A beautiful vision came out of a conference in Italy recently, and in the windswept wilds of rural Aberdeenshire; our small group of Bahá’í women decided to get involved in a project called “Vision”. Briefly, “Vision” plans to raise funds to pay for the education of girl children in India, in the hope that these children will eventually become teachers and take their knowledge back to their villages, or at least be able to educate their own children. It is intended to hold an annual fund-raising event, to raise enough funds to provide continuity for the children concerned, so please, in your area, look out for this and get involved. maybe even start your own.

Here in the northeast of Scotland, we held our first event on it on May 21st. The local press sent a photographer, who wanted to take a picture of the Bahá’í women who had organised the event; This picture is reproduced here (with his kind permission) as all of us who are so brilliant at organizing things had forgotten to bring cameras.

After posing for the photograph, we started the evening by eating together, then a brief explanation of the Vision Project was given. The serious stuff started – there were all kinds of therapies to sample: Reiki healing, massage therapy, reflexology, chiropody, herbalism, and a lady who offered various remedial massages including sports, Swedish,

Girls’ gathering: Members and friends of the Aberdeenshire Association of Bahá’í Women come together for an evening of fundraising to help with an educational project for girls in India. — The Advertiser, 27th May, 2005. (Click on image to see the Advertiser's article.)

and Indian head massage. Also available was hair braiding (always popular with the young), and on sale were various donated items, and art works. All the therapists gave their (professional) services free of charge, their clients were asked only to make a donation to the project. The eventual total raised, including a charge for the meal, was £420.

In and out of all this activity ran a laughing stream of happy children. These were children who will never lack the benefits of education, and their presence helped to emphasise the reasons that we were there that evening. Our vision is for all children to enjoy such a future. Please get involved.

Glasgow Community now host inspiration/devotional meetings every Sunday night at 7pm at the Quaker Meeting House on Elmbank Street. The meeting lasts for just over an hour and includes time for refreshments and a chat. A further monthly tranquillity zone is held on the last Sunday of every month at St. Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art at 3 pm – both of these meetings are open for anyone to attend.

Along with the meetings above many people in Glasgow are now involved in studying the word of God through regular Ruhi courses. The practice elements of the courses have helped generate a great community spirit.

The Association of Bahá’í Women is also hosting monthly meetings in Glasgow. The meetings take place on the first Friday of every month from 11 am onwards. The meetings are informal and fun and are there for Bahá’ís and their friends to meet, chat and build up friendships. Sometimes the meetings include a visit to an exhibition or place of interest. The two recent meetings included visiting the ‘women and war’ exhibition at St. Mungo’s Museum and a visit to the Gallery of Modern Art. The next few meetings are scheduled for Friday 7 of October at John Lewis in Buchanan Galleries, Friday 4 of November at the Centre for Contemporary Arts on Sauchiehall Street, and then on Friday 2 December there will be an inter-faith coffee morning at St. Mungos Museum of religious Life and Art on Cathedral Street. A warm welcome awaits anyone who would like to come along.

On Saturday the 9th of July (a Holy Day in which we remembered the Martyrdom of the Bab) two of our lovely friends from Fort William came over to Mull and helped make the day as nice as possible. To remember this date we had a beautiful devotional organized by Wendy Keenan, in which there were prayers of protection written by the Báb, the story of the Báb’s Martyrdom, special Writings about the Holy Shrine and we finished with a prayer sung by Erin Keenan.

Dumfries is cross roads for pilgrims David Grant, author of the Seven Year Hitch, made a brief visit to Dumfries in early July. Several years ago, David and his family made a seven year trip around the world by horse and carriage. During a stay in Mongolia, David encountered Bahá’ís and decided to join the new Faith as it embodied his own ideas of the oneness of humanity. Since then David has written a book and had several other journeys, including kayaking across the Baltic before settling in Scotland.

Not one for sitting around, now David has embarked on another epic journey; taking the trip from Wigtown – where Christianity was first established in Scotland – to Mount Carmel in Haifa, where Bahá’í shrines and world famous gardens are located, and where thousands make Pilgrimage to each year. But he is making pilgrimage in an unusual way – by walking.

David made the decision to walk most of the way to Haifa because early pilgrims of all religions had to do this. Before heading on his way David attended a Sacred Space in Dumfries, on the theme of the oneness of the human family.

Coincidentally, an American Bahá’í couple (George and Barbara Marks) were just making their way back from Pilgrimage and attended the very same Sacred Space. The meditative and calming Space acted as a crossing point for pilgrims, two on their way back, and one just setting off, hoping to reach his destination in mid October. The Sacred Space is held on the first Sunday of every month – all are welcome.