Rebuilding war torn regions--Bosnia and Birmingham, AL

I never did finish all the storytelling about the remarkable individuals I met in Florida.

Jay Craig is an urban designer and was (still is?) the executive director of a non-profit organization called Global Networking for Rebuilding. We were at lunch with a group of wonderful individuals with experience around the world from Uganda to Finland and it took some prodding to get Jay to tell us about his experiences in Sarajevo where he spent a month in 1994 in the middle of a war zone! and has returned several times since then to work in the rebuilding of urban landscapes to try to heal the tremendous damage that war caused to the cultural heritage of the nation. There is a great deal of material on the website...Here is one example of the work and vision that they had:

"In the Old Town of Sarajevo, as in Jerusalem, all the major religions of the Western world are represented. Mosques, cathedrals and temples co-exist within a few hundred feet of each other, testament to Sarajevo's long tradition of ethnic and religious tolerance.

What had taken centuries to build has been brought to the edge of ruin in a matter of months, victim of a ruthless campaign against diversity and freedom of expression. During the siege of Sarajevo religious buildings were targeted for their emotional value. Those who wished to destroy the community recognized that the Old Town is its heart, and that to break the historical bonds that bind the city they had first to loosen the spiritual moorings that hold neighbors firm to their beliefs.

We seek to highlight and enhance the common ground of the religious district, both literally and figuratively, to de-emphasize symbols of contention among competing ethnic groups while emphasizing their shared heritage and the doctrine of toleration common to all the world's great religions.

Just as Sarajevo, as an intersection of fervent beliefs, might prove to be the flash point once again for a war reaching far beyond the boundaries of Bosnia, so too can it be the place where reconciliation gains rebirth.

Studies should focus on linking foot traffic between religious sites and nearby parks and markets. Motor traffic and parking must be accommodated, perhaps with space taken from demolished buildings, in order to embrace future tourism."

Read more...

What is Jay doing now? Now he is in the US trying to rebuild inner-city USA starting with Birmingham, AL. He is a white man who has invested in real estate where he lives in a neighborhood of Birmingham surrounded by his African American brothers and sisters. He is summoning his extensive network of corporate and government partners to contribute to efforts to support community revitalization from the ground up. I am not aware of an internet presence for further information on this newest endeavor. But I will be sure to post a link if I hear of any. Here is an article he wrote in the Birmingham News comparing his experiences with racial and ethnic hatred in Bosnia and in Birmingham, AL and why We are all better off as members of one family.

Jay's own life in earnest work for the unity of mankind and the elimination of both religious and racial prejudice is really quite extraordinary wouldn't you say?

[For other exciting work by Baha'is in Bosnia-Herzegovina see the work of the organization Education for Peace]

A link on the GNR website will take you to this prayer of 'Abdu'l-Baha written after a journey to Sarajevo almost a century ago:

"O Thou Kind Almighty, we supplicate at the Throne of Grace for mercy for the blood that has been shed in the Balkans; the children that are being made orphans; the mothers losing their dear sons; the sons who have become fatherless; the cities that have been destroyed; the many hearts that have been filled with sorrow; the many tears that are being shed and the many spirits that are in a state of agitation!

O Lord, be merciful, extinguish this spirit of war, this consuming fire, this peril, this gloomy darkness! Cement together these hearts, let the sun of Thy Truth dawn upon all.

O Lord, this world is dark, guide us toward a brilliant light. The horizons are glooming with the clouds of war; disperse these impenetrable clouds. Grant us holiness and calm! Dispose of these quarrels, illuminate the horizon of life, so that the sun of real loyalty may shine with its rays. May these dark hearts become illuminated, may these blind eyes become open, may these deaf ears become gifted with hearing.

O Lord! cause Thy divine justice to appear in this world. Summon these people to the Banquet of International Peace, so that they may live together in the utmost state of love. May all the religions and all nations embrace each other with this spirit of universal kindliness, and may hatred be forgotten.

O Lord! confirm this just government in the establishment of peace, so that it may hold aloft the banner of reconciliation in the Balkans. May the light of love shine and flame forth undefiled. O Lord! Thou art Almighty; Thou art Merciful; Thou art Clement; Thou art Kind!"