While in Colombia, Farzam Arbab was one of the founders of
FUNDAEC (Foundation for the Application and Teaching of the Sciences).
He served as its Director from 1974 through 1988 and continues to serve
on its board. FUNDAEC was established in 1974 by a group in Colombia
who were looking for new strategies to develop the capacities of people
and to generate knowledge in isolated regions of the country. The
model, known as SAT (for "Sistema de Aprendizaje Tutorial, Spanish for
"System for Tutorial Learning") started in 1980 and centers on the use
of interactive workbooks facilitated by a tutor. In Colombia, these
tutors are trained at the Center for Rural Education.
The SAT techniques Arbab helped develop at FUNDAEC have been applied to the Bahá'í community in the form of the
Ruhi Institute, which was named after Arbab's father. Centered on
Bahá'í study circles,
the goal of the Ruhi Institute courses is to "evoke a transformative
learning experience through a learner-centered, experiential, and
collaborative approach facilitated by a tutor rather than an instructor,
a teacher, or an expert." Among the principles of the Ruhi curriculum
is the utilization of service projects to implement learning into
tangible action. The Universal House of Justice has encouraged the
emulation of the Ruhi model throughout the global Bahá'í community.
According to one researcher, the Ruhi Institute's method has resulted in
"nonhierarchical, self-initiated, self-organized small groups engaged
in study, teaching, and action" and is "becoming the core of Bahá’í
community life worldwide as the outcome of a process that has sought to
nurture the spiritual life of individuals and families and to establish
social foundations for the vision and practice of religious world
citizenship." Paul Lample, another member of the Universal Hose of
Justice, has stated "Doubtless the institute and its curriculum will
continue to evolve, both in content and form, to a level of greater
complexity in regions and nations within the framework of the
administrative order throughout the various stages of the
Divine Plan in the second century of the
Formative Age."
FUNDAEC's current Director is
Bita Correa. Aside from being FUNDAEC's current program director, Bita Correa participated as a member of the
Bahá'í International Community’s delegation to the 55th United Nations
Commission for Social Development.
A recent graduate of Bryn Mawr College, Bita Correa is the daughter of
Haleh Arbab, Farzam Arbab's sister, and Gustavo Correa.
Haleh Arbab, is currently director of the Institute
for Studies in Global Prosperity, a non-profit educational and research
organization "dedicated to building capacity in individuals, groups and
institutions to contribute to prevalent discourses concerned with the
betterment of society" through "working in collaboration with the Bahá'í
International Community." Born in Iran and educated in the United
States, Haleh Arbab previously lived in Colombia from 1982 to 2005 where
she worked with the FUNDAEC.
Haleh Arbab's husband and Bita Correa's father is
Gustavo Correa.
Since 2008, Gustavo Correa has been a member of the Universal House of
Justice. Before his election to the Universal House of Justice, in
2005, he was appointed to the International Teaching Centre. Along with
his brother-in-law, Farzam Arbab,
Gustavo Correa was one of the founders of FUNDAEC and later served as
its Director, the position currently held by his daughter, Bita Correa.
For a number of years now,
Unity Foundation has collaborated with FUNDAEC and "since June 2013, Unity Foundation has renewed its collaboration with FUNDAEC."
Embracing oneness means rethinking prosperity and development
30 December 2016
LUXEMBOURG — Unity Foundation, an organization started by a small
group of Baha'is 25 years ago and inspired by the teachings of the
Faith, has been one of several Baha'i-inspired agencies that assist
social and economic development organizations around the world to access
essential funding. The challenge before it is how to facilitate the
flow of funds from one part of the world to another while preserving and
strengthening a local community's ownership and capacity to direct its
own path of development.
Baha'i endeavors for social and economic development operate on the
principle that populations should be the protagonists of their own
material, spiritual, and intellectual advancement, not just recipients
or mere participants. The majority of such initiatives are sustained by
resources in the local communities that are carrying them out. Some
efforts continue to grow in scale and complexity and eventually require
financial resources from outside the community to enable them to extend
proven practices and have even greater impact.
Agencies inspired by the Baha'i teachings, such as Unity Foundation,
have been learning about raising financial resources in support of
development initiatives that have reached a certain level of growth and
complexity. In these instances, Baha'i institutions that have been
following such organizations closely arrange contact with the
Foundation.
These projects fall mainly into two categories: those that provide
education for children through the establishment of community-based
elementary schools and those that develop the capacities of youth in
rural areas to become promoters of community well-being.
"Guided by our principles, we do not initiate, carry out, or manage
the development projects in other parts of the world," said Fernand
Schaber, the President of Unity Foundation's Board of Directors. "We see
ourselves as equal partners with those projects that receive funds. Our
role is to represent their vision to the donor community in Luxembourg.
"We also do not choose the projects. They are recommended to us
through certain Baha'i institutions. We have learned that working within
this system helps us to avoid the many pitfalls that can arise in local
communities when financial resources are not provided through
appropriate channels."
A central element of the Foundation's understanding of development is its conception of prosperity.
"We recognize the importance of being prosperous in material means,
infrastructure, and technology, but it is of equal, if not greater
importance, for communities to be prosperous in family and societal
unity, in harmony, in high-mindedness, in peace, in generosity, in
justice, and in equality between men and women," explained Board of
Directors member Angela Roldan. "The hope is that children in every
society will grow up with a heightened awareness that the accumulation
of wealth should not only benefit themselves but be a source of the
wealth and happiness of others.
"From this perspective then, we do not adhere to the practice of
dividing the world into groups of 'the developed' and 'the
underdeveloped.' Every country in the world has a long way to go in
learning how to reach true prosperity. What is required is a global
process of learning, in which each nation and people, all on an equal
footing, can contribute its share of insights and be seen as a
protagonist along its own path of development. And this is the principle
that we try to reflect in our relationships with our partners in other
parts of the world," Dr. Roldan said.
In the context of arranging funds for projects around the world, the
Foundation is learning how to contribute to the discourse on development
in Luxembourg, drawing on the experiences being generated globally from
the projects with which it works.
"The conversations we have with donors are not just about fund
raising. More broadly, these conversations are raising consciousness
about the concepts and principles central to development," said Yves
Wiltgen, the Foundation's Public Discourse Officer. "We are promoting a
dialogue around these ideas in different spaces, including with
individual donors, in schools, in the media, and in special gatherings
or other events.
"Interestingly, people see that insights generated in other parts of
the world are also applicable to the development of Luxembourg. For
example, knowledge is being gained about how communities can become
united around higher aspirations and how people can take initiative to
help others in their communities," continued Mr. Wiltgen.
The work of Unity Foundation has advanced in collaboration with the
Luxembourg Government's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which has developed
a deep appreciation for the principles guiding the organization.
Together, the Foundation and the Ministry have facilitated the flow of
more than €3 million to projects in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast
Asia over the past five years.
On 19 November, Unity Foundation hosted a formal dinner to mark its
twenty-fifth anniversary. One hundred sixty individuals attended the
event at the Cercle Cite in Luxembourg. Guests included people from the
business, media, and government sectors, as well as other individuals
who have supported the Foundation's work.
"This event was a lot more than a celebration of twenty-five years of
Unity Foundation," stated Mr. Wiltgen. "It is a sign of a certain level
of consciousness that material wealth in one part of the world and its
absence in others is not acceptable when we consider the whole world as
one family."
