From Italy to India, Australia to the United States, and in communities across the global, restrictions on gathering because of physical distancing restrictions present challenges that different communities are meeting in ways that are both traditional and new. The Baha’i community offers some examples.
With communities that cross boundaries, adaptations and advice vary according to the local situation. Adherents of the Baha’i faith in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are participating in community-building efforts centered around making sure all have access to information about things such as proper sanitary practices, and which crops to plant to ensure food security. Young people are getting actively involved; a song is “intended to teach the whole community about the crisis and inspire solidarity as we change our daily patterns to save lives,” says one of the young songwriters, Sinclair Mbiya. It is broadcast on the radio across the country to reinforce public health precautionary messages from a trusted and hopeful source. In different communities adherents of different faiths are working deliberately together to confront the crisis. “We feel that this is the time when we can reach out to everyone for a profound conversation on spiritual and social transformation, because people have become more conscious of a central idea at the heart of Baha’u’llah’s message: we are all one, we are interdependent, and we are all called on to support one another,” said Nilakshi Rajkhowa, of the Baha’i Office of External Affairs in India.
