International News 
Bushfire Project – A Parent's Point of View
Steve Thompson
On a Thursday evening in February at about 5.00pm.
I drove up a long drive in Gloucestershire to an impressive house,
that once must have been the residence of a member of `the landed
gentry', but would be, for the next 3 days the venue for the latest
Bushfire Projects junior youth weekend course, `Sex and Drugs and
Rock & Roll' (or SDR2). This was my second visit to
a Bushfire weekend. Now, as then, I was helping with the catering
for the event. After my experiences on the first weekend –
e.g. lack of sleep, backbreaking work and endless chores to be
done, I kept asking myself why had I come back again? Well the
answer to that is, I hope, revealed in this article.
My role for the next 3 days was as a member of
staff, but I had not had any involvement in the planning and
organisation of the event. In addition, I was bringing along two of
my sons who were attending as junior youth. This meant that I had
an almost unique position _ a parent on the inside, experiencing it
as it happened. I was able to see what went on, to feel the
atmosphere, to observe the event _ (oh yes, and also to set tables,
do the washing up, chop vegetables and so on….).
So what were my impressions? Well, the strongest
one was the happiness of the youth themselves. Here were 36 young
Bahá'ís together for 3 days, many of them possibly
the only youth in their home community and now learning together,
sharing experiences, and gaining a great sense of
Bahá'í Identity. This was an all too rare opportunity
to be together with other young people of similar ages, and be able
to relate to them in a way that can't be done with their school
friends. I saw old friendships being reformed, and new friendships
just starting off.
In addition to their happiness, the youth also
exhibited great courtesy, never taking anything without first
asking, always thanking the staff and, although sometimes
boisterous were never `out of control'. They were a credit to their
parents and their communities, and were demonstrating that they
were Bahá'í youth.
My next impression was the realisation of the
staggering amount of planning, organisation, thought,
administration and management that the organisers had put into the
event. A hundred and one details had to be considered and
scheduled. And the staff was brilliant. Some of the staff travelled
quite long distances to be at the event. Most of them had been
involved in other Bushfire events and their commitment to them,
their handling of the subject matter and their rapport with the
youth was all amazing. Hats off to the organisers who must have
spent at least 10 times as much time organising the event as
they spent actually running it.
So what about the learning? Did the youth actually
get educated? Well, of course, they did. They learned about Sex and
Drugs and Rock & Roll. Actually they learned about the
Bahá'í point of view for such topics as chastity,
homosexuality, drugs, alcohol and a host of other topics related to
these subjects. They learned them through talks, workshops,
discussion groups and seminars. The topics covered could not easily
be learned at home or at a community school. It is difficult for
parents to address some of these issues with their children, and
just as difficult for the children to hear it from mom and dad. But
the various staff members who did tackle these sensitive
subjects were able to communicate with the youth as an impartial
third person, and really get across the Bahá'í views
and laws.
But it wasn't just the learning that was
important. Equally important were the experience of the learning,
and the experience of the whole event. The atmosphere of the
weekend, the community spirit that seemed to be present and the
sense of unity that came with the communal experience would
reinforce the learning. The lessons learned would have benefited
from the commitment that the youth seemed to make to them, and the
knowledge gained would perhaps be more long lasting and more
relevant as a result.
The Universal House of Justice, in it's
Ridván 2000 message, specifically mentioned the special
needs of junior youth, and told us that "Creative attention must be
devoted to involving them in programmes of activity that will
engage their interests..". The Bushfire Projects have done just
that. I felt that the youth were interested in what they were
learning, and the way they were learning it. It wasn't just
straight teaching. It was "..involvement in programmes of
activity…". The Ridván message also went on to tell us
to "…involve them in social interactions with older youth".
Although older youth were in the minority at this event, the social
interaction between the staff and the junior youth more than made
up for it. We are all `youth' at heart, anyway.
All too soon it was time to leave, and as I drove
home on the afternoon of the last day, the car full of happy but
tired youth, I considered what I had experienced. Three days of
sheer non-stop work, punctuated by all too short periods of sleep
which were broken by Gawayne's 7.30 am wake up calls (very loud
rock music) was just the physical experience. Far more important
was the spiritual one, and I felt confident that the youth had
gained a great deal. The success of the event, and of previous
Bushfire Project events, speaks for itself. The demand for places
in the next Bushfire Project weekends is sure to be high. The youth
want to come to these events, and we need more such events
in other parts of the country to give them these much-needed
opportunities. Armed with this insight to the Bushfire experience I
started wondering about the possibility of creating such an
opportunity in the North West. Watch this space!
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