Planting Seeds of Connection to Land and Community – Kiara Ehsani

For many, living in an urban area comes at the expense of developing a meaningful relationship and connection with nature. To raise consciousness and plant seeds of connectedness, Kiara’s project hosted garden workshops and community gatherings to empower youth in the Guildford community to cultivate a personal and reciprocal relationship with nature.

Kiara partnered with the Local Spiritual Assembly of Surrey to actualize her project in cultivating seeds of connection in Surrey. Kiara shared how her work supported and expanded upon existing programming with her community partner:

“It was really special because the local Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Surrey was immensely supportive. They provided the structure, the spaces, and the materials that were used in the nature camps and the community gatherings. My community partner basically runs this program that is all around the world. It’s a global program that is called the Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment Program, which really focuses on how to help junior youth between the ages of 11 to 14 develop their full capacity and their potential to make positive change and to draw on qualities that they can develop – especially at this age when they’re going through so many transitions. They have a lot of capacity to see the world around them more clearly. It can be channelled in the right way through through service, often through thinking about how it can be used to benefit others and different qualities that we can develop as well as developing like literacy and numeracy.”

From the Local Spiritual Assembly of Surrey: At the local level here in Surrey we welcome the whole family to participate in activities that contribute to vibrant communities. Children’s class, junior youth groups, study circles for adults and prayers gatherings for friends of all ages. The greatest benefits of these activities can be realized when the entire family engages a process of transformation together.

Kiara shared what she learned from witnessing community connection in action:

“I learned a lot about the power of many people working together rather than just a few. There are so many strengths and talents hidden in a community that can really be put to use best in collective action. It gave me a glimpse of what universal participation in a small community might look like.”

For students considering applying for a CCEL Grant, Kiara offers some valuable advice:

“I think the advice I would give is to look for people who are also passionate about your topic of interest and to see how your proposed project can fill some need in a community. Primarily because I think it’s really beautiful when our efforts are directed, not from just our own thoughts of what’s needed, but really towards helping others and the needs of others.”