Course: Sustainable Development and Human Prosperity (2021)
Faculty Mentor: Arthur Lyon Dahl
Prior to this course, I did not think sustainable development was possible and had no idea how deeply Bahá’ís were involved in generating global sustainable goals and processes, so this course was transformative for me. I have become a sustaining member of the International Tree Foundation and a member of the International Environmental Forum. I organize and personally lead dawn prayers every day for Bahá’ís from Southern New Hampshire and l initiated a study circle on the Prosperity of Humankind for Bahá’ís and friends of the Faith from Virginia to New England to Minnesota to Seattle.
I traveled to Birmingham, Alabama, to join the Sherman Heights community building project and partnered with a fellow course participant to promote sustainable Bahá’í businesses that use French intensive gardening and permaculture techniques to grow and sell ornamental trees, shrubs, and plants. I also volunteered to join my neighbors in our community road building efforts as a way to support my own very local community [Editor’s Note: Weare, NH].
As a result of this course and two others, I have actively pursued projects on a personal level, the community level, the regional and national levels, as well as international levels simultaneously. I am simply not the same person who joined this course although my transformative trajectory was already in place when I arrived. This course, in particular, motivated me to view my personal resources, including time and funds, as things I need to share with those engaged in transforming the world, on any level, under the guidance of Bahá’í principles.
