The Five Year Plan 2011-2016 (Summary)/Social Action

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Community members in Papua New Guinea planting*crops.

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he significant advances made in the area of expansion and consolidation during the Five Year Plan have drawn the worldwide Baha’i community further into the life of society. Inspired by the words of Baha’u’llah that “all men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization’”,? Baha’is from all walks of life, and in regions with many differing social and economic circumstances, have continued to work alongside others to contribute to the creation of a materially and spiritually prosperous society. In one sense, Baha’i social and economic development encompasses all those efforts of the believers, including the ones in which they participate in activities, projects, and organizations of the wider society, whether as volunteers or professionals, on occasion or full time. - More particularly, as addressed here, it “is concerned with those efforts of the ~ friends acting within the wide scope of ’ the Baha’i communities’ endeavours, individually and collectively, ranging from “small-scale initiatives at the grassroots to large Baha’i-inspired organizations operating at a national level, which address » challenges in a variety of fields, including health, sanitation, education, agriculture, language, gender equality, arts and media, peace, and environmental protection. Such endeavours have contributed to a global _ process of learning within the community about applying the Teachings, along with knowledge drawn from diverse fields of _ human inquiry, for the betterment of local communities and the wider society.

In the last five years, the vast majority of efforts in the area of social action has been small-scale activities undertaken

by individuals or groups of people at

the local level. Numbering well over

10,000 annually, they generally begin

by addressing specific challenges facing

a population through the application of

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spiritual principles. As with all Baha’i efforts in the area of development, these modest initiatives are animated by the desire to serve and to achieve individual and collective progress. For instance, a group of junior youth decide to beautify a public space in which they meet, a

few friends offer tutorial assistance to children, or a number of neighbours decide to establish a community garden. As activities of this type, tied together

in acommon framework, multiply ina locality, their collective influence on the life of a population can be increasingly perceived. This is especially apparent in a growing number of neighbourhoods and villages which have become centres of intense activity. Some of these grassroots initiatives grow organically and are sustained over time in the form of one type of project or another, for instance,

a community school providing education to the youngest inhabitants in a locality, a local health clinic aiming to offer basic health and educational services to the surrounding population, or an organization creating media content to raise social consciousness about certain topics such as the equality of women and men. Over 1,000 activities of this kind are being carried out in at least 130 countries across all continents. And of these, more than 100 are well-developed Baha’iinspired organizations that have built the capacity to engage in relatively complex areas of activity and to create working relations with agencies of government and civil society. This Plan has seen a significant increase in the scale of Baha’i development activity worldwide at all levels of complexity, a reflection of the rising capacity of the Baha’i community as it focuses its energies on executing the global Plans.

On several occasions, the Universal House of Justice has stated that various areas of

79 [Page 80]activity in which the Baha’i community

is engaged need to become increasingly complementary, integrated, and mutually reinforcing. It has also indicated that our growing involvement in the life of society will contribute to the advancement of civilization to the degree that it employs elements of the conceptual framework which governs the current series of global Plans. The Ridvan 2010 and 28 December 2010 messages of the Universal House

of Justice enabled the global Baha’i community to better appreciate the place its efforts for social action have in relation to the current activity unfolding at the level of the cluster. Discussions on this theme were enriched by the publication on 26 November 2012 of a paper on the subject of social action by the Office of Social and Economic Development at the Baha’i World Centre, which distilled 30 years of global experience in this area and outlined the elements of the conceptual framework that speak to the nature, methodology,

and guiding principles of Baha’i social and economic development. Thus, beyond the numerical advances in development activities that have been achieved in these past few years, perhaps the most notable accomplishment in the sphere of social action has been the extent to which the friends involved, at any level of complexity, have been able to grasp these elements and bring them to bear in their work. The coherence achieved among various areas of activity, and the implications this had on the progress of a community, was especially apparent in those clusters at the frontiers of learning.

The following pages provide an overview of areas of endeavour in which there has been marked progress over the course of the Five Year Plan. The first section offers a glimpse as to how efforts for social action have emerged and been woven into

the pattern of activity taking place in advanced clusters. Significant progress has also been achieved in the spread and strengthening of the junior youth spiritual empowerment programme and of other educational endeavours. These include

the establishment and strengthening

of Baha’i and Baha’i-inspired schools

and the propagation of two initiatives

of proven effectiveness, the community schools and Preparation for Social Action (PSA) programmes. Although smaller in scale, there was also clear progress in learning about the use of media for social transformation in advanced clusters and in the efforts of a number of Baha’i-inspired organizations to carry out action research in agriculture. Major advances similarly occurred in the development of institutional capacity for social action, including among Baha’i-inspired organizations as well as institutions and agencies of the Faith at various levels.

Learning about Social Action in Advanced Clusters

In referring to clusters where the friends have passed the third milestone, the Universal House of Justice has explained that “a natural outcome of the rise both

in resources and in consciousness of the implications of the Revelation for the life of a population is the stirrings of social action.” The experience gained ina growing number of clusters in this Plan

has offered valuable insights into how, in localities where the activities of the training institute are firmly established and a pattern of life characterized by devotion and service is beginning to take root, gradual advances in various aspects of the social and economic life of a community can occur.

Even from the early stages of activity in a village or neighbourhood, the changes

80 The Five Year Plan 2011-2016: Summary of Achievements and Learning [Page 81]occurring in the spiritual well-being of a number of inhabitants can naturally have implications on the social and material dimensions of life. Daily activities, for instance, become infused with a spirit of service. Individual choices such as those pertaining to education and work are

placed in a context of collective progress. Interactions between people and within families become elevated, and an ability to consult and learn collectively is gradually built. Within such an environment, a growing social consciousness is often expressed in the emergence of an increasing number of small-scale development activities of fixed duration. Over time, some of these initiatives grow organically and begin to function as sustained social and economic development projects. While they may at times be similar in form to other efforts that are commonplace in these communities, they are generally distinguished by the manner in which their goals and methods are influenced by the Teachings of Baha’u’ lah. Further, those involved often demonstrate an enhanced capacity for learning and sustained action, acquired through their involvement in the institute process. As stated by the House of Justice, “However humble an instance of social action might be at the beginning, it is an indication of a people cultivating within themselves a critical capacity, one that holds infinite potential and significance for the centuries ahead: learning how to apply the Revelation to the manifold dimensions of social existence.”*4

A few examples may help further illustrate how social action can emerge in a locality

in a way that is coherent with the process of change already under way. In many clusters, the acts of service that the members of junior youth groups undertake have contributed

to more sustained efforts of social action. The box regarding the emergence of an environment conservation project in Tanna,

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Vanuatu, provides an example of this. The box about the Colibri Learning Foundation in Vancouver, Canada, offers an example of how efforts to engage meaningfully

with new immigrants, initially in the context of expansion and consolidation,

led to the establishment of a sustained development project in the area of language and immigration. Over the last few years, especially after the international youth conferences held in 2013, many clusters have seen a surge in the number of youth eager to pursue further education and select a profession that enables them to more

ably live a life of service. The box titled “Inspiring Youth to Commit to a Life of Service” offers a few examples of steps taken to address this challenge in different contexts. In several clusters, capacity

for social action has been significantly enhanced as the friends carried out certain programmes of proven effectiveness being offered by a Baha’i-inspired organization operating in the region. The boxes titled

“A Maasai Community Learning to Take Charge of the Spiritual and Intellectual Development of its Young Children” and “Developing Capacity for Sustained Social Action in Eastern Cameroon” demonstrate how two such programmes—community schools and Preparation for Social Action— have been introduced in these regions.

The implementation of these programmes became a natural part of the respective clusters’ endeavours and gave impetus to the process of community building. In many places, growing capacity to engage in social action has been accompanied by the creation of spaces for reflection and consultation among friends working to enhance similar aspects of community life. Such steps helped nurture, in a natural way, the emerging processes of learning. Existing spaces such as Nineteen Day Feasts and cluster-wide reflection meetings were enriched by the incorporation of insights being gained in

81 [Page 82]Inspiring Youth to Commit to a Life of Service

In its message dated 29 December 2015, the Universal House of Justice explained

that as growing numbers

of youth involved in the community-building work develop towards maturity, “their horizons broaden” and “other dimensions of a coherent life, equally demanding and highly meritorious, begin to make stronger claims on their attention.” These include further education—academic or vocational—according

to the possibilities before

them and pursuing crafts or professions that will assist them in contributing to the progress of civilization. During the Plan, as many youth became inspired to pursue a twofold moral purpose in the context of a life of service, a growing number of individuals, institutions, and agencies of the Faith, as well as Baha’i-inspired organizations, initiated systematic efforts to learn about supporting youth in taking critical steps in relation to their career paths.

In Toronto, Canada, an Auxiliary Board member who had worked for some years in the field of human resources observed that many young people had a desire to engage in work that they would find meaningful, but did not know how to go about pursuing this aspiration. At the encouragement of the Counsellor, together with a few friends, she decided to take some steps to learn about

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this. In 2012, they began holding workshops for youth in which they would study Breezes of Confirmation and reflect on themes such as confirmation, the development and use of talents in the context of the twofold moral purpose, and true wealth. Organized around the concept of advancing along a path of service, the workshops helped the participants to describe how they envisioned themselves engaging in service to humanity through their work, to identify what skills, education, and experience they required, and then to create a practical plan. After the workshops, the core group of friends helped the participants take action. They also strove to foster a collective spirit among a group of young people, enabling them to support one another in putting service at the centre of their lives as they advance from one stage to the next. So far more than 200 youth have benefitted from participating in these workshops and the follow-up offered.

In a cluster in India, as a result of ongoing conversations with increasing numbers of youth whose families were participating in core activities, the Baha’i community became more familiar with the range of issues these friends were facing. One significant challenge was that the cost of tertiary education was too high for some families to be able to cover tuition fees for their children. The agencies

and institutions in the cluster, including the Local Spiritual Assembly, therefore began engaging in conversations with certain families about the career aspirations of their younger members. The families were assisted to consider ways in which they could make available funds to pay for tuition, and, in certain cases, the institutions of the Faith covered a portion. The youth also received help to identify and apply for appropriate tertiary programmes through which they could gain capacities required to advance on their path of service to humanity. Since 2013, Fundacion para la Aplicacion y Ensefianza de las Ciencias (FUNDAEC) in Colombia has been carrying out the “Supporting Community Leaders” programme with the aim of orienting young people in trades or professions that foster the prosperity of their communities. The programme specifically serves youth who are at the stage of choosing a career path, and includes elements of study, service, and professional orientation. The materials used, which are continually being refined, are designed to complement the specialized training that students receive in universities or technical colleges, and are studied either on a weekly basis or in the form of intensive seminars throughout the year. The participants are accompanied in carrying out service activities that contribute

The Five Year Plan 2011-2016: Summary of Achievements and Learning [Page 83]Participant of a coffee project in the “Supporting Community Leaders” programme in Colombia.

to the well-being of their communities and are oriented in a trade or profession that is in line with their talents and the needs of their communities. For instance, one participant from the Occidente region applied what she learned through her participation in

the programme and her university studies to provide a local laboratory clinic and hardware store with accounting services, together with a vision and plan for how their enterprises could grow. Opportunities were also provided for the participants to acquire relevant work experience. For those students who required additional funds

to pursue a higher education, some were assisted through a solidarity fund created by the organization, while others were helped to identify alternative sources of financing. As the organization took steps to become more familiar with existing educational opportunities and to foster relationships with a growing number of institutions, it became increasingly well placed to assist the youth in pursuing the most suitable training. By December 2015, the first group of 16 participants had graduated from

the programme. At that time, 11 groups were meeting regularly, with a total of 157 students. Some of these participants were receiving financial support, either to pursue technical or professional studies, or to initiate small production projects.

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social action and by updates on the progress being made in that area of endeavour.

A growing consciousness about certain fundamental principles of the Faith was also observed in many centres of intense activity, which often resulted in profound changes

at the level of culture. The importance of universal education and the equality of women and men, for instance, were appreciated to greater degrees as more individuals in a community participated in the educational activities of the training institute. To offer

an example, in Battambang, Cambodia, preference for education has been traditionally given to boys. As the understanding of the community about education grew over the years, more girls have begun to receive higher levels of education. In one community, about a decade ago only one girl attended school and members of the community criticized her family for educating their daughter, whereas now it is common practice for all girls in the village to receive formal education. Increased education for girls over many years also led

to women taking on a more prominent role within society. In certain places, advances

in the community-building process have accelerated the breaking down of other barriers. In some villages in India, the caste system has been dismantled, in large part owing to the efforts of Baha’is and other friends in demonstrating in both deeds and words their belief in the oneness of humanity. The process of overcoming divisions based on caste accelerated in the last three or four years as the institute became more established. Increasingly in these clusters, institutions

in the wider society turned to the Baha’i community and sought to draw insights from the Teachings of the Faith, a point that is illustrated in a few of the accounts provided.

83 [Page 84]Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment Programme

A number of the developments that occurred worldwide in relation to implementing the junior youth spiritual empowerment programme have been highlighted in the previous chapter of

this document. These rapid advances required that the arrangements in place

to systematize the associated learning evolve commensurately. In this regard, in the course of the Five Year Plan some 15 additional sites for the dissemination of learning about the junior youth programme were established in different parts of the world. As of April 2016, around 45 learning sites were functioning, serving over 400 clusters with particular potential for the growth of the programme. Nine offices are also in place at the continental or subcontinental levels to support the work of these sites and to assist in organizing a growing body of knowledge

and experience.

One dimension of the efforts of these sites involved offering training and ongoing support to coordinators from associated clusters. By coming together on a regular basis to study, reflect on experience, and incorporate insights gained into plans

of action, friends from a network of clusters associated with a site contributed to a growing body of knowledge about various aspects of the programme’s implementation. As endeavours within these clusters advanced, the nature of the questions that are the subject of collective learning evolved. In a number of the sites, the friends were learning about

how to engage some 300 junior youth in the programme. The number of clusters that reached this stage of growth nearly doubled between 2011 and 2016, with a few sustaining over 1,000 participants in

the programme.

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A second aspect of the work of the sites involved collaboration with training institutes to facilitate the dissemination of the knowledge gained to all clusters. Much has been learned in the past few years about the evolving relationship between sites and training institutes. Significant progress has been made in many regions of the world as resource persons; coordinators serving at cluster, regional, and national levels; training institute boards; and

other institutions and agencies closely collaborated to extend the programme

to cluster after cluster. The box titled “Embracing Large Numbers in the Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment Programme in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of

the Congo” is an example of how the clusters associated with a site have moved from strength to strength and where the purposeful interaction between the training institute and learning site has helped rapidly accelerate the advancement of the programme, in both size and quality, across a region.

In its Ridvan 2010 message, the Universal House of Justice explained: “That the major component of the programme explores themes from a Baha’i perspective, but

not in the mode of religious instruction, has opened the way for its extension to

Junior youth carry out a service

project in India.

The Five Year Plan 2011-2016: Summary of Achievements and Learning [Page 85]Service Projects of Junior Youth Groups

In Tanna, Vanuatu, the about the conservation project, and similar initiatives have animator of a junior youth and held a series of meetings been started in other parts group regularly helped the in neighbouring villages to of the island. Marine life is participants reflect on the raise awareness about the flourishing in these areas, and local conditions of the village preservation of marine life. As a number of the young people in order to inform their others learned of the project, from the group continue to consultation on the ways they started assisting the junior monitor the progress and the in which they could be of youth with the various tasks. diversity of marine life that is service to their community. The project has been sustained returning to the reefs.

Over a number of years, as for several years now with

the youngsters developed the the support of the community

capacity to plan and implement and the Ministry of Fisheries,

small-scale service projects,

their level of reflection and eee sleet emeneaes consultation deepened and ese : Pee matured. In one meeting, the junior youth noted the effects of excessive consumption of the ocean’s resources and the implications it would have for future generations were this practice to continue. After consulting at length, the junior youth decided to embark ona project to protect the marine life along the coastal reefs. As a first step, the animator helped the junior youth prepare for and carry out a meeting with the chief, who welcomed their ideas and agreed to allocate

a part of his property for the marine resource conservation project. He also shared with

the junior youth that, in the past, a portion of land along the ocean was set aside for the same purpose, but the people had since forgotten to follow this tradition. With support from community members and other village leaders, the junior youth posted signs and markers along the shore to inform others

a a Cs mee a ee I sy

wi

Social Action 85 [Page 86]Embracing Large Numbers in the Junior Youth Programme in Bukavu

The site for learning for

the junior youth spiritual empowerment programme in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, made significant progress during the Five Year Plan in advancing the frontiers of learning about the growth of the programme in a network of 10 clusters and in contributing to the efforts of training institutes in the region to establish the programme and foster its development in many more.

By the end of the Plan, all but one of these 10 clusters were each engaging over 500 junior youth in the programme, totalling some 6,100 participants, representing a twofold increase in numbers since 2011. In addition to this numerical achievement, many insights were gained into the qualitative dimensions of the programme’s advancement.

For instance, inspired by the concept of mutual support and assistance they explored during the youth conference in 2013, animators in the Goma cluster organized themselves into six “networks”. A vibrant pattern of action among the animators emerged in which they reflected together on their groups, assisted with the expansion of the programme, and helped one another to overcome obstacles faced in their service and

in their personal lives. The arrangement lent strength to the

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system of coordination, allowing each animator and each group to benefit from ample support and a steady flow of insights. These developments within Goma cluster were observed by the resource person for the learning site. He then made it an object of analysis and discussion during a seminar for the coordinators of clusters associated with the learning site, encouraging them to consider ways in which to foster a similar culture of mutual support among animators in their respective clusters. Another advance during the Plan was the rise of capacity in the network of clusters to generate insights into common objects of learning. At a certain time, most groups would not

be sustained for more than a year, and junior youth were on average studying one or two texts. Assisted by the resource person, the coordinators decided together to start tracking certain indicators related to these questions. Over the period of

a number of seminars, they compiled and analysed the information gathered, which allowed them to identify key factors in sustaining groups and moving junior youth through available texts. Recognizing

the importance of animators themselves advancing through the texts of the junior youth programme and those of the main sequence, the resource person assisted coordinators to study all of the available texts.

Junior youth in Bukavu visit and deliver food to a man whose wife passed away.

The Five Year Plan 2011-2016: Summary of Achievements and Learning [Page 87]This then enabled them to do the same with the animators in their clusters. On average, groups in associated clusters are completing more texts than at the beginning of the Plan and, in 2015, almost half of the groups in these same clusters were on their second or third year of the programme.

While the resource person dedicated much of his time to the work in the 10 clusters associated with the learning site, he sought to disseminate insights he had gained across the region. For instance, upon his return from a continental gathering for resource persons in 2014, he consulted with the Counsellor about organizing a meeting for the institutions and agencies of South Kivu to discuss the development of the programme in the region in light of what he had learned at the gathering.

The meeting proved to be fruitful, and the regional agencies decided to convene such gatherings every three months. This helped further strengthen collaboration between the resource person and the agencies in South Kivu, particularly the training institute board and the regional coordinators. In 2015, the training institute drew on the support of the learning site to work towards establishing the programme in all the 110 clusters in the region. They called on the resource person to organize a regional training to raise some 20 Book 5 tutors,

who in turn facilitated 14 intensive Book 5 campaigns across the region. Within 10 days, over 200 animators were raised up from some 40 clusters. As of early 2016, all but 20 of South Kivu’s clusters had at least one junior youth group, and about a third had more than 50 junior youth in the programme.

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junior youth in a variety of settings and circumstances. In many such instances, then, those who implement the programme enter confidently into the area of social action, encountering a range of questions and possibilities, which are being followed and organized in a global process of learning by the Office of Social and Economic Development in the Holy Land.” Baha’i communities in all parts of the world, especially in clusters connected to sites, grew their capacity to respond to opportunities that exist in the context of schools in the wider society. In addition to the efforts of training institutes, a number of Baha’i and Baha’i-inspired schools around the world are offering the junior youth spiritual empowerment programme to students. It is estimated that well over 10,000 junior youth are participating in the programme in these locations. Several of these schools are, in turn, beginning to extend the programme to others in their respective clusters.

A junior youth group in Corozal, Honduras.

87 [Page 88]The Junior Youth Programme in Schools in the Island Nation of Kiribati

For over 10 years, through the encouragement of the Office of Social and Economic Development, the Ootan Marawa Educational Institute (OMEI) has been learning about the implementation of the junior youth spiritual empowerment programme in schools in Kiribati. It began to implement the programme in schools in 2005, in response to a request of the President of the island nation for the organization to help address the challenges faced by youth in the country.

In 2006, with the approval of the principal of a school in the capital city, two animators, trained by OMEI, began offering the texts during the period of religious education. Although the number attending was small, the programme’s effect on the academic performance and behaviour of the participating junior youth were soon noticed, and the principal asked that three other groups be formed. After hearing about the impact of the programme, the principal of another school requested that it be offered to all his students the following year. Over the next three years, OMEI learned about implementing the programme in a few schools on the main island, reaching 600 students. In 2009, with the support of Auxiliary Board members, the organization was able to bring the programme to junior secondary schools in

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outer islands. The growth in size and spread of the programme called for more attention to be paid to the system for raising up and supporting animators. By the end of the Plan, over 3,000 junior youth were participating in the programme—50% of the junior youth population in Kiribati—with the help of 37 animators, all giving substantial time to this path of service.

The effects of the programme became increasingly visible in the ability of junior youth to express themselves, in improvements in their academic performance, and in the refinement of their conduct. In 2010, the country’s Minister of Education made certain observations regarding the positive influence of the programme on the behaviour of students—namely, that it contributed to a decline in the rate of expulsions. Changes were also apparent in the school

i

environment; for instance, there was a decline in the instances of students publicly engaging in harmful activities, such as drinking alcohol. Teachers started looking at their students in a different light, recognizing their potential and changing their way of interacting with them. The selflessness and perseverance of the animators also inspired other school community members to develop such attitudes towards their work.

Beyond the effects of the programme on the junior youth, youth serving as animators saw their own capacities raised through the service they were rendering. While their initial efforts were primarily to study the texts of the programme with the participants, over time they gave more attention to the programme’s other elements, like camps and service projects. They also started to learn about

The Five Year Plan 2011-2016: Summary of Achievements and Learning [Page 89]carrying out visits to the parents of the junior youth to explain to them the aims of the programme and gain their support. These efforts assisted the animators not only to further develop their capacity but also to strengthen their bonds of friendship and trust with teachers, principals, and parents. While initially efforts had to be made by

OMEI itself to identify youth to serve in this capacity, as the influence of the programme on animators became increasingly perceptible, many young people themselves began to approach the organization to offer service, sometimes at the encouragement of parents and teachers.

As OMEI has gained experience with the implementation of the programme in schools, it has increasingly been able to share with government, educational, and religious entities its insights about the period of adolescence and the impact of moral empowerment on youngsters. In 2014, at a gathering organized by the Ministry of Education to reflect on the achievements of the previous year, the organization was invited to speak about the importance of creating environments for students that foster mutual support and that can reinforce academic progress and behavioural transformation.

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Education

As a natural response to the emphasis placed in the Writings on education, which ‘Abdu’IBaha has described as “the primary, the most urgent requirement”*’ for achieving the prosperity of nations, educational initiatives continued to make up a large percentage of the activities of the Baha’i community in the field of social and economic development. These included countless informal efforts, such as additional tutorial classes offered

by animators and children’s class teachers or assistance arranged by institutions and agencies of the Faith for youth to pursue tertiary education. Currently, well over 1,000 sustained Baha’i social action endeavours are of an educational nature. Of this number, approximately 80% are schools, while the remaining represent a range of endeavours that include institutions offering post-secondary education, developing curriculum, or providing teacher training. Altogether these efforts have aimed at contributing towards the gradual formulation of an educational system that will help generation after generation to progressively acquire the traits of a new race of men. The largest of these, the junior youth spiritual empowerment programme, was described

in the section above. The following subsections highlight notable progress made

in Baha’i and Baha’i-inspired schools, community schools, and the Preparation for Social Action programme.

Strengthening Baha'i and Baha‘i-Inspired Schools

A number of the schools currently in operation have become well-established over some 20 to 30 years and have contributed to the intellectual and moral development of tens of thousands of young people. Almost half of the schools worldwide have been

89 [Page 90]established in recent years, in consonance with rising capacity in many clusters

and as a result of progress made in the implementation of the programme for the promotion of community schools described in the next section. These schools range from local preschools to large academic institutions offering education through high school. They exist in a variety of settings and on every continent, although the vast majority are in Africa and Asia. In total, they are offering education to more than 200,000 young people.

A particularly significant development during the course of the Five Year Plan concerned the growing ability of the schools to learn about offering an education that increasingly reflects the vision contained in the Baha’i Writings. In this regard, in the process of further elaborating their vision, adopting appropriate pedagogical and administrative approaches, identifying goals, selecting and developing their curricular materials, building the capacity of their teachers, and strengthening

Children learn about colours at a preschool in Indonesia.

relationships with the community,

many schools drew insights from the community-building work under way

and applied methods and approaches coherent with the processes of the Plan.

For instance, many made use of books in

the sequence of institute courses in teacher training, assisting their teachers to study Books 3 and 5 and to gain insight into how the concepts could be manifested in practice. A large number of schools incorporated the materials associated with the programmes of the training institute into the moral education component of their curriculum. Such developments have had a profound effect not only on the individuals involved, but on the school environment and even the institution’s relationship with the broader community. In a number of cases, schools have extended the reach of these programmes further as staff and senior students held children’s classes and junior youth groups in the community

or nearby schools.

90 The Five Year Plan 2011-2016: Summary of Achievements and Learning [Page 91]Community-Based Pre-primary and Primary Schools

Over the course of the Plan, a number of Baha’i-inspired organizations in Africa, Asia, and Australasia systematically supported the multiplication of schools

in villages and towns by assisting an increasing number of young people to gain experience in providing pre-primary and primary academic instruction to children in their communities, especially in places where access to formal education was limited. The most successful schools arose out of a growing consciousness among the local population—particularly in areas where the processes of expansion and consolidation were well advanced—about the importance of providing the younger generation with an education that gives

due attention to both their spiritual and intellectual development. Drawing primarily on locally available resources, such

schools expanded at a rate commensurate with their growing capacity and the emerging spirit of collective endeavour that characterized their functioning. By the close of the Plan, there were 26 established or

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A class under way in one of the communitybased schools

in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

emerging organizations that were assisting communities in about 180 clusters in 20 countries to develop capacity to respond to the educational needs of children. In Africa, 14 of these agencies were offering support to nearly 1,000 teachers, providing education to over 23,500 children in 300 schools. Ten established or emerging organizations in Asia were supporting a total of around 190 teachers in some 70 community schools with over 2,600 students. In Australasia, two organizations were supporting 180 teachers, serving some 50 community schools with over 1,800 students.

The efforts of these organizations focused on identifying Baha’i-inspired curricular elements, developing programmes for the training of teachers, and providing the support local communities needed to take ownership of the education of their children. As additional experience was gained by organizations worldwide in the course of the Five Year Plan, their teacher training programmes continued to evolve and be

91 [Page 92]A Maasai Community Learning to Take Charge of the Spiritual and Intellectual Development of its Young Children

The Monduli cluster, in the Arusha region of Tanzania,

is composed of some 14 villages spread over a vast

area. The Maasai people that live here are mainly nomadic, and most have not received a primary education. Among this population, parents have been reluctant to send young children to the schools in the district owing to their distance from the villages and to concerns that their sons and daughters would lose the Maasai way of life.

In 2008, a pioneer family in the region, wanting to contribute to raising literacy levels among the young, identified two youth and assisted them to offer spiritual education as well as reading and writing lessons to the children in their villages. At the request of the pioneers, the Ruaha Mwongozo Foundation, which promotes community schools in the country, invited these youth to attend its teacher training seminar. After their return, the youth held conversations with elders in the community to help raise awareness about the education they had been equipped to offer, resulting in the enrolment of some 40 children in two schools. Over time, those in neighbouring villages heard about the existence of these schools and expressed the desire to establish their own. In these villages, consultations took place—at

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times with the help of friends serving at existing schools—to identify individuals who could serve as teachers. As children are seen as the responsibility of the whole community in Maasai culture, all were eager to support the teachers and to provide basic materials for the schools. Initially, most classes took place under trees; however, over a few years, simple structures were built from local materials to provide a better environment for study. All the schools began by offering only pre-primary education, and some now offer a few additional grades. By 2011, 8 schools had been established; by the end of the Plan, there were 17 schools serving more than 400 Maasai children in 6 villages. Over the years, the transformation seen in the children as well as the conversations initiated by teachers in the villages began to influence aspects of community life. Mothers, for instance, seeing the influence of literacy on the intellectual development of their children, enquired about the possibility of receiving some instruction themselves. In consultation with the Foundation, the coordinator of the community schools effort in the cluster—who had been among the first teachers trained—thought about ways in which the materials employed in the classroom could be used

to offer literacy classes to the mothers. Attitudes towards women also started to change in some of these communities. For example, while it was a common practice to marry off young girls, as increasing numbers began

to study, community members were encouraged to allow them to continue their education and marry at a later age. Further, sustained conversations about the negative effects of female genital mutilation led to a reduction in the percentage

of female community school students being subjected to this practice. Changes also occurred in how young people were perceived in the community. While in the past elders were the only ones to have a say in the way communities were run, teachers of community schools, most of whom were young in age, began to be well respected and their contributions started to receive due consideration during village gatherings.

The activities of the community schools programme in Monduli also lent impetus to the work of expansion and consolidation. A primary component of the training offered by the Foundation is the study of institute materials. When a youth from the cluster attended the training seminar, he was touched by the content of these books and became a Baha’i. Upon his return, beyond

The Five Year Plan 2011-2016: Summary of Achievements and Learning [Page 93]attending to the education of children, he was inspired to teach the Faith. His efforts led to a number of enrolments. Further, many individuals who were trained by the Foundation began to offer children’s classes in their villages. The regional coordinator collaborated with the teachers to extend conversations about community building

to many others within the cluster, and, over time, a group of youth who could serve as animators were identified. The first junior youth groups in the cluster started in 2013. In a region where expansion and consolidation efforts had historically obtained very modest results, by the end of the Plan, Monduli cluster had 13 Baha’i children’s classes serving over 120 children, 19 junior youth groups with more than

200 participants, and 5 study circles with

16 participants.

A community school held

under a tree in the Arusha

region in Tanzania.

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refined. In many instances, the community schools programme reinforced communitybuilding activities. As the influence of the education offered at community schools

on the spiritual and moral development of children became increasingly visible, the number of participants in core activities in these regions naturally increased, although this is not an objective of the programme itself. Parents became interested in studying Book 3 of the institute in order to better understand the principles that underlie

the education received by their children. Some of these parents established their own Baha’i children’s classes, while others encouraged their children to participate

in the educational processes of the Baha’i community. Further, school facilities were often used as spaces to hold core activities.

Another significant advance has been a more profound understanding at local and national levels of the role of a teacher in society and of the identity of a school as a centre of learning for a population. Beyond recognizing the important responsibility teachers have as the providers of education to the younger generation in a classroom setting, communities became increasingly conscious of the central role teachers

can play in contributing to the spiritual

and material advancement of a locality. Progressively, schools were viewed as social spaces belonging to all, in which knowledge about various processes of community life—such as agriculture and health—could be generated, applied, and disseminated. Teachers, alongside many others, were seen as protagonists in this process.

This heightened consciousness about the role of the teacher in society in a growing number of communities also enabled teachers to contribute more meaningfully

to the discourse on education in their communities. As they increasingly came into contact with government representatives and organizations of civil society, they

93 [Page 94]discussed with them some of the elements of the framework that guide their efforts and certain educational concepts informed by both the Writings and their own experience. In a number of countries in French-speaking West Africa, as well as in Myanmar, school inspectors disseminated the insights gained from these conversations to other schools in their respective regions. The organizations implementing the community schools programme developed their own capacity to participate in the discourse

on education at the national level, on the basis of years of experience in the field

of education. For instance, in Papua New Guinea, the perspective provided by Rays of Light Foundation on character building and integral human development as part of a national conference held at the University of Goroka in September 2015—during which the performance of the education sector over 40 years was reviewed and prospects for the future were considered—won the confidence of the Department of Education, thus initiating a process for the schools supported by the Foundation to gain “permitted status” in the country.

Preparation for Social Action

For more than three decades, Fundacién para la Aplicacion y Ensefianza de las Ciencias (FUNDAEC) in Colombia has explored an approach to social and economic development that addresses both the material and spiritual dimensions of human existence. The Preparation for Social Action programme draws on some of the textbooks developed by FUNDAEC in Colombia through its years of action research in addressing the educational needs of young people in rural areas. The programme aims at assisting youth to understand certain concepts, learn a range of relevant facts, and acquire certain qualities, attitudes, and skills that will

enable them to promote the well-being of their people in fields as diverse as health, education, the environment, secondary

production, and community organization.

At the beginning of the Plan, the Preparation for Social Action programme was being implemented in nine countries, including Cameroon, Colombia, Costa Rica, India, Kenya, Papua New Guinea, Uganda, and Zambia. The programme was subsequently introduced in seven new countries— Cambodia, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Panama, the Philippines, and Vanuatu. In eleven of these countries, Baha’i-inspired development organizations advanced a process of learning about the implementation of the programme. Over the course of the Plan, the number of participants in the programme doubled from 1,500 to 3,000. By the end of the Plan, over 10,000 individuals had benefitted from participating in at least part of the

PSA students in Cambodia learn to make compost.

94 The Five Year Plan 2011-2016: Summary of Achievements and Learning [Page 95]programme. From among these, more than 1,800 studied all of the available texts. Many of the young people who participated in the programme supported the work of expansion and consolidation while also engaging in initiatives aimed at fostering the social and economic advancement of local populations. Significant changes in the life of a community were observed in those places in which a large number of people have participated in the programme. The box discussing the experience in eastern Cameroon provides an apt illustration of the ways in which the programme can contribute to transformation within a population.

In addition to the significant progress achieved in relation to the Preparation for Social Action programme itself, nearly 1,700 people serving institutions and agencies

of the Faith in 25 countries have studied

a selection of the materials in a seminar setting. The concepts explored helped the participants gain a deeper appreciation for the coherence between the spiritual and material dimensions of the civilizationbuilding enterprise in which the Baha’i community is engaged. This helped them to refine their reading of the social reality of the clusters and regions in which they were contributing to the advancement of

the community-building process.

ry

PSA-participants in. Colombia describe the reality of their community.

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Means of Communication and the Social Environment

In clusters where the community-building work advanced significantly, learning to use various means of communication to contribute to the gradual transformation of the culture of populations became increasingly more pressing. While sizeable numbers of people benefited directly from access to the Revelation, particularly through the core activities, the vast majority remained bereft of the gems contained within it. The powerful influence exerted on culture by forces operating in the social and political community—an influence which often contradicts the Baha’i Teachings—could not be ignored. Within this context, media played a significant role in enhancing the processes already set in motion to transform

the inner life of individuals and their social environment.

During the Plan, particularly in clusters serving as learning sites for the junior youth programme, possibilities emerged for those with particular interests in the area of media to learn about extending the influence of the training institute more broadly across their clusters by creating and sharing transformative media content, addressing themes relevant to the social reality. Although still modest in scale, noteworthy experience was gained in this sphere of learning. By the end of the Plan, the number of clusters where projects employing one or another type of media— such as community radio, theatre, blogs, and posters—were initiated had grown to 14, a handful of which were able to sustain a continuous process of learning.

In addition to the initiatives taking place at the level of the cluster, in Latin America music writing workshops gathered friends from around the region to create relevant

95 [Page 96]Using Music to Create and Share Transformative Content

Organized annually since 2012, songwriting workshops held in Chongo6n, Ecuador, emerged out of a need to create music that is uplifting for junior youth and that can accompany the films developed by a media project that has been advancing in the cluster for about eight years. The gatherings bring together individuals from different parts of Latin America who over the course of one to two weeks explore the process of writing songs that can serve to extend and reinforce the influence of the junior youth programme on the lives of young people. These workshops have sought to build in a growing number of friends the capacity to translate principles and concepts from the Baha’i Teachings into themes, lyrics, and melodies for the songs. Themes for songs are identified through study of the Writings and guidance on the arts and social action, exploration of the texts of the junior youth programme, and group discussions based on the experience of the participants. The junior youth who are part of groups in Chongén and their families contribute to the process, for instance, by giving feedback on the music or sharing their thoughts and experience on various themes explored in the songs. Throughout the course of the workshop, those participating are helped to develop capacity in the technical aspects of music production.

96

A significant outcome of these gatherings is a growing collection of songs with lyrics that are simple yet profound, with melodies that evoke noble and praiseworthy sentiments in those who hear them. Friends across Latin America are able to freely draw on this music in their own personal efforts, for example, as a means of stimulating conversations with junior youth. The compositions are also used to enhance existing spaces that are created by the Baha’i community, such as youth

Youth in Latin America share with the community music inspired by the junior youth programme.

The Five Year Plan 2011-2016: Summary of Achievements and Learning [Page 97]Youth from Latin America in a workshop to create music inspired by concepts in the junior youth programme.

gatherings. In Chongon, the foundation laid by expansion and consolidation efforts as well as the media project working with film has enabled songs to be naturally woven into an existing pattern of community life. In this setting, they are shared on

a large scale through concerts, weekly sessions with high school students, among families, and within junior youth groups. The regularity of workshops

in the cluster has allowed

those involved to observe,

year after year, the growing influence the songs can have

on the population.

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songs for junior youth, helping to build capacity in a growing pool of individuals to create and disseminate meaningful content for the wider society. Collectively, these efforts offered glimpses of the potential that exists in employing communications media in the context of efforts to contribute to constructive change. In many cases,

a keen receptivity was discerned on

the part of the wider society to media content that explored themes of spiritual import. Various social spaces opened

up to individuals involved to share

their programming—including films,

plays, and songs—and this was enthusiastically received.

The themes and messages the friends shared through various means of communication helped raise consciousness and stimulate reflection among a broader audience on certain ideas and concepts explored in the Writings and assisted

in reinforcing the high moral standards fostered by the core activities. These initiatives also provided an avenue through which those passionate about the arts were able to channel their interests in service

to their communities within the framework of the Plan.

Action Research in Agriculture

“The fundamental basis of the community”, ‘Abdu’l-Baha states, “is agriculture, tillage of the soil.”*¢ It is the backbone of most rural economies and occupies over one-third of the world population on a full- or parttime basis. In Africa, large parts of which have faced critical food security issues for decades, a few Baha’i-inspired organizations have engaged in action research efforts in the area of agriculture. Although relatively modest in size at present, the long-term aim of these efforts is to help build the capacity of local communities and institutions

97 [Page 98]Developing Capacity for Sustained Social Action

in Eastern Cameroon

In 2008, the Emergence Foundation for Education and Development introduced the Preparation for Social Action programme in the eastern region of Cameroon—a part of the country where educational opportunities are sparse and government services as well as infrastructural development is limited. By the beginning of 2011, over 125 people in the region had studied all of the available materials of the programme, most of them in the clusters of Batouri-Kette and Garoua-Mboulai-Ndokayo. Many of these individuals drew on the capacities they developed through the programme to improve their own conditions and those of their families. In recent years, as the Foundation focused on assisting all who went through the programme to participate in the courses of the training institute, the participants’ spirit of service was further strengthened, and they increasingly initiated longer-term projects aimed at contributing to the progress of their families and their entire communities.

By the end of the Plan, over 570 people in the region had studied all of the available materials of the programme, 180 of whom were from one sector in the Batouri-Kette cluster. The friends in the community of Bengue Tiko began to regularly

98

meet to discuss projects

they could carry out to serve their community. They first decided to start a community forestry project to improve the environment in the area and

to contribute to strengthening the local economy. They collaborated with the forestry officer and the local government to get the initiative started. As they continued to learn about the needs of their region, they came to understand that many illnesses in the area were being caused by malnutrition. With this knowledge, they refined their approach to the forestry project so that it would not only address environmental and economic concerns but also respond to the health needs of the population. They planted palm trees from which oil rich in vitamin A could

be produced. In this way, the production of oil would provide economic opportunities, but also contribute to enriching the diet of the people of the region. In another case, during meetings that the Preparation for Social Action participants were regularly holding in the community of Kette, concerns about the education of children were repeatedly raised. The friends who had studied the Preparation for Social Action materials had learned about the education of young children through their engagement in the

programme, and they decided

to start a primary school. They worked with the community and local leaders to establish the school and to overcome obstacles that arose in the process. In addition to these two initiatives, other groups of people who have participated

in the Preparation for Social Action programme have initiated farming, agroforestry, pisciculture, and animal husbandry projects. To facilitate collaboration with government agencies, the friends involved in these activities have formed an association for all the promoters of community well-being in

the region. This association supports their initiatives

and helps them benefit from government resources.

The individuals who have participated in the programme, have contributed to changes at the level of culture. For example, they have fostered cooperation and unity among the various groups that inhabit the region and have helped the community put in place a pattern of consulting about its affairs and identify ways in which it can overcome challenges. In the community of Timangolo, there had been a long-standing conflict between farmers and cattle herders, as the cattle would roam through fields and damage crops planted by the farmers. During the community

The Five Year Plan 2011-2016: Summary of Achievements and Learning [Page 99]meetings that were being organized by the Preparation for Social Action participants, the two groups were able to consult about the challenges they were facing and found a solution that was suitable for both. Now the cattle herders and farmers meet monthly to consult about common challenges

and to find ways to contribute to the betterment of their community. Further, the study of the materials related to the education of children coupled with the study of Book 3 of the sequence of institute courses has raised consciousness about how members of a community can help tend to the spiritual and intellectual education of children. In addition to the

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Social Action

establishment of communitybased schools mentioned above, such consciousness is being manifested in adjustments in family choices. For instance, it is now becoming less common for fathers to leave their children for extended periods of time to engage in work in the forest. They are instead finding ways to remain in the village so that they can be with their children and nurture their development. Another example of the community-building efforts of those who have participated

in the programme can be seen in the response to the influx

of refugees that entered the eastern region of Cameroon from the Central African Republic during the conflict in

that country in 2013 and 2014. They arose to assist in efforts to help the refugees. Many of the refugees have faced hunger and discrimination, and the participants of the Preparation for Social Action programme helped the refugees settle in their communities. One friend contributed to the settlement efforts by providing a group of 17 women in the refugee camp with a piece of land and teaching them the agricultural techniques that she had learned through the Preparation for Social Action programme. She then helped them set up a small-scale trading business and a savings system to improve their economic conditions.

PSA participants use locally made tools to cultivate their plots in Cameroon.

99 [Page 100]to participate effectively in a process of structured, scientific learning that can contribute to advancing the scientific and technological culture of farming populations and enabling farmers to sustain their families at a relative degree of prosperity.

In the Central African Republic and Malawi, this process of agricultural

action research has revolved around Baha’iinspired community schools. Engaging

in agricultural activities has helped the schools address some of the nutritional needs of their students with the harvest.

In 8 clusters, core groups of people from select school communities studied materials of the Preparation for Social Action programme about food production on small farms and began experimental agricultural plots, located on school properties or in their vicinity. Those involved in the plots strove to identify production systems that were diverse, environmentally sustainable, and economically viable, and could be managed with local resources. The plots also served as a space in which certain social issues that influence production, such as competition promoted by the market, dependency on outside help, and gender roles, could be explored. In the two countries, nearly

200 people studied the materials on food production, and some 350 people became involved in the experimental plots. The influence of the plots on the production

systems of the villages was soon visible as farmers gradually adopted some

of the methods being used on the experimental plots.

Select organizations engaged in the implementation of the Preparation for Social Action programme throughout Africa have also begun to systematize their efforts to follow the agricultural initiatives undertaken by the current and past participants of the programme. In Uganda, for example, a group of tutors of the Preparation for Social Action programme decided to consider itself as a typical Ugandan family, exploring questions that included obtaining higher yields while conserving soil fertility levels, addressing nutritional needs of the family, and learning to work together in unity and solidarity. In Zambia, a Preparation for Social Action group carried out a project with 26 families to establish backyard vegetable gardens in an urban setting. The project demonstrated how, by growing its own vegetables, a family could save enough money to cover the children’s school fees.

In addition to such efforts at the local level, the organizations themselves in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Malawi, and Uganda have been examining questions that affect the field of agriculture in the country as a whole. Through the establishment of national research plots, they began looking at

Agriculture research plotata community school in Malawi.

100 The Five Year Plan 2011-2016: Summary of Achievements and Learning [Page 101]questions such as water usage, preservation of genetic resources, soil conservation and fertility, community seed banks, associations of cash and food crops, and reviving crops that are traditional to the continent. In doing so, they are tapping into two main sources of knowledge: the field of modern science and the traditional knowledge systems of the farmers in each country.

The Development of Institutional Capacity

Every effort pursued in the sphere of social action, regardless of the level of complexity, must consider the question of institutional capacity. Even the smallest group of individuals, for example, needs to develop the ability to read reality, consult, devise plans, and carry out activities in a mode of learning. Gradually, some of these initiatives grow in complexity, which requires a corresponding increase in institutional capacity. Indeed, over the years, certain organizations have emerged that demonstrate capacity to implement multiple and relatively complex lines of action in an integrated

way and to establish working relations with the agencies of the government and civil society. Generally referred to as “Baha’iinspired organizations”, such agencies strive to carry out their activities within the broad framework of the current series of Plans, receiving guidance from Baha’i institutions and agencies, including the Office of Social and Economic Development at the Baha’i World Centre, and advancing their efforts

in concert with other endeavours concerned with the spiritual and material progress of a population. This section primarily discusses this type of endeavour. Of course, there are many other development organizations with which individual Baha’is are associated, for instance in their professional work, that are not carrying out their activities in the context

Social Action

of the work of the Baha’i community. These are nevertheless influenced to some extent by the principles of the Faith and are playing their own important part in contributing to the betterment of society.

Overall, each of the past several Plans has seen a steady increase in the number of Baha’i-inspired organizations at different stages of evolution. There is a wide range of these organizations operating in diverse areas of endeavour. A few examples

include universities in Bolivia; health projects in the Democratic Republic of

the Congo and Uganda; organizations working towards the empowerment of women in the United States and India; agencies in the area of microfinance in El Salvador, Malawi, Nicaragua, and Nepal; literacy endeavours in Ghana; efforts aimed at improving agricultural research and practice in Chile and various parts of Africa; radio stations in the Philippines and Panama; projects focused on using media for social transformation in Canada and Ecuador; agencies offering distance high school education on a wide scale

in Colombia and Honduras; a teacher training college in India; organizations promoting the establishment of community schools throughout Africa and Asia; and organizations in North America and Europe that are making available the financial means needed by development agencies throughout the world. Some of these organizations, including the Colibri Learning Foundation in Canada, started operating during the previous Plan and have advanced significantly in their capacity

to implement and refine a programme for community development. Other agencies had been established in earlier years and over the course of the last five years strengthened their pattern of functioning, reaching higher levels of complexity.

101 [Page 102]The Emergence of a Baha‘i-Inspired Organization at the Cluster Level in Canada

In Vancouver, Canada, the efforts of a group of friends

to learn about building strong friendships with individuals from receptive populations, many of whom were newcomers to the country, generated many insights and questions. One obstacle that was identified was language. Inspired by similar initiatives carried out elsewhere, the friends started offering English classes for immigrants to help them develop the language skills needed to have conversations with people in their new home. These classes were called “English Corners”. It quickly became apparent, however, that mastering the basics of the language itself was not the main question that needed to be addressed. Rather, it was found that when participants

engaged in discussions that were

meaningful and uplifting, they

were drawn together in bonds of

friendship. Thus, the materials developed were organized around weekly themes related to some aspect of community life and included quotes and discussion questions. They were designed to be simple and adaptable enough that

any willing facilitator could easily establish an “English Corner” in his or her particular context. As experience was gained, the friends involved came to recognize that these

102

conversations were connected to the evolution of culture. To address the social challenges faced by new immigrants, conversations needed to respond to questions related to systems

of thought and knowledge, social

relationships, world views, and attitudes towards the individual and the community. The focus of the core group of friends who had initiated the “English Corners”, then, became learning about how the participants in the groups could contribute to social transformation in their new country, overcoming both the pull of cultural isolation and the push to assimilate into mainstream culture.

In the initial stages, the process of learning about

“English Corners” was advanced through the dedicated efforts

of volunteers. There was a broad network of facilitators and a small group of friends who were coordinating the initiative. By the end of 2012, there were 12 “English Corners” with 200 participants and 22 facilitators. The following

year, it was deemed timely

to put in place a more formal structure to foster the continued development of the “English Corners”. One of the individuals who had been involved from

the beginning started to serve as the executive director of Colibri Learning Foundation. Although he had already been dedicating a substantial amount of time to supporting the

The Five Year Plan 2011-2016: Summary of Achievements and Learning [Page 103]Participants of an “English Corner’ organized by Colibri Learning Foundation in Canada.

effort, assuming a more formal position allowed him to give his full attention to fostering its ongoing advancement. A board of directors comprising three individuals, including the executive director, was also formed. This board meets on a regular basis to clarify ideas and follow the learning process. The majority of

the work of the Foundation continues to be carried out by a network of 90 committed volunteers who offer their time to facilitate the “English Corners”. A particular focus of the organization is learning about raising up facilitators from among the participants of the “English Corners”. Of the current facilitators, more than

Social Action

60 of them were once “English

Corner” participants themselves.

The organization accompanies them and helps systematize the insights being generated through their experience. Since formalizing its efforts, Colibri Learning Foundation has been able to sustain at least 20 groups at a time, and at the end of 2015 there were some 340 people participating in the “English Corners”. The Foundation is continuing to refine the content of the programme based on the learning that is being gained. Throughout the evolution of this process of learning, the relationship between the “English Corner” effort and the processes of expansion and consolidation has remained

strong. From the beginning, the friends focused their energies in a cluster in which a vibrant pattern of community life was already being established. At each stage in the development of the endeavour, those involved consulted closely with the institutions of the Faith to ensure that their activities served to reinforce and never to detract from the overall direction of the community-building process under way. At different points, it became necessary for them to clarify their understanding about the connection between social action and expansion and consolidation. Even though the initiative originally came about as a result of teaching efforts, those involved came to see that it had great social value in and of itself and could be pursued as a way of contributing to

the social development of the community, engaging a wider segment of the population beyond the Baha’is and those interested in the Baha’i Faith. At the same time, they recognized that it would

be natural for some of the participants in the “English Corners” to become attracted to the Faith and to want to learn more about it. While offering this service to the community, the facilitators were ever ready to respond

to opportunities to teach.

103 [Page 104]The Efforts of the Unity Foundation to Channel Financial Resources

The material means needed to sustain the majority of Baha’i and Baha’i-inspired social and economic development initiatives are generally elicited at the grassroots. As particular efforts continue to grow in complexity, they may eventually require financial resources from sources outside the local community. In this light, the Baha’i community has been learning about making financial resources available to those Baha’i-inspired organizations that have reached a certain level of growth and have demonstrated the capacity to manage finances effectively. During the Five Year Plan, about 10 funding agencies provided support to some 25 projects in around 20 different countries.

A noteworthy advance in recent years has been the increase in capacity of such agencies to describe the work of the recipient organizations in light of the conceptual underpinnings of their efforts in such a way as to secure needed funds as well as to contribute meaningfully to the discourse on development taking place in their own countries. Unity Foundation in Luxembourg serves as one such example.

Over the past five years, Unity Foundation has facilitated the flow of more than €3 million for some 10 Baha’i-inspired projects in Africa, Latin

104

America, and Southeast Asia. The particularly collaborative relationship that Unity Foundation has fostered with the government of Luxembourg over the years has allowed it to increase the amount of funding it can access through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In the process of helping organizations prepare and submit proposals, the Foundation has taken steps to ensure that the integrity of each project is maintained and that the exigencies of donors do not unduly constrain the recipients’ endeavours.

In recent years, Unity Foundation has organized

workshops in schools and universities, as well as film presentations and round table discussions in private and public locations in Luxembourg, to systematically learn about how it can raise awareness of concepts inspired by the teachings

related to social and economic development. The Foundation is conscious that the conversations it is having with individuals

and institutions can be seen as meaningful participation in the discourses on development in Luxembourg, and opportunities to learn from others’ experiences and to help reorient perspectives.

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The Five Year Plan 2011-2016: Summary of Achievements and Learning [Page 105]The progress that occurred with respect

to institutional capacity for social and economic development was not limited

to an increase in the number of Baha’iinspired organizations. The ability of

many Baha’i-inspired organizations to participate in a process of society building was significantly enhanced as they strove

to better understand and apply elements of the conceptual framework which guides the current series of global Plans and gained insights from a growing global body of knowledge about Baha’i social and economic development. Spaces created at various levels for organizations engaged in similar areas of activity to reflect on their collective experience and to study relevant materials contributed significantly in this regard. In certain cases, networks of organizations were formed under the guidance of the Office of Social and Economic Development, which put in place regional or continental arrangements to support the systematization of learning and the development of institutional capacity. One such arrangement was the establishment of a secretariat for the network of organizations promoting community schools in Africa during the Five Year Plan that ended in 2011. Over the course of this Plan, the secretariat became increasingly familiar with the work of each organization that is a member of the network, and gradually began to take steps to assist them in strengthening various aspects of their operations.

The rapid progress made in the area of expansion and consolidation and the corresponding rise in instances of social action at the grassroots also had implications for the work of Baha’i institutions. In several instances it impelled National Spiritual Assemblies to increase their familiarity

with the learning process unfolding in their countries and to foster increasing levels

of coherence among areas of activity. At

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Ridvan 2013, National Spiritual Assemblies were invited by the Universal House of Justice to consider, in consultation with the Counsellors, how the concepts explored in the 2012 statement prepared by the Office of Social and Economic Development on the theme of social action could “help to enhance existing efforts of social action pursued under their auspices and raise consciousness of this significant dimension of Baha’i endeavour”.*’ Several National Assemblies took steps in the last five years to keep abreast of the initiatives of Baha’is in this area and to raise consciousness about social action. For instance, in 2016, the National Spiritual Assembly of Chile hosted a gathering for several individuals and agencies involved in development efforts in the Mapuche region of the country to study the aforementioned document. In the United States and India, the National Assemblies have established desks, which operate under their supervision to assist them in following the learning that is occurring about social action in their respective countries.

The continued advances in the worldwide Baha’i community’s efforts in the area of development have called for the evolution

of structures at the global level. In response to the vast opportunities emerging in

this field, the Universal House of Justice established, during the Plan, a seven-member International Advisory Board to the Office of Social and Economic Development, which served to strengthen the capacity of the Office to facilitate and systematize a global process of learning about development.

105