One of the
observations that I had shortly after arriving here is that Rwanda and her people
have an evident need for the Baha’i Faith.
Most people
in the US and the EU know about the terrible days of 1994 when a million
Rwandan people were killed in one hundred days.
These events were an example of inter-tribal warfare: the Hutu tribe,
which was in the majority and which controlled the government, was encouraged
through government run media to kill all members of the Tutsi tribe, which had
been in power until they were deposed by the colonial government before Rwanda
gained independence. The current
government has made unity of all Rwandans one of the central themes of the
development of Rwanda. As you may know,
the unity and oneness of all of the people of the world is a central theme of
the Baha’i Faith. The name of this blog is from one of many
verses that express this theme:
“…Know ye not why We created you all from the
same dust? That no one should exalt
himself over the other. …it is incumbent on you to be even as one soul, to walk
with the same feet, eat with the same mouth and dwell in the same land, that
from your inmost being, by your deeds and actions, the signs of oneness and the
essence of detachment may be made manifest.”
Baha’is in Rwanda, and
all over the world, are learning specific types of actions that manifest the
signs of oneness. These actions, also
referred to as “paths of service”, and “the core activities,” are taught
through a curriculum which has been created, tested, and eventually published
by The Ruhi Institute in Columbia: http://www.ruhi.org The curriculum is taught through Study
Circles, where a tutor, who has been trained to facilitate the study circles,
leads other participants in the study of the books of the Ruhi Institute. It is through study circles that people learn
both the spiritual principles and the practical aspects of following the other
paths of service. A letter from the
Universal House of Justice, the elected body that leads the Baha’is of the world,
describes these activities succinctly:
“The activities that
drive this process, and in which newly found friends are invited to engage—meetings
that strengthen the devotional character of the community; classes that nurture
the tender hearts and minds of children; groups that channel the surging energies
of junior youth; circles of study, open to all, that enable people of varied backgrounds
to advance on equal footing and explore the application of the teachings to
their individual and collective lives—may well need to be maintained with assistance
from outside the local population for a time.”
Anne and I came to Muhanga
to offer our assistance in initiating and maintaining these activities
here. Since we don’t speak Kinyarwanda,
and most people here are not fluent in English, we have had much help from
members of other Baha’i communities in Rwanda.
(There are several large and growing Baha’i communities in different parts
of the country.) They come to tutor study circles, and accompany people as they take their first steps along the various paths of service. So far, we have three
children’s classes, four junior youth groups, and several study circles. We still need to encourage the establishment of
some regular devotional meetings! (That will have to be my next project.)
We are at a point now
where we still need tutors to come from other parts of Rwanda to lead study
circles in Kinyarwanda. It is our goal
to have several residents of Muhanga trained as tutors before we go to the
United States in July. That will help
the local Baha’i community to be self-sustaining. God willing, we will return to Rwanda in
August, but we can’t be certain of anything.
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