This year, at the Salon du livre de Montréal — a major book fair— the theme of the Éditions bahá’íes [Baha’i Publishing] booth was “Together youth are changing the world” to encourage young people to take action for the well-being of their communities. During the fair, which took place from 20 to 25 November, over 260 youth left messages stating how they could change the world. Young visitors had been invited to write a message on a paper “brick,” which was then used to build a house representing a better world. A large poster showing a house under construction, on which the bricks were glued, decorated the back of the booth.
Many of the messages left by the youth, most of whom came with a school group, showed that they were very environmentally conscious. Many messages had to do with recycling and fighting pollution. Several dozen youth also emphasized the need to respect others and for good behaviour in general.
This year for the first time, Éditions bahá’íes offered a workshop to school groups. Approximately 75 youth, aged 11 to 15, participated in workshops, which were titled “Understanding today’s society,” and which invited them to reflect on the negative and positive forces in society and on the impact that these may have on their lives. Workshop animators told participants the story of two frogs who found themselves in a bowl of cream and were afraid of drowning. The first frog surrenders to despair and drowns, while the other hopes to escape and perseveres. It continues to swim, trying to get out of the bowl, and eventually the cream becomes butter and the frog is saved. The story is used to help participants reflect on the negative forces, such as despair, and the positive forces, such as perseverance, that have an influence on youth. The workshop led to an interesting discussion during which the youth had the opportunity to discuss various forces they identified, such as the negative force of materialism, which is omnipresent in the television shows they watch, and the positive forces, such as unity and cooperation, which are essential to sports teams in order to win.
The theme of this year’s Éditions bahá’íes booth was inspired by the 114 youth conferences held around the world between July and October of this year. The youth who participated in the conferences explored their commitment to contributing to the building of a better world. You may remember that in early July Montréal was the site of one of the conferences organized by the world governing body of the Baha’i community. Two more conferences were held in Canada, one in Toronto and the other in Vancouver.
The Salon du Livre de Montréal is an important cultural event in Quebec. It attracts many public figures and features many well-known authors. Of the approximately 120,000 visitors who went through the turnstiles, some 2,200 stopped at the Éditions bahá’íes booth and participated in the youth workshop, bought books, or asked questions about the Baha’i community.