Changing Times Blog

Ethiopian Giraffe Reaches The Dizzy Heights of International Acclaim

(ky) Love. At once the strongest, yet most elusive emotion. And I’m not talking about a Pepé Le Pew kind of love, I mean the pure love between mother and child.  Now imagine describing this love for kids who have lost their parents to HIV and Aids.  This is what ‘Tsehai Loves Learning‘ does, in an award winning cartoon, made for Ethiopian pre-school children.

The animated series featuring a giraffe has made an international impact, and this week was just presented it’s second major award, winning the top prize in the pre-school category, at the Japan Prize 2008, International Contest for Educational Media.  The animated series topped 30 other programs which were entered into the category from around the globe.  Competing against big budget television programs, websites, games, and interactive toys from places like Germany, Japan, Canada, and the United States its quite the achievement.

It was barely six months ago that the cartoon won the Prix Jeunesse 2008, at the International Children’s Television Festival.

In a country like where there are so many young orphans growing up without the love and guidance of their parents, this cartoon is providing much more than entertainment. Its giving them an education.

We caught up with Shane Etzenhouser and his wife Bruktawit Tigabu of the Whiz Kidz Workshop who produce the cartoon.  They left behind the Californian dream to move to Ethiopia prompted by the events of 9/11.  Armed with with the plan to “do some service… and create rather than consume” they have started afresh. Oh, and did we mention they are Baha’is?

Continued…Read the interview and watch a clip from ‘Tsehai Loves Learning’

Trials of a Voting Baha’i

(dj) The recent Canadian election season offered me time to ponder and reflect about the Baha’i attitude regarding politics. I find it quite difficult to place myself within the Canadian political system, given Baha’u’llah’s implicit command to refrain from involving oneself in partisan politics. (And living in Ottawa, you tend to hear a lot about politics no matter what time of year it is.) I’ve heard different things from many Baha’is about what forms of political involvement and expression are appropriate. The following quote from a letter on behalf of Shoghi Effendi pretty much sums up my take on the matter:

The Guardian wishes me to draw the attention of the friends through you that they should be very careful in their public utterances not to mention any political figures-either side with them or denounce them. This is the first fact to bear in mind. Otherwise they will involve the friends in political matters, which is infinitely dangerous for the Cause. (Shoghi Effendi, 1933)

That’s why, for example, I leave my “Political Views” line blank on Facebook. It’s also why I never blog about political figures, either to compliment or criticise them, either to express. When I get emails from people criticizing this or that politician—yes, even unpopular ones (who shall remain nameless)—I kind of bristle, just like I would when hearing someone backbiting about a friend.

What do you think? Is it appropriate for Baha’is to openly express their hopes that one or the other candidate in a partisan election will win? Is the opposite appropriate? Why or why not? Oh, and here are a few links as fodder for discussion: Bahá’í Involvement in Politics (from bahai.org), The Spiritual Character of Baha’i Elections (from the Compilation of Compilations), a short Compilation on Criticism. (on that, since my lunch break is over, I’m out!)

(Source: Dan Jones, Doberman Pizza)

WorldArtCollective on TV

(ky) New Zealand artist Shahriar Azdollah’s work has made it onto national TV in New Zealand.   This is just the  latest in a flurry of media attention, which his installations have attracted.

Shahriar uses facebook as a tool in his work to bring together people from around the world to speak up against the injustices faced by Baha’is in Iran.

You can see the TV clip here; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO69jp7g3no

To get involved with the World Art Collective on Facebook click here:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8214654241

Soulful Networking

(af) You might switch between different social networks regularly to tap into the web’s cutting edge, or you may just try and keep up with your friend’s trends. Either way, social networking and blogging are big business, recently Wired magazine boldly urged people to abandon their “so 2004″ blogs in light of the new horizons which Twitter, Facebook and Flickr offer. Despite this rather gloomy outlook on blogs, it seems like blogging will adapt like any other good Web 2.0 technology, to meet the shifting patterns of ever growing online communities.

Now the inevitable consequence of being young and human is that I exist within these networks, communicating with my friends and revelling in the savvy nature of it all. Though what part does spirituality play in this process? Often faith is a contentious subject to raise in real life, so how do we express ourselves online whilst contributing to ‘Soulful Networks’? Just to clarify I don’t mean networks set up praising James Brown (R.I.P.), I mean one’s which feature the views of religious communities.

A simple web search will direct you towards different unofficial Baha’i social initiatives such as ‘Bahai Hub‘ or ‘Our Bahai Tube‘, and I guess questions arise whether to use the mainstream stuff or switch to these outlets, or maybe a balance of both? It seems that regardless of your personal approach, religion is a popular topic of discussion online within niche sites but also on popular services as well. United States presidential candidate Barack Obama has used Facebook, as well as the Christian Social network ‘Faith Base‘ to connect with young voters, so some politicians are crossing the board on this one.

One thing that strikes me is, that whether or not the usage of new online media appears to be wonderful or challenging to users, people seem to search for a sense of community that they are missing in their daily lives. The numerous blogs and forums on the Internet addressing worldwide social concerns, is truely testament to this e.g. the impact of ‘Blog Action Day’.

If a virtual community can help assist different audiences discuss their views to gain understanding or to reach a common goal, I guess the shape and form of the network is not that vital. One thing that the web has shown so far is that one voice can potentially reach millions, and due to the nature of these networks the millions can engage in dialogue right back to that one person (disregarding the spam that is).

So I’ll look forward to your views in the comment section of this post, and he next time I update my online status I hope I can share with you a message that uplifts the soul, rather then what I had for lunch…which was pasta by the way!

Video about Iran’s “Religion in the Modern World Conference”

As mentioned in our previous post Iran hosted a conference titled “Religion in the Modern World Conference”. The conference was attended by a number of distinguished world leaders including former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. It was hosted by the Foundation for Dialogue among Civilizations, an organization founded by Mohammad Khatami, Iran’s former president (1997-2005).

Speaking to Iran’s Labor News Agency, Khatami said: “Rebellion against religion across the world is a backlash of the abuse of the power of religion. Religion has been abused as much as human beings. It should be saved from the clasps of dogmatic fundamentalist and violent power seekers.”

See IranVNC’s news clip about the conference which mentions the Baha’i Faith and the ongoing persecution. The clip might not stream from our blog, but view it straight on youtube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUA01uN31nk

Extracts Source: Iran Press Watch

Desecration of the Baha’i Cemetery of Darzikola [Updated]

(IPW) Darzikola is a small town associated with Qa’im-Shahr (pop. 175,000 in 2006) in the province of Mazandaran, in the northern part of Iran. It is also near the larger towns of Babul and Sari (see the attached maps) and has had a relatively small Baha’i community for many years.

Because this region is rather remote and email communications are not readily available, reports being received on the incident described below are incomplete, but this is what we know as of Friday, 24 October:

During the early hours of Thursday, 23 October 2008, a number of individuals along with at least one bulldozer arrived at the Baha’i Cemetery of Darzikola, which is one of several Baha’i Cemeteries in that region. They proceeded to destroy all the Baha’i graves, and one estimate by the Baha’is of that region suggests that over 90% of the graves were desecrated and their stones broken.

This heinous crime was discovered by the Baha’i community on Thursday morning. The Baha’is took their complaint to the authorities, but it fell on deft ears as the authorities stated, “This is not our concern.” However, a number of individuals working for the municipality were so moved the shocking nature of this incident that they offered to come to the Cemetery and assist with the clean up – an offer that was gently refused by the Baha’is. It was clear though that most of the staff and workers at the municipality were indeed deeply moved by the graciousness of Baha’is and the cruelty of this crime.

On Friday, 24 October, the City Council posted a sign at the Cemetery sympathetic to the Baha’i community.

This heinous desecration is captured in the attached pictures. More pictures on Iran Press Watch.

Source: Iran Press Watch: Desecration of Baha’i Cemetery in Ghaemshahr

Harmony Film Fest

(ky) The glamour of Film Festivals; red carpet, beautiful stars, champagne flowing, debauched after-parties, and the inevitable tabloid scandals.  Then, maybe after all this excitement you’ll stop and think about the films themselves.  But only maybe.

This might describe some festivals, but Harmony is one that’s trying to promote something rather different. Founded in 2003 by Artist and Filmmaker Mehrzad Mumtahan, the Festival is growing year on year, and attracting entries from both Australia, where it’s held, and overseas.  Inspired by Baha’i teachings it promotes harmony and discourse amongst filmmakers about pertinent social issues.

This year’s winner of the Jury prize went to Sarah Tracton, a profoundly deaf Australian filmmaker. Her film ‘White Sound’ sensitively explored the idea of soundless existence.

The Audience also had the chance to vote and their award went to “Channel B Presents“, written and produced by Dellaram Jamali.  Together with a group of peers from Victoria, she has entered the Film Festival before, making it to the final every time.  This year, their film was about ‘Joy’ and questions the intense consumerism all around us ‘It seems in today’s society, the only way we can be happy is if we buy our way into happiness. We thought it would be a good idea to work with this concept and turn it into something which the audience could relate to and hopefully enjoy.’  (Watch the video down below)

To nurture diverse future talent, organizers hold annual film camps, where industry professionals teach and train less privileged communities in the Australian Outback. They also work with various educational and governmental institutions to encourage positive filmmaking.

And finally, as a treat for those of you coming along to Changing Times this year, there will be a screening of the winning films.

Watch award-winning ‘Channel B Presents’ now:

Rapid Character Investigation

Like single people around the world, one of the biggest challenges facing Baha’i singles, young and old, is how to find a suitable marriage partner and practice character investigation as intended by the Master, ‘Abdu’l-Baha’.

One of the approaches, recently offered at the ABS (Association for Baha’i Studies) conference, to give rise to the discussion of the issue was Rapid Character Investigation, which appears to employs elements of speed dating. In essence the session facilitates an environment where learn more about the principles for marriage offered in the Writings as well as forum to connect with others and learn more about themselves and the people they meet.

For more information about the RCI project go here.

While each individual is left to themselves to find their way, the question is what works and what does not.