Community life

What is it like interacting with the community outside the Baha’i World Centre?

There is no resident Baha’i community here, everyone is a volunteer for a limited time. When we have conversations with the local people, we answer their direct questions and the most common one is; “why are you here?" We tell them that we're volunteering at the Baha’i World centre and they respond “Ah ha... at the Baha’i World Centre!“. We have made very nice connections with our local bus driver who we see almost daily. He teaches us basic Hebrew and we share stories about each other’s families. It feels very safe from crime here. It feels safe walking alone at night, for instance. The drivers are typically aggressive with lots of horns honking. Bevan tries to get the people in his department, mostly young guys, to not fall into this same type of behaviour, but instead, to show more courtesy. One example: when a young mother was waiting to cross a busy intersection with her stroller, Bevan calmly waited and waved her across. He could see by her big smile that she was very grateful. We hope we are teaching more by example rather than by words.