A Bahá’í couple, on fire with the love of God, confident of the promises of the strengthening power of the “Faithful Spirit,” will explore the possibility of relocating internationally as pioneers for their beloved Faith, “the prince of all good deeds.” Then they will stop to ponder: What about the well-being of our children?
In any venture as rich with possibilities as pioneering, much depends on the family’s situation, temperament and preparations, as well as the location where they wish to serve.
In the case of Linda Ahdieh Grant and Gavin Grant, they believe their decision to bring their family from Georgia to Ethiopia in 2009 has had great benefits for their children, Bahiyyih and Thomas.
“I feel that our kids sometimes bask in the love that they receive from adults here, as well as from older children. It is amazing,” Linda wrote in June to the Office of International Pioneering. “As you can imagine, children respond to such love very favorably and they reciprocate. …”
The couple had a support system before they arrived: longtime Bahá’í friends who had moved earlier to Addis Ababa, the capital. Both are physicians; Gavin works with an immunization program for the World Health Organization, traveling often.
Either at their home or at the nearby School of the Nations, various members of the Grant family organize a regular study circle, a junior youth group and a children’s class. They facilitate weekly virtues programs, and Linda assists at the school some weekdays. There is a stream of birthday parties for neighbrhood children, and many informal get-togethers.
“Although life has been amazingly wonderful and the transition easy from the beginning, it feels like we now have the rhythm of things, big and small — e.g., we now know where to get very yummy yogurt, the kids really identify themselves with Ethiopia, and lots of other transitional things in between!” Linda notes.
In fact, they have decided to extend their time in the country beyond the two years they had tentatively planned. It’s clear they’ve fallen in love with this land. “There is a sweetness to life here that is so difficult to convey in words,” Linda says.
When the family first moved to Addis Ababa, Linda and Gavin acknowledge, it was “a bit challenging” to explain the evidences of poverty to their children. But they way they have adapted is evident every day.
“The smallest of things give them so much joy and they are able to find fun things to do now with almost anything (e.g., a random stick or rock) to entertain themselves,” Linda says. “I also love that they are now totally unfazed [when there is] no electricity or water. Sometimes I wonder if these early experiences will help them in some way realizing that so many people live and do amazing things with their lives with so little material resources.”
Bahiyyih, just out of kindergarten, and Thomas, a preschooler, have developed their imaginations, she notes. They make up games with everyday objects or articles of clothing, improvise skits, even play at going into business selling rugs (pretend) or washing bicycles (real).
The children regularly come up with activities for children’s classes, and they show a true host’s attitude toward visiting children. At a restaurant one night, Thomas asked the host for paper and pencils to use at the table, and “he was very excited to do it in Amharic,” the local language. “The enthusiasm of [the adults’] response was comparable to the response he would get from one of his granparents or relatives.”
Linda acknowledges it takes a lot of energy and effort to keep all these activities going, on top of the normal rigors of bringing up a family. “Gavin and I are usually exhausted by 8 p.m. and sometimes fall asleep with the kids,” she notes, but can’t help adding: “… only to rally a few hours later for a midnight conversation, usually focused on how fantastic our life here is. It really is a blessing to live here!”