Developments in Fako - good and sad news

It is good to start with the sad and then soothe with the good.

May 4, 2008

The Baha'i world in general, and the Baha'is of Cameroon in particular, lost a wonderful and rare gem, Dr. Mehdi Samandari. He and his wife, Aunt Ursula, were knights of Baha'u'llah. I am not going to write too much about him because I do not think I would do justice to describing the kind of person he was. I'd just say that no one who spent more than 30 minutes with him ever forgot him. He was full of love and kindness for everyone and his heart was so big. He took everyone in. I have never met anyone who was more focused on teach, teach, teach the Cause. Bukwango, in Buea, where he lived, will be strange without him.

I have known him ever since I was a Baha'i and cannot imagine not having his love and support all the time. When I turned 21, I was fortunate to serve with him on the LSA, and he was so loving in guiding me on that path. He always served us tea and peanut sandwiches before every meeting and always had fresh fruit too. And mind you...he served us himself, even at that elderly age when he walked with his cane and took more time to perform tasks. Still he insisted on serving us, with a big, loving smile in his eyes. His mind too was very astute even then. I'm talking about 1999 to 2001. He was already in his mid 80s. I could go on and on...

There are so many beautiful tributes that the friends have written, which all go to show how much he touched the hearts of so many. Here is one from a Cameroonian friend, Steve, who really captures the same sentiments that many of us Cameroonians have. Thanks for sharing this, Steve.

"Dear Fariba, I am soo humbled to even be writing this email. I can't but admire the sacrifice you all out there in Cameroon and particularly the friends in Buea in helping our Dear Grand Father Dr. Mehdi Samandari ascend to the realms on high. I personally cannot stop the flash backs I am having when I think of my priceless times with Dr. I count myself very lucky to have known a human being of his class. I will for eternity cherish the fact that my Faith in Baha'u'llah was made strong by both Dr and his Beloved wife Ursula. The Tea, the dinners, the trips, the gardening, the prayers, the singing, the jokes, the advice, the readings, the drawings, the calligraphy's, the walks to the Baha'i Center in Great Soppo Buea, The conferences in Limbe, Douala, etc. The numerous 19 Day Feast at their residence in Buea....and the list goes on.......What a man.....Papa..Samandari...bye bye ya...I know ...someday we shall meet again....go wait for us all your pekin them.

Let us all say prayers for the progress of his wonderful soul as he goes up to join the Concourse on High and to join dear Auntie Ursula, his beloved wife. We will miss you, dearest Dr. Samandari.

Burial will take place in Buea at 4pm (Cameroon time) on Saturday, May 10. It would be nice to have a moment of silence for him at that time.

Now to the good news....and one that would bring joy to Dr. Samandari's heart...Buea and Limbe are the main cities of the Fako sub-division and the Fako Cluster is an A cluster. Dr. S. lived in Buea.

Results of the 12th Cycle of Intensive Programmes of Growth in the Fako Cluster - 11 Feb.- 11 May, 2008

This cycle of IPG lasted 3 months and wrought great results for the friends who participated. A teaching project was organized for Great Soppo, Buea, and New Town, Limbe. The end result was 24 new believers!!! Ya Baha'u'l-Abha!! Out of these 24 declarations, 14 were registered during the expansion phase and 10 during the consolidation phase. The goal was 30 and they recorded 24, isn't that amazing? 7 teaching teams participated and reached out to 196 out of the 300 targeted souls. The cluster had 5 home visits, raised their core activities to 17 s.c, 28 c.c, 10 j.y.groups, and 9 d.v. I am so proud of the cluster!

They also took note of the lessons learned during the process. First and foremost, that Anna's presentation is very effective in teaching the Faith directly. That they achieved more when there was unity and a team spirit amongst the friends; that home visits were great in sharing deepening themes; that core activities were better sustained if the team reached out and invited more people to participate; that they needed to focus on the core activities that they could sustain; and that they obtained faster results when more friends took part in the sequence of courses.

Hooray for Fako!!! They continue to beseech our prayers and support.