It was in 1923 that the eminent philanthropist, the late Seth Mervanji Cama laid the foundation of the Mancherji Framji Cama Athornan Institute.  His vision was to sow the seeds of religious knowledge and fervour in the minds and hearts of young priests so that they may become torchbearers to the community.  It is to the credit of this Institute that several learned Dasturs and scholars have passed through its portals and later guided the community.

Today, a small group of dedicated and dynamic persons belonging to the Ex-Students Association have offered their services to rejuvenate this Institute.  The Refresher Course, which has been organized by them with great success for the last five years, is a clear testimony of their deep fervour. …Read the rest of this entry »»»

Notice is hereby given to the congregation that Voting for the Election of Trustees for the Darbe Mehr Zoroastrian Temple will be held on Sunday, May 4, 2008 at the Arbab Rustam Guiv Darbe Mehr located at 106 Pomona Road, Pomona, NY. The election will take place following the proceedings of the Annual General Meeting being held at 12:00 noon on the same day.

The term of office of two of the Trustees, Mr. Fuad Adib and Mrs. Mehru Cama expires this year. Both Trustees have completed one term in office as elected Trustees and are eligible to run for re-election for a second term.

The election procedure being carried out will elect two Trustees for a three-year term from the list of Nominated Candidates.

Please note that the DMZT By Laws require that there be at least one IZA member on the DMZT Board of Trustees. Since Mr. Fuad Adib is the out-going IZA representative, an IZA member must be nominated and elected to the DMZT Board during this election.

Candidates who wish to run in the election are requested to complete the attached Nomination Form and include a brief biography with it.

The nomination form and biography must be mailed to reach the Election Committee at the address given below no later than Saturday March 15, 2008.

Mr. Noshir Dutia
2 Viking Court
Randolph, NJ 07869-1236

Election Commission

• Mr. Noshir Dutia - Tel: (973) 328-2881
• Mr. Erach Munshi - Tel: (212) 865-6683
• Mr. Iradj Yektashenas - Tel: (908) 522-1342

Notice is hereby posted that the Annual General Meeting of the Darbe Mehr Zoroastrian Temple will be held on Sunday, May 4, 2008 at 12:00 Noon at the Arbab Rustam Guiv Darbe Mehr located at 106 Pomona Road, Pomona, NY to conduct the following business:

1. Presentation of the Annual Report.
2. Approval of the Treasurer’s Report.
3. Election of Trustees.
4. Any other Business.

ELECTION OF TRUSTEES:

The election for the trustees will be conducted independently by the election committee appointed for the purpose.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS:

In the interest of time, congregation members, who may want to bring up any other pertinent business that concerns the congregation or the Darbe Mehr’s well-being, are requested to submit this in writing to the Board of Trustees no later than March 19, 2008. This would be conducted after the election procedure for the Trustees has been completed as this could be fairly open ended in terms of time.

DMZT Board of Trustees

• Mr. Fuad Adib
• Mrs. Mehru Cama
• Mr. Astad Clubwala
• Mr. Firdosh Mehta
• Mr.Sherezad Mehta
• Mr. Fali Shroff

Prof Irani is back and he has agreed to give a talk at the April Religion Classes on April 6, 2008. The title of the talk will be “Social Message of the Zoroastrian Manthric Prayers.”
Certain Zoroastrian prayers such as the ‘Ashem Vohu’ and the ‘Yatha Ahu Vairyo’ are considered to be manthric.

The traditional view is that these prayers have a special power beyond the meaning of the words in the prayers and even their sound alone has power. Prof. Irani has studied these prayers and will describe the social message that runs through these prayers shedding a new light on these very familiar prayers.

What is the “Youth Leadership Enhancement Program”?
The “Youth Leadership Enhancement Program” is a new initiative which aims at encouraging community leadership among 23 to 35 years old. The program is being launched to gear up for presentation at the 9th World Zoroastrian Congress to be held in Dubai in 2009.

The objective of launching this program is to build a network of enthusiastic young individuals and create a sustainable pool of next generation leaders that will benefit the community in the long run.

The youth will be mentored by eminent industrialists/entrepreneurs and receive valuable inputs/advice from them. They will be encouraged to support several community causes. What’s important is that the youth will have an opportunity to explore and experience the qualities of leadership, collaboration, entrepreneurship, creativity and community rooted ness.

The application process:

• Youth with commitment to Zoroastrian ideals and ethics, good communication, leadership & team building skills and proven excellence in his/her field of activity will be eligible to apply.
• Acceptable age group is 23 to 35 years.
• Applications will be accompanied by an essay, not exceeding 600 words, on the following topic:
• “A Worldwide Youth Leadership Enhancement Program”

Deadline
Entries must be submitted electronically to WZCYLEP@gmail.com, by 31.3.08 (date extended).

Please see the Program guidelines and Application Form for additional information.

Technology and private sector bringing solutions in financing to impoverished communities

NEW YORK, Feb 15, 2008 – In 2001, the World Bank reported more than 2 billion people lived on less than $2 per day. Why does extreme poverty of this nature still exist given over decades of immense international charitable work? The Zoroastrian delegation intends to address the crux of this question at this year’s CSW on Friday, Feb. 29, from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. They will show that the key to this answer is the manner in which development work in impoverished communities has been taking place. The prevalent top-down approach of charity usually empowers the “givers,” in most cases government bodies, as opposed to the individuals in need. The panel will present an example for an alternative approach, namely micro-financing, where the power imbalance is corrected and the true work of development, that is empowering individuals to re-build their own lives and communities, can begin.

…Read the rest of this entry »»»