Hungarian Baha'is produce video in defense of Iranian Baha'i prisoners
Our friends from Hungary are members of a group of young people who are actively bringing change using audio and visuals.
Written by Annick Elziere
Being so fascinated by the city of Budapest, I found myself asking the question: How’s Hungary doing today? Ajang Farid said "You know, we live in a small country but we are very active. We are a large group of people of all ages getting together very often trying to bring change. Projects are lining up on the table one by one. The youth is very much involved in producing videos."
“I am one of the producers of the videos. We are excited about this project and making films. One of them is about our friends who have been imprisoned in Iran because of prejudice. Our thought was to create a short video for the Hungarian media so they can use it directly in TV programs whenever the persecution of the Faith in Iran is mentioned.
We also wanted to send a message to the friends in Iran that a small community in a small European country (Hungary) is thinking of them, and feels motivated to serve the Cause the more the friends in Iran are persecuted. We hope that the message got through. We are currently working on more videos.”
“One of the people speaking in the "Iran video" is a Roma (gypsies who are a traditionally nomadic people dispersed throughout western Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and the Americas) who has changed a lot ever since he became a Bahá’í . His name is Artur Fuezi, and he used to be in a gang from the slums.”
“Artur was a child when he first heard about the Bahá’í Faith in one of our children’s classes. Then as a youth he became more attracted to the Faith, and he left the criminal gangs and violent drug he had been part of. He declared as a teenager, married a Hungarian/German girl, and he studied to be a hairdresser. He is now one of the top hairdressers in Hungary, and wins one prize after another. He is very active in the Faith - teaching and is involved in the core activities. In the video he is the one who says "The Baha'is are persecuted because they want the betterment of the world". He has one son, Anis, and his wife is expecting their second child."
“Our Bahá’í community in Hungary is quite small (around 1000 believers) but very united and full of programs and energy. We do a lot of audio-visual work. Our latest production is a short clip from our intensive long Ruhi weekend to which around 50 friends came. You feel the energy of people in Hungary. They are eager to change and be great leaders of peace. We have those intensive Ruhi camps at least 4 times a year. But we also did some funny video ads like the one advertising for a Bahá’í Study Circle (Ruhi) courses. One of them was called "Masses are Waiting" and “Have it.”
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Excerpted with permission from "Because Coffee and Milk Have No Prejudice," by Annick Elzie republished in Treasures of Wonderment, an online magazine promoting positive change through creative living.