National Pioneering Committee [Baha'i] Letter about Relocating to Bophuthatswana, 1983
Interesting and uncommon 11-page typescript copy letter, including map and visa
application, letter dated August 1983, from the [Baha’i] National Pioneering
Committee, Bophuthatswana, Southern Africa.
The letter describes the pros and
cons of pioneering to Bophuthatswana for a person in the Baha’i faith. Very good condition with horizontal folds. (The shaded places on the map are just from the scanner; all pages are clear and very good.)
Bophuthatswana was a never-internationally-recognized
republic and homeland for the Tswana people of the Republic of South
Africa. The Tswana had settled in the
area around 1600 and became self-governing in 1972 as one of South Africa’s non-independent
Bantustans (territories set aside only for Blacks in South Africa as part of
apartheid). When the apartheid system
was abolished in 1994 Bophuthatswana was dissolved and incorporated into South
Africa. (Britannica Online
Encyclopedia).
The letter describes the country and its capital (Mmabatho)
and s major centers, the opportunities there and the pros and cons. The most pressing occupational needs in 1983
were teachers (particularly at higher grades) and for doctors and nurses. At
the time there were only 60 pioneers there and the letter describes the country
as having little in the way of cultural or entertainment activities, no
wildlife, and with a poor standard of education for school-age children. Interestingly, the letter advises people
searching for employment there NOT to mention they are Baha’i or that they
purposely want to come there to pioneer.
Three of the pages are guidelines for pioneers who do decide to go.
The letter’s recipient, Iraj Motazedian (1948-2013) was born in Iran. He attended graduate school at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, in range management, and moved to Corvallis, Oregon with his wife. Eventually he earned a PhD in rangeland resources at Oregon State in 1984. Apparently Iraj explored a number of overseas opportunities around the time he got his PhD and moved his family to Zimbabwe for several years to help farmers in rural impoverished regions. In 1989 he returned to Corvallis to a full-time faculty position. He was a seasoned world traveler. He was a dedicated member of the Baha’i faith and was committed to living by the Baha’i principles, as evidenced by having spent years to try to advance agriculture in developing countries and volunteering with international programs in his later life to rural regions of under-developed countries such as Afghanistan.