Some 25 people gathered on July 20, 2014, for the second KY/TN sub-regional animator gathering. The participants represented 9 Junior Youth Groups in the sub-region. Most who attended are already animating a Junior Youth Group; two are in the process of starting a group; and two are part of “support teams” for Junior Youth Groups who visit parents, help pick up the junior youth, and so on.
The gathering began with silent reflection on what the attendees had learned in the past three months, how their capacity had increased, and how the capacity of the junior youth had increased. The participants then had a period of open sharing that was rich and consultative.
Some people asked questions that occurred to them through their reflection and the group supplied possible answers. One question raised was “What is an empowering atmosphere? What are its characteristics? How do I create that kind of atmosphere in my group?” Another question was “How do we create an environment where participants feel empowered to share but do so in a way that is positive and constructive?”
The group also considered how to address unacceptable behavior that was being promoted by parents in a way that does not create disunity with the parents. For example, some junior youth have told their animators that their parents encourage them to hit other people when they feel threatened. The animators consulted about specific questions they could ask to help the junior youth think through the consequences of that behavior in a way that does not directly contradict the guidance they are getting from their parents, but can positively affect the junior youth and begin to transform their parents’ thinking.
Here are a couple of reflections that people shared:
“I can no longer think that I am a Baha’i and others are not. By doing outreach to start Junior Youth Groups, it has broken down the barriers I had. I see that we are all working for the same common good and that ‘us/them’ will create a division that will slow us down when engaging junior youth in a neighborhood.”
A new animator shared that saying the Long Obligatory prayer every morning has been the most powerful tool she has had when starting her group as it helps her to be detached and therefore more loving towards all and trusting in God.
Those attending them studied some stories from the region; circulars from the Office of Social and Economic Development about visiting parents and learning to present the program; and Book 5 “Releasing the Powers of Junior Youth”, Unit 3, Section 26.
In small groups, the new animators developed an outline of key concepts and questions they would ask parents in an initial presentation of the program; the experienced animators were asked to look at Book 5 Unit 2 to identify the concepts they would review in more depth on a follow up visit. The new animators really enjoyed the experience preparing for an initial visit and engaged in some effective role-playing.
When reassembled in the full group, everyone discussed this and decided to learn and reflect on using Book 5 themes for home visits to the parents over the next three months. A next step may be visiting the area to specifically focus on this action with a few key animators in the sub-region.
A theme that came up multiple times in the gathering was that there are not enough animators. Many of the groups only have one animator. An animator expressed concern that we were growing too fast and instead we should focus on identifying additional animators. Although this is an important concern, in many cases it is not possible to find a second Baha’i animator because of the distance that the animator would need to travel. To address raising more animator resources, the group consulted about finding and working with local youth. Although the animators have a general sense that this is important to do, people expressed that they were unclear about how to actually identify and begin working with potential animators.
The RTI Coordinator shared her experiences and humorous anecdotes about working with two youth animators in her own Junior Youth Group. She told how she met them, how their commitment to the program is growing but started off inconsistent. She also shared that one of the co-animators is an atheist and the other animator often identifies and engages in the group more as a junior youth than as an animator. She also clarified that a youth partner does not need to take Book 5 before assisting to animate a group. This seemed to help people create a vision of the first steps of working with youth in the neighborhood. One animator shared that it was very helpful to hear some stories because previously she thought they had to find an animator who had all the qualities we would ideally want (100% committed, deeply spiritual, no paternalism, etc.), but by hearing anecdotes, it helped her realize that the perfect youth is a “willing youth.” The group made a commitment to learn about this line of action over the next three months as well and share it at the next animator gathering.
The gathering ended with a study of texts and planning. Overall the spirit of joy was very high and one person expressed that it was the most useful reflection space she had been in. After the gathering the RTI Coordinator reflected with a local junior youth coordinator. The coordinator reflected that the reason it was so useful was because everyone was engaged in the same line of action and had something to share. Even those who had just started a junior youth group had something that could be relevant to the more experienced animators. This made the consultation very dynamic.