A reflection on my first few months of service in the United Kingdom:
It’s amazing how quickly the first three months of my year of service (ok only half a year) has passed. It seems only yesterday that I said goodbye to friends and family back home. Over this short period I have seen amazing growth and development (both spiritual and physical) within myself and the people around me. I have seen our beliefs strengthen, and through hardships and emotional moments our bonds grow tighter and our love for one another deepenfurther.
I suppose I should start from the beginning, where I am and what I am doing. I decided only a few months before I left home, that I would partake in the incredible opportunity of the inauguration cast of Lights of Unity. Of course nothing starts off smoothly; there were a few unfortunate mishaps along the way, but no obstacle too great to overcome. From the beginning of training one of our greatest worries was if we would have an appropriately sized cast. We were originally supposed to have eleven cast members, but due to difficulties with acquiring visas, and one cast member travelling without her visa we were forced to start training with seven members. Miraculously, by the end of training we had the perfect amount, a holy number nine!
There have been amazing and indescribable events that have occurred since we started touring and performing. Over the past month, we have performed to an approximate total audience of 4500, in a variety of different venues that include community centres, festivals, schools and art venues. We have also been fortunate to have had decent press coverage with photos taken at different performances, articles written about the project, and a BBC Radio Ulster interview of two cast members, and other people involved in the project. The effects the performances/ dances are having on people are unbelievable. We are both directly and indirectly teaching the faith and presenting important messages to the greater community of Northern Ireland.
One cannot truly begin to understand the reactions of the audience unless one has seen first hand a dance workshop perform. Some people are speechless, while others break down in tears because some of the issues have hit home for them. There are positive things that have come out of every performance. New possible performances have developed out of every performance we’ve done. We have also done multiple performances in the same place upon request – twice in one community centre, and three times in Belfast Victoria College. An interesting thing occurred during our Short Strand performance, a riot broke out, and we were informed later that we had kept a lot of young kids from getting involved (by watching us perform) in the riot.
Quite incredibly, we often capture the attention of the kids who generally cause trouble and who can seldom sit still. Again, the effect these dances have on people of all ages is amazing. Not only are we helping the greater community, but as a group we are helping the Bahá'í community of Belfast (and the Charles Dunning Cluster) accelerate in their process of achieving A cluster status, from initiating contact with community centres that lead to animator groups, to completing the sequence of Ruhi Books as a group. I am learning a lot and I can see the progress this cluster has made since our arrival. It is very exciting to be here at a time like this and I hope that I will be able to bring all this knowledge and tips back to my home community (Brandon, Manitoba).
Needless to say with every group comes a fan club, an we are definitely developing one of those. I am sure Northern Ireland will experience great changes over the next year with no doubt in my mind Lights of Unity serving as a catalyst. From being here, I can tell that this is exactly what this part of the world needs, the promotion of unity. It is as if the country is in slumber, and we as a group are awaking them: making them aware to think of these issues surrounding them in their everyday lives.
Carmel Razzaghi
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