Phillip Daka
Phillip Daka | |
|---|---|
| NSA member | Zambia 1967 - 1982 |
| ABM | Africa ???? - ???? |
Phillip James Daka is a Zambian Bahá’í who served as an Auxiliary Board and National Spiritual Assembly member. In his career he was a notable educationalist.
Biography[edit]
Daka was from Zambia and lived in Kitwe in his youth where he attended Kitwe Main School. He first heard of the Bahá’í Faith through a pamphlet a relative shared with him, however he initially felt it was a false religion opposed to Christianity but later attended a Bahá’í meeting at a school and began studying the religion through Bobbi Davidson, a South African Bahá’í. He studied for six months before declaring in March, 1956.[1]
After declaring Daka visited Salisbury in Zimbabwe briefly where he met Shidan Fat'he-Aazam then returned to Zambia where he enrolled in Munali Secondary School in Lusaka. He was put in contact with Ethna Archibald, a Bahá’í pioneer living in Lusaka, when he moved to the city.[1] Daka began attending regular study classes facilitated by Archibald inviting fellow students to attend. In 1958 he began travel teaching during his school holidays and visiting Salisbury to learn more about the Faith from Shidan Fat'he-Aazam.[1]
In 1960 Daka was appointed to the Area Teaching Committee for Zambia and he was appointed as an Auxiliary Board member in the mid 1960's.[1] In 1966 he began his professional career securing a position with Zambia's Ministry of Education,[2] and married Ethna Archibald.[3] He moved to England briefly between 1967 and 1968 to study at the University of Manchester and was also elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of Zambia when it was established in 1967.[4]
In 1971 Daka returned to England where he studied a Masters in Education and in 1972 he was appointed the Executive Secretary of the Adult Education Advisory Board, a coordinating body for adult education at the national level in Zambia. His efforts in overseeing the development of education in Zambia resulted in him being appointed the secretary of a Steering Committee tasked with reforming the Zambian education system in 1976 and he was appointed the inaugural Director of the Zambian Department of Continuing Education.[2] In 1981 his marriage ended in divorce and in 1982 he moved to England settling in Hull but returned to Zambia in 1983.[3]
In 1987 Daka left education to work in administration when he was appointed the Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office of Zambia however by 2003 he had retired. He continued to remain an active member of the Zambian Bahá’í community serving as a Trustee for Huququllah, serving as chairman of the William Masehla Foundation, and assisting with the management of the Banani International High School for Girls.[4] He participated in the celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Bahá’í Faith in Zambia speaking on his memories of the early history of the religion in the country.[2]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Edith Johnson & Lowell Johnson, Heroes and Heroines of the Ten Year Crusade in Southern Africa, NSA of South Africa: Johannesburg, 2003, p 122
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Edith Johnson & Lowell Johnson, Heroes and Heroines of the Ten Year Crusade in Southern Africa, NSA of South Africa: Johannesburg, 2003, p 124
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (2005). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 32 (2003-2004), Pg(s) 232. View as PDF.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Edith Johnson & Lowell Johnson, Heroes and Heroines of the Ten Year Crusade in Southern Africa, NSA of South Africa: Johannesburg, 2003, p 123
