Wedding of Farzana & Neil...

Our friends Farzana (India) and Neil (Philippines) got married on 22 April here at the World Centre. The wedding was simple yet sweet and nice. Here are some photos:

Happy Ridvan ... !

Here are some pictures of Enna-Marie with some friends on the First day of Ridvan:

An Evening in Jo'burg

On the way back from Zambia I spent the night in Johannesburg, and had a great time catching up with some old friends from the World Centre. Gloria and Nooshin picked me up from the airport, and we were joined by Semere, Gloria's cousin, and later Naysan, Gloria's brother. We drove to Johannesburg and had a delicious spicy dinner in an Ethiopian restaurant! Afterwards we had coffee in one of the shopping malls in Johannesburg, and enjoyed the time together. Next day I was on my way to Haifa again!

Thanks guys for a wonderful evening! And Gloria, I look forward to seeing some pictures of you cruising around in that red Audi A3 sometime soon :)

During dinner in the Ethiopian restaurant... Look at those dirty hands!!
With Mr. South Africa Nelson Mandela himself, towering high over us...
Having a coffee in the bookstore...
Casually waiting for the bus...

Another Africa Experience...

From 9 to 17 April I had the bounty of making another trip to Africa, this time to Zambia. I spent my time there at the Banani International School / William Masethla Foundation, which is located some 80 kilometers north of Lusaka, on the road to Kabwe. I stayed with dear friends Chuungu and Mushota Malitonga, and their son Mwape.

It was a time of renewing old friendships and making new ones. I got to meet Jennifer, from the Philippines, and Akamunwa, the Zambian Chief, who both served at the World Centre a few years ago, and their eleven month old son Jamar (Jen taught me how to use a malong cloth for a baby sling, which will come in handy with Enna-Marie growing bigger); Febbie Mzungu from Malawi, who also used to serve at the World Centre; Derek Sithole from Zimbabwe, an old friend from the time I was in Haifa in 1992/1993 (see the link to his blog somewhere on this page...); Selaam Ahderom from Uganda, who used to serve in OSED before; and Karen, who used to serve at the World Centre before she became Mrs. Pollock.

Here are some pictures that were taken during these wonderful days!

With Jen and Jamar...
Ryan, Garth and Karen's eldest son...
Mushota, Mwape and Chuungu, whom I stayed with...
Selaam facilitating the study of the 27 December 2005 message...
Febbie looking at pictures of Enna-Marie :)
Mushota outside one of the 'studyhuts' close to the Foundation...
Banani Primary School...
The Institutional Meeting...
Old friend Derek... :)

It's Spring time...

We have started adding more plants in our balcony, thanks to our friend Kurt who gave us some extra plants recently. Some of these are from the ones Maarten planted last year, so they are back to beautify our house!




















Last weekend, we have visited the Shrine of Baha'u'llah in Bahji and have taken some photos of the garden...here are some of the shots...

Happy Naw-Ruz!

Some photos taken at the Naw-Ruz Celebration at the World Centre:

Family picture



















...with baby Rocco and daddy Santana














...with baby Carmel and mommy Sarah














...with Youngmin from Korea














Also, here are some photos of the Naw-Ruz party we attended with the Filipino friends and other guests:

Playing games at the party: Match that Face and Pass the Message.

Friday Morning in the Family Bed

On the occassion of Enna-Marie's three-month birthday, here's a hello to all of you from the family bed...

The Fast

From the evening of March 1st until the evening of March 20th, is the Bahá'í month of Fasting. During this month, Bahá'ís abstain from food and drink between sunrise and sunset.

During one of the mornings of the Fast I was watching the sunrise from our balcony, and was quite in awe about the majesty of this phenomenon. The first video below conveys the sense of expectation, the stirrings in all of creation, just seconds before the sun appears over the mountains on the horizon. The second video shows how, once it has made its appearance, it instantly exerts a powerful influence and quickly gathers in strength and momentum.... (unfortunately I didn't capture the exact moment the sun appeared... perhaps during one of the remaining mornings...)

First Ayyám-i-Há Party...

Before the beginning of the month of Fasting, there are a number of intercalary days in the Bahá'í Calendar. These days are referred to as the Days of Há, or the Ayyám-i-Há. These days are devoted to spiritual preparation for the Fast, the giving of gifts, hospitality and charity! Here are two pictures taken on 28 February at the Ayyám-i-Há Party of some mothers with their babies here in Haifa.


Group picture


Zein Rosen and Enna-Marie (Zein is two weeks older than Enna-Marie).

Ailsa Is In Town...

Our friend Ailsa Leftwich from Canada is in Haifa, she was invited to come as a consultant in the Archives Office where she used to serve for some years. Last Monday, we invited her over for dinner and catch up with her life in Saskatchewan and the coming of her baby.