wfn.org | BWNS -- Thriving community builds social unity

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Baha'i World News Service
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Thriving community builds social unity
KIGALI, Rwanda, 2 February 2005 (BWNS) -- The jubilee festivities here
were a major victory in the history of the Rwandan Baha'i community, a
speaker told the participants at the celebrations.

Uzziel Mihembezo, one of the early Baha'is of Rwanda, said that the
event was proof that despite the genocide in 1994, the Baha'i community
continues to grow.

Many Baha'is were among the 800,000 to perish during the violence, and
many fled the country.

However, the community is thriving, with 28 Local Spiritual Assemblies
and Baha'is living in 106 localities.

In a congratulatory message to the Rwandan Baha'is on the occasion of
the 50th anniversary celebrations, the Universal House of Justice wrote:
"We cannot help but marvel at the progress the Cause of God has made in
that land and express our humble gratitude to Baha'u'llah for bestowing
His healing Message upon the sorely tried peoples of that country."

One of the speakers at the festivities was a member of the Continental
Board of Counsellors in Africa, Ahmad Parsa.

"It is a great pleasure that many principles of the Baha'i Faith have
been adopted by Rwandans in their struggle to recover from what happened
in 1994," Mr. Parsa said.

Through moral and spiritual principles people can learn to avoid
dissension and disunity and to create friendship and love, he said.

The official guest speaker at the festivities, Ndigabo Francois, a
government official of Nyagisagara, praised the Baha'i community for its
efforts to build unity and understanding between Rwandans of different
ethnic background.

Those efforts include a statement in March 2000 by National Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha'is of Rwanda to the National Commission for Unity
and Reconciliation in which the Assembly urged that consideration be
given to making the principle of oneness of humanity the basis for
reconciliation in the country.

"Baha'is believe that humankind has always constituted one species, but
that prejudice, ignorance, power seeking, and egotism have prevented
many people from recognizing and accepting this oneness," the National
Spiritual Assembly wrote.

The jubilee celebrations began on 11 December 2004 in Kigali and
continued the following day in the village of Nyagisagara, 100
kilometers from the capital city.

The 450 participants at the jubilee celebrations came from different
regions of Rwanda, as well as from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of
Congo, and Zimbabwe.

Journalists from eight newspapers and magazines and from the Rwanda
National Radio and Radio Flash FM covered the event. The three main
newspapers in the country -- one in French, one in English and one in
Kinyarwanda -- published articles about the jubilee.

Baha'i choirs and dance troupes from Cyangugu, Gatenga, Goma, and Kigali
performed traditional and modern dances prompting the joyous
participants to join them on the stage.

During the event, master of ceremonies Jean Baptiste Habimana, a member
of the Auxiliary Board, described the current activities of the Rwandan
Baha'i community, emphasizing the regular children's classes, prayer
gatherings, and study circles, all of which are open to the public.

In the Kigali region, for example, there are now eight children's
classes, 13 prayer gatherings, and 20 study circles.

Among those recounting stories to the gathering about the early days of
the Baha'i community were Kitoko Mangili, now the secretary of the
National Spiritual Assembly, Uzia Mihembezo, and Isaac Ngwijebose.

Frequently mentioned in such reminiscences were the first Rwandan
Baha'i, the late Alphonse Semanyenzi, and a medical doctor, Dr. Ataollah
Taaid, who came with his wife, Zahereh, to assist in the development of
the Baha'i community.

After becoming a Baha'i, Mr. Semanyenzi worked at Dr. Taaid's clinic in
Kigali. In 1972 he was elected to the first National Spiritual Assembly
of the Baha'is of Rwanda. He also served as an interpreter during the
visits in 1972 and 1973 by Madame Ruhiyyih Rabbani, a Hand of the Cause
of God.

Mr. Semanyenzi's brother, Higiro Anastase, a member of the National
Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Rwanda, told the participants about
the time when the Taaid family first arrived in Rwanda in 1966.

Mr. Anastase said that while Dr. Taaid worked at the clinic, his wife,
Zahareh, traveled the country to tell villagers about the Baha'i
teachings. (Dr. and Mrs. Taaid, who now live in Belgium, were unable to
attend the jubilee.)

The message of the Baha'i Faith was introduced to Rwanda (formerly part
of Ruanda-Urundi) in 1953 by Mary Collison and Reginald (Rex) Collison,
a retired couple from the United States, and Dunduzu Chisiza, a young
Baha'i, from Malawi (then Nyasaland).

For this service Mr. and Mrs. Collison and Mr. Chisiza received the
accolade Knight of Baha'u'llah from the then head of the Faith Shoghi
Effendi.