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“Regardless of their social situations, young people aspire for spiritual and intellectual growth and to make a contribution to the fortunes of humanity” 

Our vision

To build and sustain truly prosperous communities in a time of rapid global change certainly depends to a great extent on the effectiveness of the preparations the youth make for the world they will inherit. All our programs are offered with the conviction that youth represent a vast reservoir of energy that can be directed toward the advancement of civilization. When encouraged and properly guided, they grow up to be among the most valuable human resources in a community.

The South-East Ottawa Youth Education Centre offers regular training sessions and ongoing support for youth interested in community service. These trainings assist young people to develop a profound understanding of the purpose of their lives and their roles in walking a path of service, as well as develop the capacity to empower the younger generation by providing them the opportunity to be active agents of social change.

Training sessions

Participants study materials that help them develop the qualities, attitudes, capabilities, and skills of a new type of social actor whose energies are entirely directed towards promoting the well-being of the community, and whose actions are inspired by the vision of a new world civilization which will embody in all its structures and processes the fundamental principle of the unity of the human race.

Topics include:

• The role of youth in society

• Community building and offering mutual support

• Contributing to the advancement of civilization

• Development of spiritual qualities of the individual

Study is combined with acts of service in the community intended to establish a dynamic pattern of action that will lead to the sound development of local communities, according to the interests and capabilities of the participants.

For training sessions offered this year:

Materials

The educational programs we have chosen to use are those of the Ruhi institute as they are focused on capacity building. The Ruhi Institute has adopted a pedagogical approach that concerns itself exclusively with ways in which individuals can be helped to increase their capacity to serve. The sources of knowledge upon which the books of the Institute draw are, on the one hand, the teachings of the Bahá’í Faith and, on the other, the accumulating experience of communities with aims like we have described above, that are dedicated to advancing the material and spiritual wellbeing of society. This fundamental principle of the oneness of humankind espoused in the Baha’i Writings form the basis of this entire process. It sees the contributions of every cultural, religious and racial background as contributing to the future civilization we are trying to build, and therefore actively seeks the participation of all, in a mode of action, reflection, consultation. 

Understanding is fostered through a series of courses that impart the skills and attitudes needed to perform acts of service and present spiritual teachings and precepts that endow these acts with meaning. The content and order are based on a series of acts of service, the practice of which creates capacity in the individual to meet the exigencies of dynamic, developing communities. As noted above, the enhancement of such capacity is viewed in terms of “walking a path of service”. On such a path individuals are assisted first in accomplishing relatively simple tasks and then in performing more complex and demanding acts of service. This is the nature of capacity building: Someone accompanies you as you learn to walk the path by yourself. Confidence is gradually built.

At the Ruhi Institute, the design and implementation of educational activities are always guided by a profound conviction in the basic nobility of the human being. Education, then, is not simply seen as the acquisition of knowledge and the development of skills, but also in terms of the development of vast and powerful potentialities inherent in the very nature of every human being. 

For examples of materials studied visit the links below:

Camps

During school breaks the training sessions take place at Providence Point Camp where participants have the chance to go through the training material in a different environment. The camp takes place outside the city and offers participants an environment free from the material forces and pressures that act on them daily. They are able to disconnect from technology and build friendships with like-minded peers while making plans for the betterment of their neighbourhood.