BRASILIA, Brazil -- During the 1991 Gulf War, the staff at the School of the Nations here faced a touchy diplomatic problem.
Numerous among the school's students in this modern South American capitol are the sons and daughters of the various international diplomats posted here.
That year, the son of the Iraqi ambassador was in attendance -- along with many children from the United States and other countries in the United Nations-sponsored coalition that intervened to end Iraq's occupation of Kuwait.
At one point a few of the students made aggressive remarks to the Iraqi, "about how 'you guys' are going to get 'smashed' and so forth," said James M. Sacco, the school's director.
"But fortunately, most of the other students rallied around the Iraqi boy, saying things like 'Here at the school we are all friends,' and 'Here at the school, nationality doesn't make a difference,'" said Dr. Sacco.
That incident -- among others -- exemplifies the success of the school at fulfilling its own distinctive sense of mission: to raise up a new generation of leaders instilled with the ideal of world citizenship.
There are some 85 different foreign embassies in Brasilia and since the school's establishment in 1980 by a group of Bahá'í educators from the United States and Brazil, it has quietly flourished by delivering on that promise.
Serving some 230 full-time students from 25 different national backgrounds in grades kindergarten through eight, the school offers a distinctive curriculum that blends an emphasis on cross-cultural experiences with moral and religious education in a bilingual setting.
Half of the classes are taught in Portuguese and half in English. In this way, the program not only meets all of the Brazilian government's curriculum requirements but also satisfies the concerns of diplomats and others who want their children to be intellectually fluent in a multi-cultural and interdependent world.
"We were very sympathetic to this kind of philosophy, and it is one of the main reasons we send our kids to this school," said Clemens Birrer, the counsellor of the Swiss Embassy here, who has two daughters at the school. "My wife and I are convinced that human relationships have to be built up outside of any context of color or race or nationality.
"We also feel that human relationships have to be built up with religious belief, because moral belief influences human relationships."
For this reason, said Counsellor Birrer, he and his wife very much appreciate the school's attempt to teach about all of the world's major religions in its curriculum, even though they are themselves active Catholics.
"How can you build a world citizen if you don't know anything about Islam, for example?" asked Counsellor Birrer. "Because Islam is established very much on moral principles. So we agree to the general education on religion to sensitize the children to the fact that there is a God and that you can pray."
Indeed, although the school is run by Bahá'ís and incorporates religion as an element of its curriculum, the administration and teachers take great pains to teach respect for all of the world's great religions.
When the school dedicated a new building in 1987, for example, the ceremonies featured not only Bahá'í prayers, but also Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, and Hindu prayers, all reflecting the various religious backgrounds of the student body. "In fact, it was the Iraqi boy who read from the Koran," said Dr. Sacco.
"We have a complete sequence on comparative religions running from the 5th through the 8th grade," Dr. Sacco continued. "It starts with a study of the Bible in a historical context in the 5th grade, then with the New Testament in the 6th grade, and then Islam in the 7th grade. In the 8th grade, they study the Bahá'í Faith and other philosophical and religious movements of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries."
Because of this inclusive approach, many Muslim diplomats have chosen to send their children to the school, choosing it even over such excellent alternatives as the American School, the French School or the local Brazilian schools.
Bil Eryilmaz, a retired Turkish diplomat, and his wife, Emel, who currently works as the administrative attache at the Turkish Embassy here, have sent three of their children to the school and very much appreciate its philosophy of promoting world citizenship.
"It is important for children to learn about other citizens and other cultures," said Mr. Eryilmaz. "My daughter now has friends from Africa, the United States and from Russia and it is very nice. She also takes her own culture to the others."
The Eryilmaz's also appreciate the school's emphasis on religious toleration. "The children learn how to pray to God and they learn who is God," said Mr. Eryilmaz.
They are also pleased with the school's academic success. They said their oldest daughter recently graduated from the school and returned to Turkey. And despite long years outside of Turkey, they said, she nevertheless did extremely well in the comprehensive examinations at her new high school there.
While Dr. Sacco confirmed that students at the school have gone on to demonstrate a high level of academic achievement, he said the administration and staff were perhaps the most proud of their success at instilling a philosophy compatible with today's interdependent world.
"What sets the School of the Nations apart is really this aspect of peace education, of education for world citizenship," Dr. Sacco said.
"Outsiders have told us that the children from the school are more outgoing and more willing to make friends and go on to new experiences.
"We not only teach kids to appreciate diversity, but to seek
it out. Not to be afraid of it," he said. "But of course
that is something that is very hard to measure. You can't score
it. But we feel it is perhaps the most important thing we have
to offer."