For the second consecutive year the children and youth from the Halifax Baha’i community’s two Children’s Classes and one Junior Youth Group participated in a litter cleanup on the first Sunday after Earth Day in the Gorsebrook Field. Acts of service are seen as an essential part of the moral and spiritual training in these programs. More than four bags of garbage, including more than 1,000 cigarette butts, were collected!
The morning began with prayers, and then instructions from one of the teachers on how to safely collect litter. A supply kit from Clean Nova Scotia provided gloves, bags and instructions. Children were instructed not to pick up sharp objects, but rather to ask an adult to do this for them. Over the 1.5 hours the most common garbage the group collected were coffee cups, straws, snack bags, cigarette butts (the most common item!), and bottle caps. We met a young family new to the neighbourhood who were out walking their dogs. They inquired as to why we were doing this, and we explained that these were children and junior youth from the Baha’i community doing a service project. They thanked us offered to help us next year. They live close by one of the childrens class teachers family, and have children in the age group that could attend classes. After trudging home with our garbage, we washed hands and gathered to fill out a report for Clean Nova Scotia and reflect on what we learned from this service project. Participants commented on how this made them “feel joy”, how it was respectful of the environment, and how service is how you can develop the virtue of selflessness.
Baha’i childrens classes are held for the four- to seven-year-old age group on Sunday mornings and for the eight- to 11-year-old group on Sunday afternoons. Junior Youth Group for youth age 12 to 15 is also held on Sunday afternoons. The junior youth program offers young people in the junior high school years a setting in which to discuss ideas and form a strong moral identity. The basic premise behind the program is the belief that junior youth are capable of thinking deeply about the world and their place within it and that they need an environment that gives them support and encouragement.
For information on these programs, please contact info@halifaxbahai.org or call 902-425-8188.
