- 1919-08-04 —
Martha Root set foot in South America for the first time, at Para (now Belém), Brazil. [MR93; MRHK44]
- See MR93-100 and MRHK44-59 for her teaching work in Brazil.
- 1927-09-09 — Leonora Holsapple (later Armstrong) made a teaching trip through Latin America and the Caribbean, becoming the first Bahá'í to visit Venezuela, Colombia, Haiti, Curaçao, Trinidad (2–12 Oct), the Guianas (29 Oct), Barbados (Dec) and several islands in the Antilles group.
- 1945-10-21 — Emeric and Rosemary Sala of St. Lambert, Quebec departed on a four month tour of Central and South America. They visited 19 republics and Mr Sala gave seventy-nine talks. They visited many pioneers and paid homage at the grave of May Maxwell at Quilmes, about one hour from Buenos Aires. [TG93-101]
- 1946-01-20 —
- 1953-10-41 — Zunilda de Palacios arrived on Chiloé Island and was named a Knight of Bahá'u'lláh. [BW13:450]
- 1954-07-04 — Reginald Stone and Allan Delph became Bahá'ís in British Guiana, the first two people to accept the Faith in that country.
- 1958-04-22 — The second Annual Regional National Convention for the South
American countries of Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela
was held in Guayaquil. This was the highlight
of the year for Ecuador being that it was their first time
to host a National Convention. The delegates for Ecuador were:
Juan Luis Aguirre and Alberto Carbo Medina from Guayaquil community
and Gayle Woolson and Guillermo Sotomayer from Quito. At the time
Ecuador still had only two local assemblies, four isolated centers
and only two new believers for the year.
[Heroes of God: History of the Bahá'í Faith in Ecuador, 1940-1979 by Helen Bassett Hornby p96]
- 1967-10-08 — The foundation stone of the Mother Temple of Latin America was laid by Hand of the Cause Rúhíyyih Khánum in Panama City. [BW14:494]
- 1972-12-01 — The first International Youth Conference of Surinam took places in Paramaribo. [BW15:341]
- 1975-00-00 —
The release of the film entitled Invitation produced under the auspices of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Canada by Elizabeth Martin, with the help of Chris Lyons. It was a memoir of Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum incorporating footage from Khánum's Andean trip along with memories of her childhood years in Montreal. [HNWE36]
- The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Canada invited Hand of the Cause Amatu'l-Bahá to the re-opening of the Bahá'í Shrine in Montreal following the completion of renovations to the historic Bahá'í site. This film documents inspired talks she gave from August 30th to September 7th, including the on given in the Church of the Messiah, where 'Abdu'l-Bahá had given an address in 1912. She shares reminiscences related to her childhood home which was later designated by Shoghi Effendi as a Shrine.
- The film was originally shot in 16mm and was digitally remastered in 2003.
- 1975-02-04 —
Hand of the Cause Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum set out on the Green Light Expedition to visit the indigenous peoples of the Amazon Basin in South America. [VV30–2]
- For a pictorial description of the expedition see BW16:419–48.
- See Green Light Expedition, a film by Rodney Charters, Mark Sadan, David Walker and Anthony Worley.
- 1977-01-27 —
An International Teaching Conference was held in Bahia, Brazil, attended by 1,300 Bahá'ís, the largest such gathering of Bahá'ís to date in Brazil. [BW17:81; VV33]
- For the message of the Universal House of Justice see BW17:137–8.
- For pictures see BW17:110, 124–5.
- 1977-02-04 —
An International Teaching Conference was held in Mérida, Mexico, attended by more than 2,000 Bahá'ís. [BW17:81; VV33]
- For the message of the Universal House of Justice see BW17:139.
- Three Hands of the Cause were present – Paul Haney, Rahmatu'lláh Muhájir, and Enoch Olinga, as well as Counsellor Florence Mayberry who had been on the first national assembly of Mexico.
- For pictures see BW17:112, 126–7.
- VV33 says this was 2–6 Feb.
- 1980-10-16 —
The First Latin American Bahá'í Women's Conference was held in Brasilia at the Convention Centre.
- Leonera Armstrong, on her deathbed in Salvador, Bahia at the time, addressed the conference via a message recorded on cassette tape.
Woman, light of the future generation - when we, the women of the world, reflect on the true meaning of this theme that was chosen and as its full meaning penetrates more and more deeply into the conscience of each woman, we must understand that affectionate, that supreme privilege is ours and that inescapable duty is ours, and so we must rise as never before, to fulfill our first obligation. Women know that they are the first educators of humanity ...
[Biographical Profile] - 1981-11-26 —
The Comunicación Intercambio y Radiodifusión Bahá'í para America Latina y el Caribe (CIRBAL) was established by the Universal House of Justice to promote the development of Bahá'í radio and mass media activities in Latin America. [BW19:59]
- The special Committee for Service to the Blind, located in the United Kingdom, was a clearing house and production and distribution centre for materials both on tape and in Braille; and CIRBAL (Centro para Intercambio Radiofonico Baha'i de America Latins), among its other functions, serves as
a clearing house for tapes, videotapes, script and other materials suitable for use via radio and television. Its mandated area is South and Central America and the Caribbean. [BW18p115, 117]
- 1985-04-30 — The first annual conference of the Association for Bahá'í Studies, Brazil, took place in Saõ Paulo. [BW19:358]
- 1985-08-02 —
An International Youth Conference to support the United Nations International Youth Year was held in Lima, Peru, attended by 500 youth from 18 countries and representing four native tribes. [BW19:300]<
- For picture see BW19:322.
- 1985-10-19 — The Association for Bahá'í Studies, Chile, was established in Santiago. [BW19:358–9]
- 1988-07-15 — The first International Women's Conference of Paraguay opened, attended by 130 women from seven countries. [BINS180:5]
- 1990-06-10 — The Paraguay International Chinese Teaching Symposium, the first of its kind in South America, was held in Asuncion, attended by 80 people from 10 countries. [BINS226:4]
- 1990-07-03 —
The National Spiritual Assembly of Guyana announced that the Bahá'ís constitute about five percent of the total population of the country. [BINS228:1]
- In some towns over 20 percent of the people are Bahá'ís. [BINS228:1]
- 1993-01-29 — The first Latin American Bahá'í Social and Economic Development Seminar took place in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. [BINS308:2; BW92–3:139]
- 2016-04-19 —
The annual number of seminars for undergraduate students offered by the Institute for Studies in Global Prosperity rose from 21 at the start of the Plan to 39. More than 4,000 youth in more than 60 countries were served. -
The seminar for university graduates and for young professionals, first offered in North America in 2008, was extended to Australia, Europe, Latin America and south and Southeast Asia over the duration of the Plan. As of this date more than 700 individuals had taken part. [The Five Year Plan 2011-2016: Summary of Achievements and Learning pg113] iiiii
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