voca- tional track and a cultural track. In this way, our aim is that each student should leave with some service skill — how to promote health, hygiene, literacy, the edu- cation of children and the like; some spiri- tual skills — so they know why they are doing these things; some vocational skills — so they can get some money to support themselves; and some cultural skills, mean- ing training in tolerance and diversity and the arts — so they have the confidence and the capacity to be leaders and they are able to convey development messages though the arts,” said Mr. Rushdy.

At the heart of this training technology is what is known on campus as the “core curriculum.” Regardless of whether stu- dents come to NEDI to learn to be diesel mechanics 0r pre-primary teachers, they all study the core curriculum, which is taught for the first two hours of each day and extends into an innovative campus community life and requirement for off- campus service.

The heart of the core curriculum is an attempt to teach respect for universal spiri- tual principles and how to apply them to

contemporary issues, said Dr. Radha Rost, the Institute’s training coordinator.

“We teach the basic principles of reli- gion, principles that are common to all the world’s religions — we don’t teach the Baha’i Faith per se,” said Dr. Rost. “At the same time, however, most of the main elements of the curriculum are drawn from the Baha’i teachings.”

Curriculum elements include not only such progressive social principles as the equality of women and men, the oneness of humanity and the need to eliminate ex- tremes of wealth and poverty, but also in- depth discussions 0ft0pics concerned with the soul, the spiritual reality of existence, and the fundamental purpose of life.

The in-depth discussion of religion and spiritual topics underlies a fundamental tenet at the Institute: that truly sustainable development is impossible without tapping into the power of faith.

“If development agencies spend enough money, they can make any project happen,” said Mr. Rushdy. “But we believe that sustainability comes from within, and the key to sustainability that all develop- ment agencies are looking for is what in- spires individuals to take action to develop themselves and their community.

“What we find is that this inspiration, in the long term, does not come from the social worker or the professional develop— ment intervenor. It comes from the individual’s own connection with God.

“Faith is the key to sustainability, and translating faith into action is what

Page 1 I

“If development agencies spend enough money, they can make any project happen. But we believe that sustainability comes from within, and the key to sustainability that all development agencies are looking for is what inspires individuals to take action to develop themselves and

their community.”

— Sherif Rushdy, director of NEDI

At NEDI's Panchgani campus, students in the motorcycle repair program work on a scooter.

[Page 12]

ONE COUNTRY / ()ctohcr-Deccmhcr 1997

For more than half a century, New Era High School has set the pace for service

PANCHGANI, Maharashtra, India — In some respects, the New Era High School might be considered as the grandfather of modern Baha’i development efforts.

Founded at the end ofWorld War II in August 1945, the School was one of the first education projects started by Baha’is outside of Iran. Its first class consisted of some 16 students, aged four to eight, and they gathered in a small rented house in this scenic and temperate hill station town.

In the 53 years since, the School has grown and flourished, becoming a highly respected private academy, drawing students from all over the world. It currently offers a complete program of study for grade levels from kindergarten through high school, and has an enrollment of nearly 1,000.

The School has long given a high priority to moral education and the promotion of values for world citizen- ship, and its students have regularly scored high marks on government exams and other academic tests.

Of equal significance, the School has been a proving ground for early Baha’i efforts at promoting social and economic development in rural areas.

In the 19705 and 1980s, the School gradually began to establish a series of outreach programs aimed at assisting poor and underdeveloped Villages in the region. The pro- gram was started as a service project for students, operating under the direction of Dr. Ray J ohnson, who was the school's principal from 1971 to 1983.

These initial efforts began in 1973, and they involved send- ing eighth, ninth and tenth grade students down the mountainside into the village of Chicklee in the Krishna River Valley one day a month to assist in such projects as showing villagers how to rid themselves of scabies or as- sisting in the construction of a new water storage tank.

“We started these things out of a strong conviction that everybody has within them a need to serve,” said Jane Grover, who was a vice prin- cipal at New Era from 1971 to 1977 and one of the initiators of this program. “And young people, especially, can de-

‘r A;

velop that capacity by doing service.”

These efforts graduallybecame more formalized. Grant money was accepted, a van was purchased, and staff members became engaged full time in rural development. Projects to promote health, literacy and better animal husbandry were undertaken.

By 1975, the New Era Rural Development Program was established and then, in 1980, a secondary project, the Institute for Rural Technology, was founded. In 1983, these two programs were combined as the New Era Centre for Rural Education and Development. And, finally, in 1987, the New Era Development Institute was founded and its administration was separated entirely from the admin- istration of the New Era High School.

The School is today formally out of the rural develop- ment business, ceding that work to NEDI, its sister institu- tion. But it continues to train its students to be service- oriented. Students are required to perform service in and around the campus, as well as to undertake various short— term community service projects.

“Although we are a very good academic school, our primary aim is to build a citizenry that is well developed in terms of moral values and an attitude of service,” said Dr. Vasudevan Nair, the principal. Q

9‘

New Era High School Principal Dr. Vasudevan Nair, in front of the school’s main building.

Page I 2

[Page 13]ONE COUNTRY / ()ctohcr-Dcccmber 1997

development is all about. It has always been. Civilizations around the world have all been built on the actions of people who had a new vision and had the faith to carry it through," said Mr. Rushdy. “And this is what we hope to imbue in our students here. For we feel that, more than simply another development insti- tution, we are in the business of estab- lishing a new civilization.”

While it is difficult to gather concrete statistics on the degree to which NEDI students are indeed spiritually energized and concomitantly acting to develop their communities, NEDI’s approach has cer- tainly drawn favorable attention from vari- ous government development agencies. The Institute has received funds for vari- ous projects from the Government of India since 1989, and, as noted, has likewise developed relationships with the Canadian International Development Agency and the Norwegian overseas development author- ity (NORAD). In 1997, the Institute en- tered into a four—year collaboration with Norway’s Telemark College at Notodden. The collaboration will seek to exchange ideas about teacher—training curriculum, with a focus on cooperative learning, peace education and the use of drama.

There is also considerable anecdotal evidence that the Institute’s approach is succeeding. Recent interviews with NEDI graduates at six locations in Gujarat and Maharashtra states indicated that many

are indeed imbued with a self—confidence and commitment to voluntary commu- nity service.

As recounted above, students at a house wiring course in Satara expressed such new attitudes during an interview in November. The course was sponsored by the State Baha’i Council of Maharashtra, in collaboration with NEDI. The Council pro- vided the Classroom and sleeping space, utilizing the Satara Baha’i Center, and NEDI provided the instructors and funding for the course, which drew some 29 students, of which none are Baha’is. It should be noted that this sort of collaboration with regional Baha’i organizations and agen- cies is basic to the mandate established for NEDI, which is operated by the National Baha’i Community of India.

At the same time, in the nearby village of Biblewadi, the Maharashtra Baha’i Coun- cil, in a similar collaboration with NEDI, was sponsoring a series of courses aimed at improving literacy rates, promoting bet- ter health and hygiene for women and children, and boosting self—esteem.

The sense of appreciation for these courses, which were given free of charge by NEDI staff and by NEDI-trained volunteers, was evident at a ceremony hosted by Village leaders on 20 November 1997. Following a feast, in a ceremony that ran well past mid- night, community leaders gave a series of speeches that praised NEDI for its work. Among other things, they said they liked the

Page 13

In the village of Biblewadi, NEDI, in collaboration with the State Baha‘i Council of Maharashtra, has sponsored a series of courses on literacy, personal development and women‘s advancement. The graduates from one course were honored in a village ceremony in November, during which some women spoke in public for the first time, displaying a new self— confidence.

(MAI) BOY

Maharashtra State

Pune O

Panch ani . g

7 Satara.

The region near Bombay (Mumbai), showing Panchgani, a hill station where NEDI is located.

(MUMBAI‘Y'S BOMBAY “i

‘ , l

NEDI has outreach programs in five Indian states: Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, and Sikkim.

[Page 14]

Below: Sherif Rushdy, director of the New Era Development Institute, in his office.

ONE COUNTRY / ()ctober-Dcccmbcr I997

Institute’s approach to encouraging self-de- velopment through moral education.

“This is a holistic program for the com- munity, and the whole community has re- ceived a new self-confidence,” said Tulsiram More, the village chief. “We have some bad habits. If somebody in the Village is pro- gressing, we sometimes try to pull him down. But through the spiritual education, we’ll get ourselves better developed.”

In the village of Shendurjane, some 20 kilometers to the north, another col-

Family conference

TIRANA, Albania —- More than 200 people attended a conference on the theme of “A Healthy Family for a Healthy Society," held in December 1998 and sponsored by the Albanian Baha’i community.

Speakers addressed topics ranging from dealing with stress and Violence in a family context to the creation of healthy marriages and an exploration of new mod—

laboration between NEDI and the Maharashtra Baha’i Council resulted in nightly classes on spiritual development in November. This course, lasting just two weeks, was based on a one ofa series of workbooks on spiritual issues devel- oped by Baha‘i educators in Latin America, known in their totality as the Ruhi Institute Course. The course covers topics such as the nature of the soul, the prospects for an afterlife and the connec- tion between the soul’s evolution and service to humanity on earth.

The connection between these topics and the development of their own commu- nity was evident to the dozen young men who were taking the course. In interviews after the class, they said the discussions helped them see the connection between morality and social progress.

“Those who go through this course, they will never hurt anybody or do bad things because they will remember all the time that God is there to ask us about our actions,” said Bapu Jadhav, a 20-year-old Hindu farmer. 6

[NEXTISSUEs How localBahd ’2’ com- munities among the Dang people in Gujarat State are working with NEDI graduates to boost a homegrown program ofcommunity development]

in Albania

els for the family.

Representatives from the Ministry of Health and some 17 non—governmenta10r~ ganizations were present at the confer- ence, which also received coverage in the Albanian news media.

Organized by an ad hoc women’s task force, the conference included artistic pro- grams in the evening. Q

ONE COUNTRY starts email text service

NEWYORK— ONE COUNTRY, the news- letter of the Baha’i International Commu- nity, has established an email textlist server, which will enable computer users to sub- scribe to the full texts of ONE COUNTRY via email.

Those wishing to subscribe should send an email with their email address and name to < 1 country-request@bcca.org>.

Then, once each quarter, the full text of each article in ONE COUNTRY will be emailed to every subscriber. In addition, news bulletins may occasionally be sent to subscribers. To correspond with the edi- tors, please write to <lcountry@bic.org>. Back articles and other information can be found at the ONE COUNTRY web site,

<http://www.0nec0untry.org>. Q

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[Page 15]ONE COUNTRY / Octobcr-Dcccmbcr 1997

Review: God, Chance and Necessity

(Continued from back page) operation if not for an omnipotent being.

Prof. Ward, a Christian who obviously possesses a broadly ecumenical mind, like- wise argues that various new refinements to the theory of evolution fail to explain how something as complex as human con- sciousness might arise.

“According to the theory of natural selection, mutations are random; that is, they have no built—in tendency to develop in any particular direction,” Prof. Ward writes, saying that it is accordingly “wholly improbable” to then suggest that “the re- peated application of a completely blind and non-purposive process of organic mu- tation and replication” might give rise to beings that possess the capacity of self- consciousness.

Aside from all the rather dry titillation provided by the image of these erudite Oxford dons arguing back and forth about such questions, God, Chance and Necessity makes a number of important contribu- tions to the overall debate about the exist- ence of an active and all-loving God. As anyone who has reflected on these ques- tions knows, there is a duality to the an— swers that is somewhat like the famous optical illusion that oscillates between a vase and two faces. As a phrase from the Baha’i sacred writings tell us: God is at once and the same time both the “most manifest of the manifest and the most hid- den of the hidden.”

In his book, however, Prof. Ward pow— erfully brings the theistic side of this dual- ity into sharp focus. Consider this critique of those who would say that the laws of the universe simply are, and that there is no need to postulate a Creator:

“Suppose the basic laws of physics popped into existence for no reason at all,” Prof. Ward reasons. “One day, they did not exist. The next day, there they were, govern- ing the behavior of electrons and atoms. Now if anything at all might pop into exist- ence for no reason, there is actually no way of assessing the probability of laws of physics doing so. One day, there might be nothing. The next day, there might be a very large carrot. . . Ifanything is possible, that certainly

is. The day after that, the carrot might disap pear and be replaced by a purple spotted gorilla. Why not? Why does this thought seem odd, or even ridiculous, whereas the thought that some law of physics might just pop into existence does not? Logically, they are on a par.”

Accordingly, Prof. Ward writes, the existence of God is actually the simplest and therefore the most scientific theory for the creation of the universe and the im- pulse behind evolution.

“That the whole cosmos has devel- oped from simplicity and unconsciousness to complexity and self-awareness is a foun- dationalview ofmodern science,”he writes. “Such an evolution from a state where no values are apprehended to states in which values can be both created and enjoyed gives an overwhelming impression of pur- pose or design. There is thus every reason to think that a scientific evolutionary ac- count and a religious belief in a guiding creative force are not just compatible, but mutually reinforcing.”

From a Baha’i point of View, there is much to agree with in Prof. Ward’s reason- ing. Baha’is certainly hold the View that an all—loving Creator did initiate the universe and that God continues an active role in a process of continuous recreation.

Indeed, Prof. Ward's overall view that the vastness, wonder and diversity of cre- ation is itself a powerful sign of the exist- ence of God, and that the development of human consciousness is surely one of this creation’s main purposes, calls to mind the following passage from Baha’u’llah:

‘Qélll-praise t0 the unity ofGoa’, and all- honorto Him, the sovereighLord, the incom- parable and all—glorz'ous Ruler of the uni- verse, Who, out of utter nothihghess, hath created the reality of all things, Who, from naught, hath brought into being the most refined and subtle elements oins creation, and Who, rescuing His creatures from the abasemeht 0f remoteness and the perils of ultimate extinction, hath received them into His kingdom of incorruptible glory. Nothing short oins all—ehcompassihggrace, His all- pervading mercy, could have possibly achieved it. How could it, otherwise, have been possible for sheer nothinghess to have acquired by itself the worthiness and capac- ity to emerge from its state of nonexistence into the realm afbez'hg?” 6

Page 15

Prof. Ward essentially argues that modern scientific knowledge does not undermine a belief in God but, instead, actually shows that a Supreme Being is the best explanation of why things are the way they are.

[Page 16]A kinder,

gentler universe

God, Chance and Necessity

By Keith Ward Oneworld

Oxford

()NE COUNTRY / Octobcr-Dcccmber 1997

Ever since Darwin, belief in God has been under a seemingly strong and continuous assault by science and scientists. And most recently, new notions about how the uni- verse may have grown from a quantum singularity and refinements in the theory of evolution have given fuel to those who would argue that creation was an accident and human consciousness a lucky fluke.

In response, many scientists (and oth- ers) who believe in God have written that these same new theories can, in fact, be seen to bolster a belief in an omnipotent Creator. These authors argue that the el- egance and economy of the new theories are actually evidences of the operation of a great unseen Hand — and not merely the result of some materialistic mechanism of p r o b ab i 1 i ty and Darwin- ian pruning.

In terms of straightfor- ward logic, among the soundest of the thinkers in this pro-God camp must surely be Keith Ward, the Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford University. Prof. Ward has written a tightly reasoned and highly accessible book that seeks to show the fallacies of modern sci- entific atheism and to make the case for an all-knowing, all-powerful and all-good Cre- ator who continues to play an active (if undetectable) role in running the universe.

Entitled Gad, Chance and Necessity, the book created quite a stir in England when it came out a year ago, inasmuch as much of it was directed at the work of two Oxford colleagues, Peter Atkins and Rich- ard Dawkins.

Prof. Atkins, a chemist, argued in his 1994 book, Creation Revisited,that the “big bang" singularity which scientists gener- ally believe marked the start of our uni- verse could have emerged spontaneously out of “nothingness,” suggesting that the laws of quantum physics provide for just such an occurrence. And Prof. Dawkins, a biologist, has argued similarly in a series of recent books that the laws of natural selection can easily explain how increas- ingly complex organisms have arisen with- out the help ofGod, even in apparent viola- tion of the overall tendency for things to become simpler (to decay 0r breakdown, in other words) over time.

Prof. Ward seeks to rebut these ideas and others, aiming to prove that modern scientific knowledge does not undermine a belief in God but, instead, actually shows that a Supreme Being is the best explana- tion of why things are the way they are.

He undertakes this quest largely by using logic and philosophical reasoning against Atkins, Dawkins and others. In- deed, his modus operandi is to show how their own arguments can be turned around in support of the God hypothesis ~— some- thing he often does quite convincingly.

Discussing the idea, for example, that the universe could have sprung spontane- ously from a primordial soup of quantum fluctuations, proto—particles and probabili- ties (as Atkins and others have suggested), Prof. Ward argues that such a preexistent state is not “nothing” at all, but rather a very big “something."

“. . .the hypothesis proposed by Atkins, that ‘spacetime generates its own dust in the process of its own self—assembly’, is blatantly self—contradictory,” Prof. Ward

writes. “It is ...logically impossible for a cause to bring about some effect, without already being in existence." He bolsters this argument by asking what it is in the universe that keeps such quantum pro- cesses — and all other natural laws — in

(Continued on page 15)

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