At the last National Convention many delegates expressed the need for Media Training workshops. The Travel Teacher and Homefront Pioneer Advisory Service (TTS) have received an offer from Corinne Podger, who is willing to run media training workshops anywhere in the UK, together with a general offer of travel teaching. Corinne has spent the past ten years working as a newspaper journalist and broadcaster, and is currently a journalist at the BBC World Service. She has run media workshops for Bahá’í communities in Britain, Australia and the United States, and is happy to provide such training for Bahá’í Councils, Training Institutes and communities. Corinne is willing to travel anywhere in the United Kingdom, although she would be grateful for a month’s notice in advance and some assistance with travel fares. Regarding her general travel teaching offer, Corinne is happy to give talks on -

• Bahá’í Principles
• Science & Religion
• Women & Equality
• Politics and New World Order

at schools; colleges; public meetings; women’s groups; peace groups; religious organisations, firesides and conferences.

If you would like to take Corinne up on any aspect of this wonderful offer, contact her direct, Tel: 01223 367763, by e-mail: CPodger@aol.com or Corinne.Podger@bbc.co.uk and please send TTS a report on how you utilised this teacher.

Please contact the TTS for general guidelines on hosting travel teachers. Advice on this matter was printed in the January issue of Bahá’í Journal UK (it’s always handy to keep those back issues..).

Nothing but trees, as far as the eye could see, with the odd castle or two silhouetted against the horizon. Peacocks browsing outside the windows; soft mists rising each morning with the promise of another hot day in store for us. Yes, it was the third Women’s Weekend at Gelli Aur Mansion House in the heart of rural Carmarthenshire, Wales. What a setting!

Thirty handmaidens, (ten friends of the Bahá’ís) had come together to find out how they could effectively become "Catalysts for Peace" and to prepare themselves for the "Women for World Peace" event on 23rd October.

The speakers for the weekend were confident, well-prepared and offered a varied approach. Maureen Melville treated us to a moving performance on the life of Dorothy Baker with her one-woman play. Participants also enjoyed the peace of a tranquillity zone and the delicious food provided by the cooks.

We have wonderful summer, spring and winter schools, where we benefit from being with our menfolk, but there is a special atmosphere and intimacy that can only be reached when we are, all of us, women. Thank you to everyone who took part.

Jan Fussell

The most relaxing and inspiring gathering I have ever experienced in my life was held at the Hengrave Hall Centre in Suffolk, 4th-6th June. The fact that every individual has some special quality was discussed during one of the sessions. We also looked at the way women can make their historic mark regarding the establishment of peace. Every part of the programme was interesting to the Bahá’ís and non-Bahá’ís present. Most of all I was moved by the Saturday morning devotional. The weather was perfect, so we held it outside and it was like heaven on earth and so peaceful.

Shahla Farzaneh-Far

Three participants at the Hengrave Hall Women’s event, Left to right: Khatereh, Farzaneh and Shahla

Children enjoying the new dining room at the El Hogar Tierra orphanage

The El Hogar Tierra Santa Orphanage, situated in a small town sixty miles from the Capital, was officially opened in 1986 by its founder and present director Santiago Martinez who is a Bahá’í. This was in response to a need he saw to care for the many girls abandoned by their parents for social, economic or personal reasons. Impoverished families often see girls as a greater economic strain than boys and are more likely to abandon them. The UK Bahá’í community has supported it from the start and activity both here and in Honduras continues.

At the El Hogar Tierra Santa Orphanage, which is now an officially BASED-UK supported project, a new dining room built with some of the aid money raised through our appeal following hurricane Mitch has just been opened. It has been a dream of the children for ages to have a decent dining room, the previous eating conditions having been very primitive. It has been set up like a café and the children are thrilled with it. The reject china donated by a country club in Henley, sent on one of the Fyffe boats, has also arrived. They are particularly delighted with the gold emblems on each item and have put them away to be used only on special occasions! Money has also been spent on much needed new loos, a new play area for the smallest children, a fridge, other kitchen equipment and preparing a room for the education of special needs children.

A lot of emphasis is placed on education so that the young people leave the Orphanage well equipped to support themselves and to be of service in the world. There is a library, a quiet room for homework and during the holidays a teacher comes to assist children who need extra help. Further funding will help them to develop the educational facilities. One of our future aims is to be able to pay the salary of a full time special needs teacher and a social worker as well as improve the presently very high ratio of children to staff.

It is not only academic success that is celebrated. From an early age the girls are encouraged to think of themselves as useful and creative members of society. They help with chores, take responsibility for each other, do lots of dance and drama and engage in service projects to help the many equally unfortunate people outside the orphanage. Acts of kindness, helpfulness and generosity are watched for and praised.

In the UK fundraising continues apace and nearly £7,000 has been raised since April. Enormous efforts were made by one family who organised two concerts making a total profit of £1,071. The annual Oxfordshire Cream Tea on 27th June raised a record £1,374. A very generous donation came from a Charitable Foundation. The Stevenage Thomas Breakwell School, who have valiantly supported the Orphanage since its humble beginnings in 1986, continue with their regular termly fund raising events. The 1,000 Ghanaian baskets, sold over the past few years in aid of the Orphanage, are now nearly exhausted. A youth (in the middle of her A-levels) gave a talk and slide presentation to the assembly of a primary school who have chosen the orphanage to be the beneficiary of their forthcoming annual fundraising summer fete. We also warmly thank those who continue to give regularly to support one child.

Our aim is to have one regular sponsor per child. (£25 per month is needed to feed and clothe each one). Since the hurricane there are more children than ever on the streets so as well as taking in many more girls the orphanage is now starting a house for boys. It would be wonderful for them if they could be certain of a steady sum to at least provide the basics.

By giving generous financial support we can not only contribute to the realisation of the wonderful vision that Santiago has for the children but we also greatly encourage him and the many other selfless people in Honduras who keep the project going. The Honduran government gives only minimal financial help.

If you would like to support the Tierra Santa Orphanage please contact Susie Howard at the address above. Cheques should be made payable to BASED-UK (earmarked for the El Hogar Tierra Orphanage).

Tara Shahbahrami has been in Swaziland for over ten months and is enjoying a rich variety of challenges.

The school where I have been working is situated in the capital, Mbane and is run by the National Spiritual Assembly of Swaziland. It attracts children from all over the city and beyond. At present a Bahá’í high school is under construction and once complete the Bahá’ís will be educating children from pre-school age up to university entrance.

I have been helping in the primary school which is full of life and excitement. My jobs include running art classes, taking assemblies, attempting PE classes and secretarial work. I have organised plays and presentations, and painted and ordered the modest library. In everything we do, especially in lessons with the children, we try and encourage a "Bahá’í way" of doing things. The pupils are not beaten, like in the majority of schools and moral values and ideals are often encouraged and worked on ... even in the art classes.

During the last two terms we have been able to achieve much more, thanks to the arrival of twenty-five boxes of books, games, art supplies, posters and other materials for the school. These were a collection my mother (Jill) made at the school in Somerset where she works. The children love their new library books and the classrooms are much brighter thanks to the posters and new work produced with the art materials.

My family were able to come out for a visit and Mum helped the school set up a "Learning Support department" where children with learning difficulties can be tested and their weaknesses strengthened. Hopefully in the next academic year the school will employ a remedial teacher, until then the volunteers continue to do their best.

The youth are extremely active here. They love to teach and serve in whatever way possible, from helping to build Bahá’í Centres, to dancing and singing in the streets. The dance workshop group "Talisman" practises almost every weekend and we often travel distances to perform and teach. Many NGOs (Non-Governmental Organisations) have noticed the group and like to use the dances and the positive messages they convey. A recent performance of the "drug dance" (which depicts the dilema of peer pressure and drug abuse) at the "National Drug Awareness Day" resulted in Talisman being pictured on the front page of the "Swaziland Times".

Recently the Bahá’í Faith has been introduced into the National Curriculum in all high schools in Swaziland. However, the textbook used has several mistakes about the Bahá’í Faith and its principal beliefs. Although the mistakes are not drastic, it provides a good opportunity to visit every school in Swaziland and inform teachers and students correctly about the Faith. This is such a productive exercise. The teachers are keen to learn about the Faith and whole generation of school children will grow up being well informed. This is particularly good because in Swaziland the Bahá’í Faith is well-known, but not very well understood.

As the youth group travels about from one area to another they visit the local Bahá’ís to study aspects of the Faith with them. On many occasions I have been amazed by the dedication of these friends in the rural villages. They are a real example for everyone. One time the Bahá’ís in the area where we were staying came every night to deepen, pray and sing with the youth. We often stayed up late, talking by candlelight, in a group of twenty or more. They wanted to know how to answer the challenging questions that were often asked. To help them out we spent a whole day walking to different homesteads teaching. We arrived back that evening absolutely exhausted, so I was shocked to see the arrival of all the local friends later that evening for the deepening! They had the energy and enthusiasm to stay up all night singing and talking.

Swaziland is a beautiful country and the people are friendly and welcoming. Although I do miss home, I know how much I’ve learned and how much I will miss the people and lifestyle when it’s time to return to England.

Tara Shahbahrami

The committee are happy to share with you some extracts from information received from the Department of the Secretariat, Haifa regarding Bhutan an independent country north of India in the Himalayas.

In Bhutan, there is a Local Spiritual Assembly in the capital (Thimpu) and a number of isolated Bahá’ís. The government of Bhutan does not permit pioneers into the country unless they are sponsored to undertake specific employment and the pioneers are asked to leave when such employment ceases.

However one way of enhancing the possibility of Bahá’ís serving as pioneers in Bhutan is to take advantage of the following job opportunities which arise because the governments of a number of countries, the World Wide Fund for Nature and many agencies of the United Nations, are assisting the government of Bhutan with various projects and the people who work on these projects are normally able to obtain permits to live in Bhutan for the duration of their contracts, usually for one or two years.

It is understood that among the organizations involved in some of these projects are VSA in Australia and New Zealand, the Danish development agency DANIDA, JOCV in Japan, the Dutch consultancy service SNV, Helvetas in Switzerland and VSO in the United Kingdom.

Be alert to the possibility of Bhutanese students studying at universities in our country, and to try to make arrangements for members of your community to welcome them on arrival and to show friendship towards them, so that this important section of the people of Bhutan may be attracted to the Faith and its followers, at least coming to develop a feeling of goodwill towards them.

Interested in Pioneering or Travel Teaching overseas? - then contact CIPTT at the address above. See you in November at the "Connecting with the Covenant" conference in Scarborough.

The core team of the Bahá’í Office for Religious and Educational Affairs (BOREA) held its first meeting at 27 Rutland Gate on Saturday 29th May.

The Holy Day was ideal for the launch of this new and exciting venture. National Assembly representative Trevor Finch began the meeting by outlining a far-reaching remit for BOREA, namely to develop Bahá’í participation in all areas of religious and educational significance in Britain. Enlarging on this theme, Trevor told the core team of Jenny Lockwood, Simon Trick and Jo Constantine that three main areas should be targeted -

Increasing Bahá’í membership of Local Educational Authorities’ Standing Advisory Councils for Religious Education (SACREs) in England and Wales and promoting study of the Bahá’í Faith within the RE curriculum of all schools in the United Kingdom; Promoting the Faith positively within the educational and religious establishment; Monitoring trends in national religious affairs, Religious Education and associated fields.

With a vision of such scope, BOREA will work closely with the Office for External Affairs as well as the Councils for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland who have already made headway in these areas.

The team spent the afternoon session developing an action plan. We decided that a first step must be an audit of relevant past and present activities. A questionnaire will be circulated through the quarterly mailing to which we hope your community will respond and this will give us a baseline from which to move forward. We are also producing materials to help communities approach their local SACREs, and will be investigating ways to become involved in national events such as the "JC 2000 Millenium Arts Festival for Schools" and the proposed plans for "Civics Education" in schools.

BOREA will keep the community up to date regularly through Bahá’í Journal UK. Look out for us in Scarborough at the National Conference in November.