From the Bahá’í Office for the Advancement of Women 2002

From 30 November till 8 December, two members of the BOAW, Maria Peter and Dayang Genam of Kuching conducted a women’s conference at Bintulu Bahá’í Centre and a course on Guidance for Bahá’í Marriage and Government Laws at Rh. Ngadan, Suai and at Rh. Gerunsin, Sg. Tuyut, Tinjar.

Ms. Sim Lee Buay of Bintulu shared a report on the conference held at Bintulu: “A women’s conference was successfully held at Bintulu Bahá’í Centre from 30th November to 1st December, 2002. More than 30 friends attended, including a few men. Most of the participants were from Mile 28 and Sebatang. The speakers were Dayang and Maria Peter from Kuching. Program started at 10.00 a.m. on 30th with a talk by a non-Bahá’í staff nurse, Miss Anchi from the Bintulu General Hospital. She talked on “Health of Women” and “Breast Cancer”. Other topics covered were “Bahá’í Marriage and Government Laws, The Importance of Bahá’í Education for Children, Six Prerequisites for Spiritual Growth, Bahá’í Fund, Goals of Women committee and Institutes”. Fund collected was RM53.15 and the amount was contributed to the National Fund. The Local Women Committee also organized a garage sale after the conference for contribution to Local Fund. During the conference, the men cooked for the participants. The program finished at 1.30 p.m. on 1st December.”

Dayang wrote: “On 4-5 December, we conducted a course on Guidance for Bahá’í Marriage and Government Law at Rumah Ngadan, Suai. 19 participants from Rumah Anjat, Ulu Niah, Rumah Tambi, Sungai Libai, Batu Niah bazaar, Kampung Iran and from the host community attended the course. They were divided into two groups. We went through the materials together and discover many new things about the sanctity of marriage.

On 6th December, the women’s conference at Rumah Gerunsin, Sg. Tuyut started as scheduled. 34 women from Sg. Laung Atas, Sg. Seruas, Sg. Kelabit, Long Tisam,Sg. Lutong and the host community attended. The program started at 8.30 p.m. with prayers and reading of Holy Writings at the “ruai” of the longhouse. A few non- Bahá’ís were present. I talked on the three core activities: the institute process, children’s class and devotional gathering and how the women can help achieve the goals of the Five Year Plan. I also touched on the function of the BOAW and encouraged the communities to appoint their own local women’s committee and share their report on whatever activities they carried out. Maria spoke on the progress of the Cause, how to manage the family and the ill effect of alcoholic drinks. The conference proper was held the next day and the program was similar to the one we had in Bintulu. During the call for fund, the believers contributed RM128.80 to the National Fund.”