Lovely, lovely Grahamstown

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Choughi and Amal have spent their lives as pioneers throughout Africa, and he is the descendant of one of the first Babis to leave Iran and begin teaching the Faith in Egypt. Choughi is a retired physician and has on occasion received requests from the Universal House of Justice to take up residence in countries where he and his wife were needed. They are now retired in Grahamstown, where they have a son and daughter-in-law who are both working for Rhodes University. They also have two grandchildren here, which means that Grahamstown’s entire Bahá’í community is six in total. This changes occasionally as Bahá’í students arrive to attend Rhodes. The National Spiritual Assembly (NSA) of South Africa had asked us to consider settling in the Grahamstown in hope of establishing a more vital community.

We were treated to dinner at the home of the younger couple on the second night, with Persian food, wonderful company, and a beautiful home. We really liked this small community and the Bahá’ís and would like to stay here, but there was only one engineering firm in the entire town, and the only work opportunity for Bob would be teaching as an adjunct at Rhodes University. The town is full of early Dutch and British colonial architecture and is small enough to walk quite easily. There are many sidewalk cafes and the usual black township community outside of town. Grahamstown is also the site of South Africa’s National Arts Festival, which is held every winter at the end of June and early July, exactly the same time we are scheduled to go on pilgrimage to Haifa.

We really enjoyed Amal’s always-cheery attitude and Choughi’s kind manner. They were like an adopted family for us. Amal makes homemade bread, jam, yogurt and cheese and was always willing to joke with us and everyone else around her. She always sings or hums in the kitchen. One day Bob asked her why she didn’t begin a small bakery or cheese making business, and she said

not now; maybe if I was 35.

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