Listen to Article
Preparation for Social Action
00:00
Preparation for Social Action
Over the years, a number of organizations have emerged in different parts of the world with the aim of releasing the potential of youth—helping them develop a strong sense of purpose to take charge of their own intellectual and spiritual growth and to contribute to the transformation of society. One of these organizations, FUNDAEC in Colombia, has been engaged for over four decades in an ongoing process of action and research to address the educational needs of young people in the country. The Preparation for Social Action (PSA) program is one of the results of this endeavor. The program strives to raise within a region individuals of progressively higher proficiency, capable of applying scientific knowledge together with spiritual principles to advance particular processes of community life.
The PSA curriculum is organized around the cultivation of a “developed capacity to think and act effectively within a particular sphere of activity and according to an explicit purpose.” The twenty-five units that make up the program help participants acquire one or more capabilities in the areas of language, mathematics, science, and processes of community life, including education, agriculture, health, and environmental conservation. Each unit aims at enabling the participants to serve their region by imparting relevant concepts, presenting pertinent information, and strengthening a set of related skills and abilities, as well as attitudes and spiritual qualities. Rather than using the traditionally accepted division of knowledge into disciplines as the basis for curriculum development, FUNDAEC strives to integrate relevant elements from the universe of knowledge in order to create educational materials that prepare students to work for the transformation of present-day society.
“All blessings are divine in origin, but none can be compared with this power of intellectual investigation and research, which is an eternal gift producing fruits of unending delight… Therefore, you should put forward your most earnest efforts toward the acquisition of science and arts.”
—‘Abdu’l-Bahá
The program is tutorial in nature—carried out in small groups in a local setting with the assistance of a tutor. Tutors guide the students through the textbooks, raise questions and help find answers, clarify obscure matters, encourage reflection on real-life experience, and supervise experiments and social action. They do not lecture or dictate nor are they mere facilitators of group discussion. The tutorial approach allows students to be engaged in society and participate both in productive activities and in service to the community. Further, it permits a flexible management of time.
In the last decade and a half, Bahá’í-inspired organizations in several countries have been learning to draw on the materials of the PSA program to raise up promoters of community well-being. Additional details about how this program has been introduced into other countries together with the emergence of structures to facilitate the flow of learning about its implementation are outlined in the section entitled Systematization of Learning. The following paragraphs offer some insights into the capabilities being developed by promoters of community well-being in various contexts and the kinds of actions they are carrying out to support the advancement of their communities.
In certain villages in eastern Cameroon, the Emergence Foundation for Education and Development has been learning to assist a sizeable number of individuals to benefit from the study of the PSA program. Various communities and institutions in the region have also begun to draw on the experiences of graduates of the program, who have gone on to start their own development initiatives addressing a range of concerns related to health, the environment, conflict resolution, and economic prosperity.
Several of these graduates have since formed a cooperative called Association des promoteurs de bien-être communautaire (APROBEC) to structure and systematize their initiatives. The cooperative supports a number of projects throughout four localities, known as units, in the eastern region of the country and has been involved in organizing seminars for continued study of the PSA materials as well as gatherings for graduates of the program within each unit. The gatherings have proven to be useful spaces to exchange insights, connect the graduates with others engaging in similar work, and document the various projects emerging within each unit. One of the groups operating within the town of Kette has been carrying out its activities from a community youth center and has been involved in organizing youth activities in the locality. Through involvement with a rural radio station, the group has also been participating in broader dialogues on subjects related to education and protection of the environment.
The strengthening of various capabilities such as creating environments of unity based on diversity and promoting collective action assist those going through the PSA program to contribute to social change in their localities. For instance, in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, the promoters of community well-being have been holding periodic gatherings where families, local authorities, and Bahá’í institutions and agencies are brought together to address particular issues of concern to their communities. In one such meeting, the question of safety in the neighborhood was raised, and it was decided that steps be taken to provide electricity for streetlights on five roads. Trusting the participants’ commitment to the betterment of their communities, many families have shown their support by providing funds for the realization of the project. As a result of continuous collaboration with local authorities, the promoters of community well-being have begun to act as consultative bodies in some neighborhoods, their perspectives being sought when consideration is given to projects aimed at contributing to the progress of the community.
Other capabilities in areas related to food, health, and education have also assisted promoters of community well-being to be of service according to the conditions of the community in which they reside. Over the years, participants in the program in Talamanca, Costa Rica—a part of the country where agriculture is central to the life of the population—began to learn about food production on small farms. In particular, participants sought to gain insight into obtaining higher yields, protecting indigenous crops, and increasing nutritional diversity. These efforts inspired many families to establish their own plots of land, enabling them to become producers of crops, earn additional income, and participate in the generation of knowledge in this area. As the diversity of crops in the region increased, gatherings were held where families shared their produce, seeds, and insights, thus contributing to a burgeoning sense of common purpose.
Similarly, the participants of the program in Uganda have engaged in a series of conversations with the local population regarding common health concerns and identified water-borne illnesses as a prevalent ailment afflicting the village. Consultative spaces were created to bring together members of the community and local leaders in order to assess the knowledge, technical skills, and material resources available to build a clean water supply. In these meetings, the possible social and environmental impact of the project was discussed, and many members sacrificially contributed their technical and financial resources to the project. After two months of work, the construction of a spring well was completed and many could feel that the capacity of the community to chart its own path of development had greatly increased.
Promoters of community well-being also strive to enhance access to education in their own communities. An example of how participants became active agents of their own education through participation in the program can be seen in the transformation of a group of young mothers in Ecuador. Although many had not yet completed their formal education, their growing understanding of various fields of knowledge became a source of encouragement that enabled them to advance in their studies. While continuing to move through the program, they began to motivate each other to further their education. By the time the group had completed the study of the available materials of the program, many had also obtained formal educational degrees. The activities of the young mothers also lent impetus to ensuring the spiritual education of children in the community, and inspired groups of other women to strengthen their capacities.
