Poem: How "I" Have Come to Understand

When writing, they say
To avoid the word “I”
It is an indication of
Selfish character,
Ego

In this verse I will use the word “I”
Too many times
To tell you about the journey I went on
The struggle for detachment
Realizing that to be hurt on account of
Others
Is also a sign of ego
Focusing too much on the “I”
Thinking about
How they should have treated me
How I am frustrated because of them
Me and them

There is no me
There is no them
Something lost
Something found
There is only us
And we
And our Creator

Canyon de Chelley

After a week of Ruhi intensive, the youth decided to visit Canyon de Chelley, a national monument particularly important in Navajo history. We drove two hours through sage brush and juniper bordered roads before we arrived at the visitor center and proceeded to the trailhead for White House Ruins.

At its deepest locations, the canyon walls rise 1000 feet above the canyon floor, through which runs a dry and sandy streambed. The name Canyon de Chelley actually refers to several connected canyons, including Canyon de Chelley and Canyon and Canyon del Muerto. People have occupied the canyon for 5,000 years, beginning with nomadic hunters. After corn was introduced from the south, a new way of life changed the people living in the canyon and they are known as Basketmaker for their expert weaving skills. Farming techniques improved and these people became sedentary. They grew the three sisters: corn, squash, and beans. After the Basketmaker were the Pueblo, characterized for their skills in pottery. Dispersed households gave way to villages which changed the social life and structure of the people within the canyons. The Puebloan lifestyle ended around 700 years ago as they moved out of the canyon, establishing themselves along the Little Colorado River and Black Mesa. They became the Hopi and a few stayed or visited the canyon seasonally. Then, around 300 years ago, the Navajo occupied the canyon, bringing with them herds of sheep and planting fields of corn. Among there resources in the canyon was an orchard of peach trees planted in the days of the Spaniards.

In the 1860s, General James Carleton began a process of removing Navajos from their native land and relocating them to Bosque Redondo, a reservation he had “prepared” for them. He promised them happiness at Bosque Redondo when in actuality the soil there was poor for farming and the water unclean to drink. Many died there from famine and disease. The Navajo chiefs resisted for some time but eventually had no other choice but to submit. Carleton partnered with Kit Carson, who had once had friendly relations with the Native Americans, in a campaign which involved removing the Navajos by brute force. There would be no more promises of peace or words of compromise. Many Navajos died from the cold winter, as they had been cornered by Kit Carson in Canyon de Chelley but still refused to leave. Hogans, the traditional Navajo home, were destroyed and herds of sheep killed. The peach tree orchards which the Navajos had so carefully tended were also destroyed. Thousands of Navajos were escorted on The Long Walk to Bosque Redondo over 300 miles away.

In 1868, under the new authority of General Sherman, the Navajos were allowed to return to their homeland.

Today people of Navajo descent live in the canyon, farming corn and raising sheep. Their hogans and homes dot the bottom of the canyon. Tourists are asked not to take pictures of the hogans, as they are the homes of people living there and not a spectacle for tourists to take advantage of. Though it has since been made into a National Monument which many come to see, it is still a home to Navajo people.

We took our time hiking to the White House Ruins, which were built by ancestral Puebloans. A few faded pictures remain on the surrounding canyon wall near the ruins, including a depiction of a road runner and a man. Along the bottom of the canyon vendors sell turquoise and coral jewelry or clay pots. The four of us paused for prayers in a cool tunnel, escaping the heat and refreshing our souls. I played my flute and thought of the people who had lived here throughout the years, wondering if there had been other flute players in this canyon, as I released my own song and prayer into the atmosphere.

Note: Much of the above history I learned from a National Parks service pamphlet and the second chapter of Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee by Dee Brown. One of the youth serving at NABI is Navajo and he also graciously shared his knowledge with us.

Ruhi Intensives at NABI

A view of the scenery from NABI, the white haze is from the recent and still out of control fire, now the largest in Arizona history

After some tough decision making and painful but necessary spiritual growth, I am now serving at the Native American Baha’i Institute near Houck, Arizona. I’ve only been here for about two weeks, but I’ll try to fill you in on what I’ve learned thus far….

Since I’ve been here I have helped with children’s classes and junior youth groups, facilitated an intensive Ruhi book 4, made a few home visits, and washed dishes (no less important of a service, and a needed one!) I have learned the most from the facilitating, which, by the way, just ended today! The study circle consisted of nine to ten people, although that number fluctuated from day to day as people had various appointments and commitments. Here are a few gems of learning I mined from this week:

1. It is part of Navajo culture to take things at a slower or more contemplative pace. This makes an intensive challenging because they are meant to get people through one of the books in a short amount of time. Intensive studies of the Ruhi books tend to feel rushed no matter what the setting. The books are, after all, meant to be carried out in study circles which might meet once a week over a period of months. So taking a Ruhi intensive in 5 days might sometimes feel like one has been hit and squashed by a very fast moving truck, and when it’s all over you might not remember what hit you! Some options for making intensives more manageable are to skip some exercises and suggest participants work on them at home, include ample arts and crafts to keep it from being dry, and splitting participants into small groups or partners.

2. I thought it important to remember that as a facilitator, I am also part of the learning process and in no way the “teacher figure”. Especially being a young facilitator with elder participants, I thought it necessary to establish that I was not an “authority” on any of the matters within the book 4, but rather a more experienced member of the group sharing what I had learned from when I took book 4, as well as the experience all tutors gain from taking book 7, which is all about how to facilitate Ruhi books!

3. Don’t be afraid to do the practices. In fact, you must do them for a Ruhi book to achieve its purpose. In this case, participants visited a few families and shared a simple presentation on the life of the Báb and Baha’u’llah. Sure, the presentations weren’t perfect and sometimes felt unnatural or awkward, but the group learned from the experience, even if all we learned was to overcome our fear of visiting someone in our community whom we’ve never met before or don’t talk to often.

There might be a few readers of this blog who are not Baha’i and wondering what I am talking about with all this “home visit” and “Ruhi” business. Am I some weird spiritualist or involved in some kinda obscure cult? Absolutely not! Here’s a very brief overview on some aspects of the Baha’i Faith and its emerging plan of action for bringing the family of man closer to universal peace and understanding.

There are Baha’is all over the world: from the mountains of Colorado to the villages of Zambia, from war-stricken Iraq to ever-peaceful Canada and Australia. Baha’is are followers of Baha’u’llah, whose name means “The Glory of God” in Arabic. Baha’is believe that Baha’u’llah (1817-1892) is the Promised One of all ages, fulfilling prophecies in many of the world’s religions and cultures. In Baha’u’llah’s writings we find instruction on how to build universal peace, how to improve our characters and grow spiritually, among countless other topics. A few Baha’i tenets/principles are:

1. Elimination of all forms or prejudice
2. Equality of men and women
3. The responsibility for every individual to independently search for truth and not see through the eyes of others
4. The harmony of science and religion
5. Universal education

That is not even a taste of the Baha’i Faith, but a very brief and incomplete representation. So if you agree with everything I have said up to this point, maybe you ought to check it out for yourself and delve a little deeper into the search for truth. You can start here: http://info.bahai.org/

Now for all this Ruhi business: Ruhi books are a series of materials developed by the Ruhi Institute which Baha’is around the world are using as a tool for social action with religious principles as its base. The sequence begins with Book 1, which investigates the life of the spirit, the meaning of prayer, and life after death. Book 4 covers the history of the faith, specifically the life of its two manifestations (messengers from God): the Bab and Baha’u’llah. As one progresses through the sequence, skills are acquired for teaching virtue-based children’s classes (book 3) or mentoring junior youth groups (book 5). In book 6 participants learn the meaning of a home visit, which is to visit a community member and engage in deep and meaningful conversation on spiritual matters.

Is the purpose of the sequence to convert people to the Baha’i Faith? Nope. The Ruhi books empower individuals to lift up their community. Baha’is all over the world are learning how to weave close ties of friendship with people from all walks of life and how to knit together the hearts of their community members. This sequence of courses is open to all, Baha’i or not, and all are warmly welcome to join the process of community building, which is part of a greater goal of global unity.

Baha’u’llah says:

“…These strifes and this bloodshed and discord must cease, and all men be as one kindred and one family…Let not a man glory in this, that he loves his country; let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind…”

A Poem: Lifted

Lifted

Down a road I know well
Tall grass and palms
Thatched roof huts and women in
Chitenge
Bananas and tomatoes sold on the
Side of the road
Puffed up cumulus clouds
Birds perched on wires
Today as if they have sat out
Especially to bid goodbye
The buzzard and the roller

Last memories:
Clicks and croaks of a boubou
Words from a loving, hopeful, and trusted friend
Hugs from my sisters in Africa
Limp and dried out ears of
Corn:
Her greatest resource

From above
Those square fields and
Patches
Don’t look so different from
Other parts of the
World

I am lifted
I am away now
Content
Giving myself over to God’s will
Yet ever mindful of the power of choice

Arts and Crafts: Monkey Fruit Bowls

I've decided to leave Banani and serve the remainder of the year at the Native American Baha'i Institute in Arizona. I plan to continue this blog and record the lessons I learn on my year of service.

But first: I was able to take one monkey fruit home with me, where I painted it with acrylic, sealed it with varnish, and added plastic beads. I still think this would be a great craft project for junior youth, and it could be done with wooden bowls or gourds in place of monkey fruit.

stylized Crested Guinea Fowl

The words on the inside of the bowl read: "Ye are the fruits of one tree and the leaves of one branch..." A quote from Baha'u'llah

Livingstone (Part 2)

The Baha’i Community
We spent one morning visiting some of the local Baha’is and meeting children and junior youth. The children and junior youth had prepared songs and quotes from their classes to share with us and they also invited us to play some of the games they had been playing in their classes. We were then asked to teach them a few games which we used in our own classes at Banani. What I found most exciting about this meeting was the realization that the books created by the Ruhi institute (in this case book 3 and 5) really has had a worldwide effect. The Baha’i children in Livingstone, though of course their class is unique and colored with their own individuality, are memorizing many of the same songs and quotes as the Baha’i children in Colorado, or any other part of the world! Baha’i communities are arising to create close-knit communities, and children’s classes are one of the many activities that have brought communities closer, and Zambia is no exception.

We were welcomed like family into the community and as we left the residential area, the children crowded around the Banani youth and showered us with their laughter and hugs, waving goodbye.



Victoria Falls: Knife Edge Bridge and the Boiling Pot

Mosi-oa-tunya: that’s Lozi for “the smoke that thunders”, an appropriate description for this 100 meter fall of water. Around 625 million liters of water rush over the edge per minute*, and the falls span the width of the Zambezi, around 1700 meters wide. But I’m not a fan of numbers, so suffice it to say the falls are a torrential and thundering downpour of H2O. Nura, Sharghi, Krista, and I walked out to the Knife Edge Bridge. It began to rain as walked and the storm shower combined with the mist from the falls soaked us through and through. “I’ve never been so wet,” Nura said “not even in the shower!”

The Knife Edge Bridge from a distance

The bridge to the Zimbabwe side


The Knife Edge Bridge crosses a section of the gorge and gives visitors another perspective of the falls. The mist is so heavy, however, that one must constantly watch for the mist to lift in order to catch brief glimpses of the curtain of water. There was so much water on the footpath that it covered my shoes and created miniature waterfalls on the stone steps.

The boiling pot is where the falls meet the river below and can be seen by taking a steep footbath to the bottom of the gorge. Along the way, one can enjoy the surreal rainforest landscape. White butterflies flutter up and down the heavily vegetated cliff edge and the sun shines through the glittering confetti-like spray of water. The mist from the falls makes it seem like there is always a light sprinkle of rain.

The rainforest bordering the boiling pot trail

Natal Spurfowl (Francolin) on the steps leading down to the boiling pot


At the bottom of the trail visitors stand at the edge of the Zambezi and see the powerful swirl of water created at the base of the falls. We also saw the bridge which crosses to Zimbabwe, where people bungee jump or ride the gorge swing (often times they are screaming as their bodies drop and twist like a limp doll into the gorge).

*This number is approximate and changes throughout the year. Peak flow happens to be in April, the time of my visit.

Ah yes, and once again what better way to end the post than with a picture of monkeys...er, I mean baboons!

Livingstone (Part 1)

The Mighty Victoria Falls

Livingstone is one of Zambia’s greatest tourist hotspots, as it is the site of one of the seven natural wonders of the world, Victoria Falls. It offers a variety of activities for visitors, from watching traditional Zambian dances to wildlife watching to high-adrenaline activities like bungee jumping and white water rafting. What follows is a sampling of memories and experiences from a two day trip to Livingstone which Banani International School funded for its youth volunteers.

Mosi-oa-tunya Wildlife Sanctuary
Tourists will pay hundreds, even thousands of dollars, to go on African safaris. If you have your own transportation, however, in some parks it is possible to go on a “self-drive safari” and pay much less. Guides cost extra, but I found that most of the wildlife can be found and identified on one’s own; you only need sharp eyes and good identification books.

Male Impala


We paid around 10 USD each to enter the park (the price is higher for non-residents) and drove in our white Banani van down the tarred road as well as many of the dirt side roads. As we entered the park, we tagged along behind a safari truck (that’s the way to do it!) and as they pulled over excitedly, so did we. More than half concealed behind a bush stood an elephant, only its large ears and trunk visible through the thick brush. Closer to the van stood a Blacksmith Lapwing (Plover), so named for its alarm call which sounds like a hammer striking an anvil.

Impalas thrive in this small wildlife sanctuary. Other common game animals include water buffalo, wildebeest, bushpig, and zebra. Because the park is small, there are no predators within its borders. If you are lucky, you might spot a hippo as you drive along one side of the Zambezi River, which feeds Victoria Falls. On our way out of the park at dusk, a hippo moseyed out of the river and onto the road. Safari-goers on a river cruise parallel to us craned their necks and struggled to see Mr. Hip-hop-opotamus, while we had excellent front seat views from our white Banani van…nanny nanny poo poo!

a herd of wildebeast in the shade

zebra




The Arts Café
Just down the road from the Fawlty Towers lodge where we stayed is a small building bursting with creativity. The Arts Café offers a variety of activities and I highly recommend at least spending an evening there. Visitors can take a workshop in which they learn to create their own drum, finger piano, jewelry, or other craft. Although we did not have time to take a workshop, we did attend an evening show, “Dancing Around Zambia”, in which performers shared the traditional dances from the provinces of Zambia. Most baffling to me is how they are able to move their hips without moving any other part of their body. I’ve tried it a number of times and probably look like a fool wiggling around in front of a mirror. The dance was full of energy and the performers were able to share their knowledge of the traditions behind many of the dances, as well as which tribe or province within Zambia they originate from.

Return for more tomorrow!