Day of Service

Today we joined the local Baha’is in caring for the Baha’i cemetery. With the decline in the number of Baha’is in the area, I think the cemetery came into a bit of neglect. Nadim’s dad and some other friends had built the wall around the cemetery 30 years ago, and it was still standing! We started our day by saying a few prayers at each of the three graves. As we walked from one to the next our steps were filled with the crackling of ankle-deep leaves.

Everyone was anxious to get to work, so we began to rake. We didn’t actually have rakes. Instead we made do with brooms and branches from coconut trees. The branches actually worked quite well, and we formed pile after large pile of dead leaves. From time to time we stopped for chai or for bits of coconut and sugar.

There was no wheel barrow or some such thing that we would use in Canada. Instead we used a big tarp and swept our piles of leaves onto it, dumping it when full in a large circular bin for composting. The girls had great fun jumping in the leaves to help pack them down.

We wiped the dust from the graves and laid some roses on each one before we broke for lunch. They really pile your plate full here. I couldn’t eat the last few bites of mine. I’m not sure how they manage to put it all away!

We then sat under the shade of a tree and had a discussion on the Baha’i Faith and the administrative system. Many of the Baha’is had questions on how things worked in Canada or other parts of the world. It was interesting and it was nice to hear from another woman, Naseem, who is from Malaysia, to see how it is done in that part of the world too.

Some of us ended with a trip to the ice-cream parlour. We were all pleasantly tired and I’m sure we’ll all sleep well tonight.

CM