December 22. On this date in 2002, the Bahá’í World News Service reported the Club of Budapest's honoring FUNDAEC with a Change the World -- Best Practice Award. FUNDAEC's current program director is Bita Correa, niece Farzam Arbab and daughter of Haleh Arbab and Gustavo Correa.

December 22. On this date in 2002, the Bahá’í World News Service reported the Club of Budapest's honoring FUNDAEC with a Change the World -- Best Practice Award. FUNDAEC's current program director is Bita Correa, niece Farzam Arbab and daughter of Haleh Arbab and Gustavo Correa.

Haleh Arbab Correa 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 is married to 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.

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 the sister of Farzam Arbab. Initially elected in 1993 to the Universal House of Justice, the supreme governing institution of the Bahá'í Faith, Farzam Arbab retired from that body in 2013. Before his election to the Universal House of Justice, in 1988, he was appointed to the International Teaching Center. The International Teaching Centre, whose seat is at the Bahá'í World Centre in Haifa, Israel, is composed of nine Counsellors appointed by the Universal House of Justice and tasked with duties to stimulate and coordinate the Continental Board of Counselors and assist the Universal House of Justice in matters relating to the teaching and protection of the faith. All of the current members of the Universal House of Justice previously served as members of the International Teaching Centre. In 1980 he was appointed to the Continental Board of Counsellors for the Protection and Propagation of the Faith in the Americas, on which he served for eight years. From 1970 until 1980 he served as the Chairman for the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Colombia.

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."

Farzam Arbab's son is Paul Arbab. "Born in the US, Paul grew up in Colombia. He holds an MBA and joined the board of Unity Foundation in January 2007. Since then he has been able to provide valuable input to the strategic direction of the Foundation. He is a proud father of two toddlers and strongly believes in the power of education." Paul Arab is the Administrator of Unity Foundation.

Unity Foundation, which works with Luxembourg's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and "a network of local development agencies assisting them in their efforts to build capacity amongst populations to take charge of their own social and economic development" is "governed by a board of directors which regularly meets to consult on the strategic direction of the organization. The day-to-day work is being carried out by the office team. Our external consultancy body, the Office of Social and Economic Development (OSED) in Haifa, Israel connects us to grass-root development agencies which have the capacity to work with external funding organization. OSED and the [Luxembourg] Ministry of Foreign Affairs act as two filters ensuring the quality and integrity of our projects."

November 13. On this date in 1919, Gale (Keass) Bond was born in Emod, Hungary. She would be named a Knight of Bahá'u'lláh along with her husband Jameson Bond for the District of Franklin in the Canadian Arctic.

November 13. On this date in 1919, Gale (Keass) Bond was born in Emod, Hungary. She would be named a Knight of Bahá'u'lláh along with her husband Jameson Bond for the District of Franklin in the Canadian Arctic.

November 12. On this date in 1906, Emeric Sala, one of the first nine members of the NSA of Canada, was born. In 1947, he received a letter from Shoghi Effendi stating "future Guardians: they cannot "abrogate" the interpretations of former Guardians, as this would imply not only lack of guidance but mistakes in making them; however they can elaborate and elucidate former interpretations, and can certainly abrogate some former ruling laid down as a temporary necessity by a former Guardian."

November 12. On this date in 1906, Emeric Sala, one of the first nine members of the NSA of Canada, was born. In 1947, he received a letter from Shoghi Effendi stating "future Guardians: they cannot "abrogate" the interpretations of former Guardians, as this would imply not only lack of guidance but mistakes in making them; however they can elaborate and elucidate former interpretations, and can certainly abrogate some former ruling laid down as a temporary necessity by a former Guardian."

Emeric Sala was born on November 12, 1906 in the small Hungarian village of Havas Dombrovica, which roughly translates as “snowed-in village.” He was the first of four children born to a Jewish lumber inspector and his wife. His parents later moved to Herrmannstadt in Sibenbuergen, now Sibiu in Romania, where he spent his school years.

After the First World War and still in his teens, he made his way to Hamburg, where he landed a job as a ship’s helper and set sail for the west coast of Africa. The ship returned to Hamburg and then sailed for Montréal, where he arrived in 1927.

In addition to his native Hungarian, Sala spoke Romanian, some German, French and Italian, but he did not speak a word of English. Learning the language became his obsession. Rather than simply reading books, he wanted to hear people talk, so he attended every free lecture he could find. He was especially intrigued by one public meeting at which May Maxwell talked about the Bahá’í Faith; this led to his enrolment as a Bahá’í in 1929. He was a founding member of the first Canadian Bahá’í Youth Group in Montréal. They held classes, and attendance soon reached about 60. It was the first organized Bahá’í class for youth in the Western Hemisphere. He soon met his future wife, Rosemary Gillies, whom he married in 1934.

The English language, once his handicap, now became his strength. He established a small import business and travelled coast to coast, giving talks on the Bahá’í Faith wherever and whenever he could. In 1937, at the encouragement of May Maxwell, he extended a European business trip to include Haifa, where he had the privilege of spending an evening alone with Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith. Upon his return, Emeric Sala and Siegfried Schopflocher together purchased the first Canadian Bahá’í property at Beaulac, in the Laurentians, north of Montréal, where the country’s first Bahá’í summer and winter schools were held.

In 1945, as the world emerged from World War II, Sala published This Earth One Country. Both Emeric and Rosemary Sala were elected to the first National Spiritual Assembly of Canada in 1948, and they continued to serve until 1953. That year, they responded to Shoghi Effendi’s call for Bahá’ís to arise to serve humanity around the world. Sala transferred his business to his brother, and the couple sold their charming home on the banks of the St. Lawrence River in St. Lambert, Quebec, planning to settle in the Comoro Islands, off the east coast of Africa.

Despite their plans, the French authorities refused to grant them permission to reside in the Comoro Islands, so Shoghi Effendi asked them to settle in Zululand instead. There, they befriended many Africans, who came to refer to Rosemary Sala as “our mother”. Rosemary founded school libraries and organized shipments of books from North America. After returning to Canada briefly in the late 1960s, the couple left for Guadalajara, Mexico, and then travelled extensively throughout Central America.

Rosemary Sala died in Mexico on 24 January 1980. Emeric Sala continued to serve in Mexico and later remarried. His second wife, Donya Knox, became a Bahá’í, and together they travelled throughout America, China, India and Europe.

Emeric Sala died on September 5, 1990, a few weeks after his wife’s death.

On February 19, 1947, a letter addressed on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to Emeric Sala, stated "future Guardians: they cannot "abrogate" the interpretations of former Guardians, as this would imply not only lack of guidance but mistakes in making them; however they can elaborate and elucidate former interpretations, and can certainly abrogate some former ruling laid down as a temporary necessity by a former Guardian."

19 February 1947
To Emeric Sala
Dear Bahá'í Brother:
Your letters dated October 16th and December 19th, with enclosures, were both received, and our beloved Guardian regrets very much the unavoidable delay in answering you, caused by pressure of certain urgent matters that arose.
He feels that there must have been some misapprehension on your part of his statements regarding future Guardians: they cannot "abrogate" the interpretations of former Guardians, as this would imply not only lack of guidance but mistakes in making them; however they can elaborate and elucidate former interpretations, and can certainly abrogate some former ruling laid down as a temporary necessity by a former Guardian.
You asked his views about your statement on the Bahá'í Faith and Communism: frankly he feels that the less the friends discuss Communism, and the Faith in connection with it, the better these days, as the subject is a burning issue, and no matter how discreet we are we run the risk of being involved in this highly political issue.
He wishes you to know that he very deeply appreciates the innumerable services you and your dear wife render the Faith. Reports of your South American work have reached him, as well as your own report of your fifth western trip, and he is delighted to see the response you are getting from the public. Your book has, likewise, been a very useful addition to the teaching literature of the Faith in English, and you must rejoice to see the way God is blessing your labours for His Cause.
Tremendous work still remains to be done in Canada before the approaching election of its first National Spiritual Assembly ; he hopes you and Mrs. Sala will devote as much of your time to this field as you can.
Assuring you of his loving prayers on your behalf, and for the success of your services.
Yours with Bahá'í love,
R. Rabbani
P.S. Through Mr. Schopflocher he recently learned of your joint gift of a property to the Cause in Canada for a Summer School. This is much appreciated, and he hopes it will develop into a fine institution in the future!
May the Beloved, Whose Cause you are serving with such zeal, devotion and perseverance, reward you for your labours, guide every step you take in the path of service, and aid you to enrich the record of your meritorious and notable accomplishments,
Your true and grateful brother,
Shoghi

November 13. On this date in 1919, Gale (Keass) Bond was born in Emod, Hungary. She would be named a Knight of Bahá'u'lláh along with her husband Jameson Bond for the District of Franklin in the Canadian Arctic.

November 13. On this date in 1919, Gale (Keass) Bond was born in Emod, Hungary. She would be named a Knight of Bahá'u'lláh along with her husband Jameson Bond for the District of Franklin in the Canadian Arctic.