Baha’is Observe International Day for Eradication of Poverty

October 26, 2008

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Bahá’í World News Service

http://www.bahaiworldnews.org/story/662

Asked to open a United Nations meeting on poverty, Kevin Locke recited an “eagle” prayer in his native Lakota Sioux dialect.

“The eagle is a symbol of the ascendant nature of the human spirit, of the innate capacity of the human spirit to rise to nobility,” explained Mr. Locke at a UN roundtable to mark the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. The event was held 17 October.

“The eagle is compelled to fly upward,” he said. “The eagle sees the light of the new day and in its joy calls out, ‘I am the first to fly with the new day.’”

And then, referring to global efforts to eliminate poverty, Mr. Locke said, “We are all striving to escape the darkness.”

His contribution to the UN roundtable was one of a number of efforts that Baha’is around the world undertook in support of the poverty-awareness day, established by the UN in 1993.