Teaching stories:

Please, if you have any teaching trips you would like to share send them to me and I promise I will add them to this section of the page.

My friend Delaram from Ecuador just got back from her service in Hungary and sent me this information to do the first update of this page:

HUNGARY

1. I arrived in Budapest-Hungary the 12th of April 2001. I was working with two Dance Workshops in the city of Budapest. These two workshops were formed in January 2001 when the DDT (Diversity Dance Theater from Germany) had a tour in Europe and two of the members went to Hungary for a long-term service with these dance workshops.

The first dance workshop was running in downtown Budapest and there were about 10 members in the group, their age average is 18 years old and they are mostly non- Bahai's. This dance workshop had several performances in different Schools, High Schools, Cultural Centers, and at some Bahai events.
Some of the members of this dance workshop are in Study Circles and investigating a lot about the Bahai Faith. And the Bahai community of Budapest has a good relationship with them.

The other dance workshop was located a little bit outside of Budapest, in an island called Csepel. In this dance workshop the members were non- Bahais and mostly pre-youth. Because of different situations with the members parents and the school summer break, it was decided that this dance workshop would continue in September.
These two dance workshops are under the responsibility of the Bahai Community of Budapest.

2. A Roma Community 5 hours away from Budapest, called Sarkad, has a very good and active Bahai community. In this town, there was a group of youth that wanted us to go and teach them one of the dances that is no to drugs and alcohol
When went there we realized that these youth were totally immersed in drugs, alcohol and all type of bad things; so it was very challenging to teach them a dance that is based on a principle that they didn't believe in.
But anyhow, they learned the dance and we went back to Budapest and after a very short period of time we received another phone call saying that they want to learn more and they want us to tell them more about the Bahai­ teachings. We went back and they learned two more dances and were very impressed with the Bahai principle of elimination of all types of prejudice (which they have to face every day with Hungarians) and saw real equality amongst the bahais. After a while, these youth started to have a good relationship with the members of the Bahai community of that town and declared themselves as Bahai's.
So after this inspiring event, we decided to go back and stay for a longer period of time and try to deepen the youth.
We also made a daily schedule so we would start with early devotional prayer meetings (so they could learn to pray every day). We started to work with Ruhi Institute material in the mornings and late afternoons. Also every day we would have from two to three hours of dance rehearsals; Aad at the end of the day, at nights, we would sit together and talk about different topics and answer questions according to the Holy Writings.

3. Mr. Zia Vojdani came to Hungary and we were traveling through the Roma communities of the different towns (Torokszentmicl and Tiszapushpoki), and we had childrens classes and Study circles with the Ruhi Institute material. Also we visited the Bahai friends of these communities and the parents of the children who assisted to the Bahai childrens classes.
Now, one of the youth that traveled with us is giving a year of service in these two communities and consolidating the activities and the new Bahais.

4. The Bahai Summer School took place on August of 2001 in a town about 5 hours away from Budapest. After this Summer School there was a Teaching Project in a town called Doboz, which is about 20 minutes away from Sarkad. This community had 10 new declarations and the neighbor communities are supporting and visiting these new believers to continue with the activities.
Baha u llah gave me the opportunity to be and serve in Hungary for almost 5 months, and now that I am going back to my home country Ecuador, I would like to thank the International Teaching Center for assisting me in my services in Hungary.

I just got this from someone in Panama

PANAMA

Alla'u'Abha! I am writing to you from Colon City in the Republic of Panama. This brings a warm hello to you and the friends, and our most loving prayers. We are trying to revive this small community. On Sunday 9 of December old friends will come together, with one NSA Member and his dear wife also commuting all the way from the capital, Panama City, to uphold us in this pre-convention. And then, with the help and presence of Abdu l-Baha, it made 12 of us. That was really exciting! And also a miracle in itself to have moved so many inactive to come over. We will hold a second meeting on Sunday at 10, to say prayers and to being our first deepening lesson in ages. We hope to be uplifted to begin our teaching plans.