The recent
Grenfell Tower disaster highlighted how a community can work together to help
its members in time of need. The response by local people, and those further
afield, to those who were suddenly left without food, clothing or shelter, was
a positive example to us all.
I asked my
daughter, Helena, to do a guest blog about BASED-UK, to explain a little about
the Bahá’í view of social and economic development:
"Social change is not a project that one group of people carries out for the benefit of another." This striking statement from the Universal House of Justice, the supreme body of the worldwide Bahá’í community, has set the direction of Bahá’í-inspired social and economic development.
"Social change is not a project that one group of people carries out for the benefit of another." This striking statement from the Universal House of Justice, the supreme body of the worldwide Bahá’í community, has set the direction of Bahá’í-inspired social and economic development.
Most
development projects are borne out of a sincere desire to help our fellow man,
to alleviate the suffering of others. Yet, whilst so much excellent work has
been done, there is a recognition that we are a long way from achieving social
justice. Therefore, the guiding principles of the development projects inspired
by the Bahá’í teachings are that they must be created from a genuine need
identified by the people themselves, and they must be for the benefit of all
people of that region. Overarching principles include a firm belief in the
oneness of humankind, and in the equality of men and women.
Bahá’ís and
their friends living in an area who want to contribute to the material progress
of their society can pursue many different lines of action, some of short
duration, and there are many hundreds of these throughout the world. The ones
which have developed into full programmes of activity, which can be scaled up
and replicated, are often in the field of education. One such programme is the
“Community Schools Programme” which is currently developing in 14 different
countries across Africa. In each country a local development agency has emerged
and now there is a continental effort to share learning and best practice
across the region.
As these
development agencies begin their work in a particular country there is a period
of time for experimentation and growth. Funds raised within the country are
sufficient to further the work. As the development agency grows more complex,
there becomes a need for office staff, project coordinators and the increasing
costs of running the programme itself. It is at this point that material
resources from outside the country could be used.
Although the
Bahá’í community does not adhere to divisions such as "North" and
"South", "developed" and "under developed", there
is a need for financial resources to flow from materially prosperous countries.
To assist with this, the Bahá’í world community has a network of funding
agencies who each take on the work of representing Bahá’í development agencies to
potential donors in a particular country. One such example is BASED-UK (Bahá’í
Agency for Social and Economic Development-UK). This is a registered charity in
the UK which works with development organisations in other countries. BASED-UK
represents these other organisations when it requests funding from government,
grant-making charities, individuals and businesses.
To give an
example of its work, BASED-UK is partnered with the Setsembiso Sebunye
Foundation (SSF) in Eswatini (Swaziland). The SSF runs a school in the capital city of
Mbabane and, having gained experience with this, is now running the Community
Schools Programme. In this programme, the SSF approaches local villages to
discuss with them the idea of setting up a pre-school. These are particularly popular
and useful because formal schooling does not start until the children reach six
or seven years old. If the idea is taken up by the village, the villagers are then
responsible for setting up a committee to oversee the school operations,
identifying a classroom (usually an existing space), and also identifying someone
who could become trained as the class teacher.
The SSF
assists with all of this process, and then provides the teacher training. Once
the training is complete, the SSF also provides assistance with getting the pre-school
properly established. Over the following years it follows the progress of the
school, providing visits and ongoing teacher training. The basic costs of the
school are met by modest fees from the parents of the children attending. The
children who have been through pre-school are known for their good behaviour as
well as their proficiency in reading and writing.
By the end
of 2016 there were 21 such pre-schools in existence, serving 636 children.
Plans for 2017 are to continue to support the existing pre-schools and to
increase their number. The total budget for 2017 is £13,620. In BASED-UK's
opinion this represents excellent value for money.
Anyone moved
to contribute towards this exciting process is warmly invited to do so by
contacting baseduk@gmail.com or visiting www.baseduk.org.
A guest blog by Helena Hastie, trustee of BASED-UK
