Part of a “reflection on the second half of my service in the United Kingdom” by Carmel Razzaghi, from Manitoba, Canada.
One of the more amazing events that Lights of Unity took part in was the UK National Bahá’í Festival in Scarborough. It was the biggest such conference I’ve ever attended - there were over 1000 participants! I have never in my entire life seen so many choices of talks - it’s a shame I couldn’t be in all the rooms at once. To add to the aura of the weekend, the incorporation of the arts in all forms was very well done. There were live musical devotionals, dramatic presentations, musicians, and last but not least the highlight - a Lights of Unity performance on Saturday night in the Spa Theatre. During the weekend, I was also granted the opportunity to co-present the speakers and presentations on Saturday morning. I was so nervous while talking, commenting and making jokes in front of all those people. It was really cool though because it felt like an awards show - our faces were projected onto the screen behind us with all kinds of different camera angles. That all by itself was truly an amazing experience. I really admire all of the hard work and collaboration that everyone put into the event. Another great point is that the performance we did was definitely one of our best. The venue itself was elegant and the audience was incredible (all cheery and loud). It was great that the cast performed at this event, because more Bahá’ís across the UK now know what Lights of Unity can do, and there has been more interest to have us in their communities. I know I speak for the entire cast when I say that we were all sad to see the weekend come to a close. I took a lot away from that weekend.
Over the past few months we have visited many places over Northern Ireland, Scotland, England, and the Republic of Ireland,. In particular, we have had two week long visits to Cork and Omagh. They both have amazing Bahá’í communities that are very active in the greater community and they planned loads of performances for us. One of the highlights of Omagh was after the final show when all the contacts we had made during the week were invited back to a Bahá’í home to socialize and to say prayers/have a devotional. Amazingly almost everyone we invited came. Since then we have been back to Omagh three times and have invited those contacts to meet up and attend events being held.
In my first report I mentioned performing at some of the more deprived areas in Belfast. Dee Street was one of the them, and since then individual cast members have been back numerous times. On one occasion the man in charge of the centre asked if we could choreograph a piece for the Christmas concert. Naturally we gladly accepted and have since been back to teach the kids. It seems that throughout the project opportunities present themselves for us to serve. Before these past six months, I honestly never noticed that these have come to us on a daily basis - and that all it takes is recognition and awareness for results and success to be achieved.
Not only have we taken part in a number of events the past three months, but during all of this I have seen further daily growth inside each and every one of us. There are not enough pages to list all the things I have learned and that I will take away from this chapter in my life. Throughout this time we have all striven to attain a high standard of successful consultation through deepenings and workshops given by parents and community members. It’s been a long learning process, but one needed nonetheless. It’s also neat to be living with youth who all want and are striving for the same things.
As the days go by the world proves to be an even smaller place. A few months back I met someone from Winnipeg, Manitoba and a few months later another group member also met her. I have met relatives of Bahá’ís that I know, and I’ve even met people that I’m related to or who know my relatives in other parts of the world.
Even though my time with the group has come to a close, I know that the group will continue to provide incalculable things for its members and the world. There is an unbelievable potential that surrounds this group of youth called Lights of Unity. This is only just the end of the beginning. The number of connections and performances are slowly increasing, and through trial and error group rules are being further developed. There is so much growth up ahead for this group. As I once said in an interview, the project is like a baby being born, it will be interesting to see how it develops over the years to come.
(From the Interim Report of the External Evaluator, December 2005)
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