anonymous cowgirl

Allowing ourselves to be full of joy is a skill. It can be learned, and it contributes to providing the environment envisioned in the courses of the training institute.

• On Friday, Negin and I sat down with a group of junior youth in our neighborhood. They were practicing tricks on their BMX bicycles and were very happy to explain what they were doing. Out of this conversation among equals, a very honest discussion emerged – the sort of discussion that would occur between close friends.
• On Sunday, we were singing a song about justice with a group of children in a nearby town, and the kids started laughing hysterically – which is a pretty awesome sight to witness – but they kept on singing through their laughter. Pretty soon everyone in the room – parents, teachers, older siblings and children were cracking up as well.
• Stop motion animation brings me joy. Here are a few good ones:
  • Shirin and Na’im made their own stop motion animation – “Newspaper Hats and Paper Pipes.”
  • Oren Lavie’s stop motion music video for “Her Morning Elegance” is pretty great.

Anyway, that’s what I learned this week. What did you learn?

Reprinted with permission of the Bahá’í World Centre

On a 90 degree weekend, we tried to complete Unit 3 of Releasing the Powers of Junior Youth. Building off what we learned about training junior youth animators last week, here is an update on the second weekend:

• Not everyone read all of Spirit of Faith during the week, so we split into small groups, each of which studied one section. Than we reconvened to share what we had learned. Participants who had been quiet in the big group ended up sharing wonderful insights in this smaller space. And the whole group developed a deeper appreciation for the material.
• At the end of Unit 3, we split into groups with our co-animators to make plans. Each group made some kind of commitment to enter the field of service, and the tutors compiled a calendar of these pledges.
• The participants are amazing individuals, all of whom are willing to contribute time and effort for the betterment of society. Adults often underestimate what young people are capable of doing, but it was clear from both weekends that these young people (age 14 to 60!) are amazing. Oh yeah – we had a 14 year old classmate of one of the participants come for the second weekend. She is a rising sophomore in high school, and she contributed a lot to that group’s planning discussion.
• Pictures! There’s a small set of photos up on Flickr called Animator Training June 2010.

As we step into the field to visit with the junior youth, these words from the Universal House of Justice come to mind: “There is every indication that the programme engages their expanding consciousness in an exploration of reality that helps them to analyse the constructive and destructive forces operating in society and to recognize the influence these forces exert on their thoughts and actions.”

Reprinted with permission of the Bahá’í World Centre

This last weekend, we completed two units in Releasing the Power of Junior Youth, a training course for animators of junior youth groups. Here are a few things we learned:

• Having a sense of purpose changes the environment of a study circle. When the participants are there because they intend to help adolescents contribute to the betterment of their communities, then everything we talk about – everything we read – everything we do – is in light of that commitment to study and action.
• Preparation is super helpful! Tutors should get together beforehand and read through any material to be covered that day. Look for places in the text that may require a different pace, or a different approach to study. What are the major concepts or themes? Is there relevant guidance that might apply to discussions when they arise?
• Youth will invite other youth! This has been one of the best parts. When participants are excited, they will invite their friends. Then the conversation is enriched with diverse expression.

Will share more after round 2 this weekend. Have you been in one of these trainings? What did you learn at yours?

Wasn’t my wife’s last post well done? She’s such a good example of putting meaningful thoughts on this blog. She’s also left me the perfect segue to a new post on maturity.

As the growth of the junior youth empowerment program continues in our region, and as Negin and I look at the next few years, it seems like we’re entering a new phase. As such, I’ve been seized by an organizational bug – trying to arrange my hopes and goals for potential doctoral programs, trying to be more systematic about the continued growth of junior youth groups, even going to bed earlier! The following passage from Baha’u'llah sums it up nicely:

Thyolo, Malawi (© Bahá’í World Centre. All rights reserved.)

Day Thirteen of the Baha’i Fast. Yesterday, Negin and I were preparing for junior youth group. As it turned out, no one was home. But the preparation was great. Since we are in the midst of expanding the group, we reflected on some of the initial conversations we might want to have with new participants. And given our experience with a service project last week, we tried to assemble a set of concepts related to service.

With the help of Releasing the Powers of Junior Youth, the fifth book in the Ruhi Institute, we determined the following sequence of ideas:

1. That we all need other people; that we all depend on one another.
2. A question: Who do you depend on? Can you imagine a world where we never received help from anyone?
3. A definition: service is any act undertaken in the spirit of helping others
4. We just had an experience with service last week. Use the three elements of cooperation to analyze our service project.
   • A common goal: What was the goal of our service project?
   • Collaboration: How did we all participate? What did each of us contribute, and in what ways would the service project not have been possible had we lacked the contribution of any one of us?
   • Coordination: How did we coordinate our actions? Possibly provide external examples of coordination. e.g. Imagine two people meeting to construct a fence. If one comes on Monday, and the other on Tuesday, they cannot build the fence.

It was wonderful to realize that the concepts introduced in earlier books (in the context of teaching cooperative games to young children) are not separate from the concepts used later on in the sequence.

Lowell Mass-19.jpg (CC / BY-NC-ND 2.0 by Anne Ruthmann)

It is so beautiful outside today! Continuing our commitment to post every day throughout the Baha’i Fast, here is the promised report about the junior youth group’s service project.

Based on a visit to one of the homes of the junior youth, we had agreed to offer service with some of the elderly folks at the Community Family day center. It was a wonderful experience. We had prepared the previous week by making cards with the quotation “…let your heart burn with loving-kindness for all who may cross your path.” On the back of each card, the junior youth wrote questions about friendship, such as “What does friendship mean to you,” or “How have you experienced friendship in your life?” These questions tied in nicely with conversations we had been having within the junior youth group.

The staff and the elders at Community Family were happy to have us, and were very kind. We ended up having a productive conversation about friendship, and then the junior youth played some games with the elders.

After the activities, we walked home together and reflected about our experiences. One of the junior youth remarked that he wasn’t sure what the elders at the center really needed, and we talked about his understanding that service should be about the needs of other people – not about your own desires. We agreed that the best way to better understand the needs of the elders at the center would be to continue to get to know them by visiting and spending time with them.

Next week we will find out whether the junior youth want to continue this kind of service project, or focus on something else. But I have no doubt that they’ve demonstrated their capacity to act, reflect, and consult about making a difference in their community.

Copyright © 2008 The Ruhi Foundation. All rights reserved.

Last Saturday, the junior youth group in Lowell got together. We said a prayer, and then took a walk down by the canal, which had recently been emptied. M. talked about wanting to make the neighborhood better for her younger siblings and for the other children. Over the course of the conversation, we identified two lines of action:

1. Offering homework help on Fridays to the younger kids
2. Helping with children’s classes on the weekend

So it looks like M. will start helping us teach children’s classes! When we finally got down to the canal, Negin noticed a purse with its contents strewn about the path. While M. and I talked about the power of expression and how it can be used to transform the world, Negin was quietly sorting through the contents of the purse. When we walked over to her, she explained that the purse could have been stolen, and M. decided that we should try to contact the owner. When that proved difficult, we set out to drop the purse off at the police station and explain what we had found.

Copyright © 2008 The Ruhi Foundation. All rights reserved.

We could tell M. was excited and nervous about actively engaging in this endeavor. During the walk over, she practiced explaining what we had found. Watching her gather up the courage to talk to the police officer was very inspiring, and seeing the excitement on her face after following through on her commitment was even better.

We hope that in a small way, M. saw how the power of expression can be used to make our communities better.

Related links:

• Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment Program (comments from participants)
• Louis Gregory Baha’i Institute junior youth program
• Short videos presenting the junior youth program
• Development Learning Press