Lally Warren
Lally Warren | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Molalanyana Moncho October, 1945 Serowe, Botswana |
| NSA member | Botswana 1984 - 1985 ???? - ???? 2015 - ???? |
| ABM | Africa 1979 - 1984 |
| Counsellor | Africa 1985 - 2000 |
Molalanyana Lucretia "Lally" Warren (b. October, 1945) is a Botswanan Bahá’í who has served on the National Spiritual Assembly of Botswana and as an Auxiliary Board member and Continental Counselor for Africa.
Biography[edit]
Warren was born as Molalanyana Moncho in Serowe, Botswana, in 1945. Her father was James Leonard Moncho and her mother was Stella Marais Motshedi and in her childhood her family moved to Mafeking where her father was appointed as a school inspector. She was raised under the apartheid regime and faced severe prejudice due to being an African.[1]
In 1954 Warren's uncle through her mother, Modiri Molema, was introduced to the Bahá’í Faith by Canadian pioneers John and Audrey Robarts and he introduced Warren's parents to the religion. The Moncho's became friends with the Robarts attending firesides at their house where they ultimately declared, both being elected to the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Mafeking in 1957 although later in the year the family moved to Kanye when her father was transferred in his professional career. There were no children's classes in the community but Warren's mother read her stories about ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in her childhood.[1]
Warren completed her schooling in Kanye and then enrolled in the boarding school Moeng College in northern Botswana. She declared in 1965 when she met a Bahá’í travel teacher who knew of her parents and asked her why she had not yet declared and she stated that she had never been invited to. After graduating she settled in Gaborone briefly before being accepted into a course to study nursing in Ealing, England, in 1966.[1]
In 1968 Warren married a fellow African Bahá’í in Ealing and they moved to Exeter where she worked as a nurse and then to Glasgow where she worked as a nurse and midwife and served on the Local Spiritual Assembly. She returned to Africa in 1975 moving to Tangier, Morocco, where her husband had secured work and they then moved to Lesotho in 1976 and then to Botswana in 1977 and she was appointed as an Auxiliary Board member in 1979. Her first marriage ended around this time.[1]
In 1982 Warren married Gerald Warren, an English pioneer, and they pioneered to Jwaneng. She was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of Botswana as Treasurer in 1984 and she was then appointed as a Counselor for Africa by the Universal House of Justice in 1985. She was appointed for several additional terms as Counselor serving in the role until 2000. She served on the National Spiritual Assembly of Botswana again after completing her terms as Counselor,[1] and participated in the celebrations of the Golden Jubilee of the Faith in the country in 2005.[2]
In 2010 the Warren's moved to Beijing and remained in China until 2015 when they returned to Botswana with Warren being re-elected to the National Assembly immediately.[1]
