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Ask young members of the Baha'i Faith what they’re involved in, and you’ll likely hear stories about striving to help build sustainable communities, teaching children principles of morality, participating in interfaith programs and doing service projects, among other activities. Dorri Ziai, an MIT graduate, has been working with the junior youth population. She recently described what she is doing:
A junior youth group is a place where 12-15 year olds come together on a weekly basis to practice leadership and service. Led by two or three "animators," groups help participants learn how to perceive, understand, and speak about the problems affecting their communities. The ultimate goal of the program is to raise leaders for positive change, who not only take initiative in serving their community but pay it forward by starting more junior youth groups and teaching the next generation to do the same. Group activities include reading from program lesson books, playing games, creating art, planning community service projects and carrying them out.
I began serving as an animator about two years ago. I knew I would enjoy working with this age group, and I was interested to learn how spirituality can be used as a tool for youth empowerment. The model and curriculum for junior youth groups teaches concepts like spiritual perception and moral structure as tools for understanding and improving society, without dictating how society aught to be improved. Participants from any spiritual or religious background can benefit from the program as it draws out from the junior youth their own creativity and volition to create a better world. This unique approach to faith, youth development, and service kept me inspired to better understand the model and to keep the group going. More than anything, though, my relationship with the participants drew me back each week.
Nearly every Monday night for the last two years, I've spent at least 2 hours with this junior youth group. I've seen its participants grow taller, skinnier, bulkier, more mature, confident, and more articulate about the things they think aught to change. At the same time, I've gone through profound changes in my understanding of what it means to be a friend and a mentor. Junior youth spiritual empowerment means teaching our young teens how to imagine a better world based on qualities of the spirit, and giving them the tools to make that better world more of a reality.
To learn more about how to participate in this vital path of service in Cambridge, please contact the Bahá’ís of Cambridge by clicking Contact on the main menu.