From conversations to community: The story of Bundara Way 

In 2019, a family moved into Bundara Way in Sydney’s north-west with one vision in mind – to work with friends and build a vibrant community. 

Realising the first step to achieving this goal was to start building genuine friendships with their neighbours, they made a conscious effort to create opportunities for conversation, such as walks to and from school, chatting with other parents along the way and getting to know others at the local park.

“Regular walks around the neighbourhood became key, helping get to know more people and deepen connections,” says one community member. “[We] started hosting joint children’s festivals with other neighbourhoods to start the children’s classes. This eventually led to local festivals.” 

Bundara Way is the name of a reserve where the children’s and family festivals are held. Located in the Sydney suburb of Baulkham Hills, the neighbourhood also plays host to three children’s classes, one junior youth group and two study circles. Its core team meets every other week, reflecting to examine the dynamics of the activities and building on the strengths of the community-building process while navigating through the challenges. “From this, the team may study guidance [including] extracts from the messages of the Universal House of Justice on what they want to learn to apply in the neighbourhood. This includes home visits, study circles or the devotional character of the neighbourhood. After, they plan for the neighbourhood activities and its progress and see how they can support one another in their lines of action.”

A few months ago, Bundara Way hosted a family institute camp at the Sydney Baha’i House of Worship for those who had been involved in a weekly study circle but wished to accelerate their progress through the institute.  

“They decided on a family camp, as this is also a way for the families to have a joyous weekend together, strengthening their bonds of friendship,” the community member says. “They remembered their first family retreat a couple of months prior and were excited to have a similar space to study the Ruhi material.  

“Many of the families had expressed their desire to spend more time in family spaces, as many do not have extended family in Australia, and loved the idea of using the school break for more meaningful interactions with their children.” 

With a dedicated children’s program allowing for the adults to fully participate in the sessions, the camp saw participants complete Unit 2 of Book 1 on the theme of Prayer and provided them with the opportunity to visit the Temple and surrounding grounds. “They also made prayer cards and had a movie night to watch Light to the World – a film on the life of Baha’u’llah.” 

The camp revitalised the group of families, who then continued with the institute materials on a weekly basis. “[It] also allowed the study circle to form a stronger group identity as the families became closer. Participants also shared how they enjoyed the group devotionals and visiting the temple, cleaning together as a form of service, and being a harmonious, united group throughout the weekend. This allowed the concepts studied in the sessions to be put into action at the camp itself.”

Bundara Way is set to have a family Ruhi camp every six months as they continue through the sequence of courses, with hopes of more friends from the neighbourhood joining. They have also now started a regular devotional gathering. “We hope our other study circles and new ones that emerge also have similar spaces.”