Copies of the newly released book

Mrs Rene addressing the audience at Friday evening's ceremony

First Lady of the Republic Sarah Rene officially threw her name into the authors’ ranks on Friday December 26, with the official launching of a book about the Bahai faith.

In a ceremony at the National Bahai Centre at Bel Air, members of the Bahai community in Seychelles and a number of invited guests gathered for the book launching.

Entitled The Bahai Faith: A Portrait, the 218-page volume is an illustrated, full-colour book that, as the title would suggest, describes the different aspects of the religion.

After a medley of performances featuring Bahai songs, chants and prayers inside the centre, Mrs Rene addressed the audience with an off-the-cuff speech explaining the story behind the book – and how she never intended to become an author.

The first lady said that the book evolved from a period in the early ‘90s, when she was acting as a Bahai “missionary” in a number of islands in the South Pacific.

“It was a very interesting time in my life,” Mrs Rene said, expressing her warmth for the many people she encountered during her travels, which included stops in Tahiti and the Cook Islands, among others.

In dealing with the different populations of the islands, however, she said it did not take her long to realise that pictures were much more effective in getting her point across to the natives than words.

Mrs Rene said she began to compile different illustrations in a folder to help the natives understand some of the concepts of the faith.  Soon after returning to Seychelles, someone who had seen the folder suggested that Mrs Rene convert it into a book.

About two years of research, combined with the illustrations compiled during her travels, provided the finishing touches for The Bahai Faith.

After her speech, Mrs Rene officially handed over copies of the book to the Minister for Education and Youth Danny Faure, accepting on behalf of the government, Speaker Francis MacGregor for the National Assembly and representatives from the National Library and the National Archives.

Representatives of the Islamic, Catholic and Hindu communities were also on hand to receive copies of the book.

Selwyn Gendron, acting as the master of ceremony, delivered the opening address, describing the book as a kind of introduction to the Bahai religion.

“For those who want to investigate the Bahai faith, each one of you will find something interesting from it,” he said.

Mr Gendron sketched a brief overview of Mrs Rene’s work, describing how it explains Bahai in context with other religions, the history of the faith and other important qualities of the religion, such as its strong stance against drugs and alcohol.

The Bahai Faith also contains various Bahai prayers, statistics about the religion – it is one of the fastest growing faiths in the world – and the Bahai community’s efforts around the world to improve the socio-economic conditions for the world’s needy.

The book is dedicated to Abdu’r-Rahmán Zarqání, known in Seychelles simply as “Dalon,” who is considered the father of the religion in Seychelles, Mr Gendron said.

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