RYS Project 2015

Universal Peace Federation New Zealand (UPF-NZ) held a Religious Youth Service project with youths from various races, nationalities and religions from 27-28 June 2015. A group of 50 people took part in a successful collaboration that involved major cleaning of a creek in South Auckland and visiting a total of 8 holy sites, which includes Buddhist, Hindu and Sikh temples; Catholic and Christian churches, and a Muslim mosque. Leaders from the Auckland Council and participating religions were inspired to see the religious youths in action, as we exemplified true unity in expressing the ideals of living for the sake of others, regardless of the differences in our backgrounds. It was a beginning of more things to come, as religious youths and leaders look forward to work together more closely so as to create a better understanding of other’s faiths and for the sake of the various communities in New Zealand.

The RYS project itself started off at 9am to clean-up the Otara Lake. This activity was made possible through the cooperation between Rev Julius Gicole, Director of UPF-NZ; along with Mr Jim Sinclair, Ambassador For Peace (AFP) of UPF-NZ; Mr Antoine Xulue, Community Development Facilitator of South Auckland; and several youth coordinators: Mr Andrew Halim and Mr Johannes Seleni Tale Anae from UPF-NZ; along with Mr Antonio Taulutoa from Auckland Council. Despite the increasing downpour, youths from different religions and parts of the world took their time to gather and commence the cleaning of the lake under the leadership of UPF-NZ youth coordinators, including 8 young members from Oceania Leadership Team (OLT) who travelled from Australia to work together with UPF-NZ youths.

Some of the noteworthy contributions included the sacrifice of several youths from the Sikh community who came over to help right after a midnight shift that prevented them to rest until the end of the activity, and the extra efforts the youths expended together to pick up large, inorganic wastes that are not possible to be removed otherwise by senior inhabitants of the local dwellings or located at places that were hard to reach. The unity displayed by the religious youths enabled them to make the almost impossible possible without much difficulty.

At the end of the cleaning, everyone gathered for a barbecue lunch provided by the Council. It was then closed officially, as appreciations were expressed on behalf of the Otara community by AFP Jim Sinclair, who has tried his best to restore and maintain the area around the Otara Lake for the past few decades; along with Mr Antoine Xulue on behalf of Auckland Council at South Auckland to all participants for selflessly dedicating themselves for others. Truly, it was a spectacle of genuine devotion from youths who pursue the ideals of service and love for the people around them.

The next segment of the RYS Project was the visit to various Holy Sites in Auckland. After the cleaning, we first visited Sacred Heart Catholic Church that was hosted by Father Rory Morrisey. Participants learned in detail the tradition and beliefs of Catholicism, along with the symbols that are embedded within each object present in a Catholic church. The following destination was Shri Shirdi Saibaba Hindu Temple. Mr Bhaskar Reddy, President of the Temple led everyone and explained the different manifestations of a singular God that Hinduism believes in, in the form of the many statues present within the prayer halls. It is also a practice of the Hindu Temple to provide food for every single visitor and worshipper of the temple. Then, everyone visited the last stop of the day, Pu Shien Buddhist Temple whose leader is none other than AFP Master Chang Lin accompanied by her aide, AFP Mei Foong. She imparted the teachings of Buddhism, the differences in its denominations, along with the meaning of the statues and religious objects present in the temple. Participants were then treated with kind hospitality that enabled further conversations to take place, before leaving back to Parnell Peace Embassy to close the day’s programme.

The day after started off by a visit to newly-built Henderson Hindu Temple, where Mr Umesh Chand guided everyone to receive the blessing given by their religious leader and shared with them the story of Krishna that was depicted in the many murals of the prayer hall. He also invited everyone to meditate during the prayer time, before kindly leading them to the cafeteria for some refreshments. After that, we went together to visit Ahmadiyya Mosque. At the serene holy site, we were led to both male and female prayer halls where we learned a lot more about the inscriptions written inside the Mosque and the meaning of each procedure in bowing and moving accordingly to submit one’s body for prayer. Then, we had a short tea session where we listened to a presentation about the history of Ahmadiyya Mosque and how it was established in Auckland, New Zealand. Mr Igbal Mohammed spoke from the bottom of his heart about the peacefulness of Islamic teaching and made clear the stance most Muslims have against terrorism.

The next stop was the Church of Latter-Day Saints of Jesus Christ in Manukau, South Auckland. We were briefly introduced about the Church’s beliefs and important people whom they look up to. A short tour then commenced within the church that closely resembles a school environment where followers can come, learn and interact with one another in the various facilities provided to commune and worship as a family. Our next destination was Dasmesh Darbar Sikh Temple. We were greeted kindly by Mr Jasbir Singh, youth representative of the Sikh community. He slowly introduced us to the uniqueness of Sikh traditions which include keeping one’s hair covered by a turban because it is a sacred part of the body and treating their Holy Scripture as a living being, giving it its own room and facilities within the temple. He stated that Sikhism regards all men as equal, which explains the tradition of eating together on the floor regardless of one’s status and position in the secular world. The practice was emulated by participants as we enjoyed our lunch together in the dining hall of the temple.

The last holy site to visit was the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Temple in East Tamaki. We were guided around the largest Buddhist Temple in the country and we received further explanations of Buddhism, along with the different features of the temple.

After spending some time around the temple, we headed back to Parnell Peace Embassy to close the RYS Project together as youths of a global, interfaith community. Ms Natascha Schellen, leader of the OLT hosted the proceedings upon which youths were able to share their RYS experiences with everyone present. Rev Julius Gicole then gave all participants Certificates of Appreciation for their contributions and expressed his hope for a closer collaboration for religious youths to showcase their ideals and bring positive influence to their surroundings. The project was then concluded with a heartfelt dinner for everyone involved.

Although we often abuse our freedom of choice by doing unproductive or even destructive actions unintentionally, RYS Project gave us the opportunity to exercise the faiths embedded within our hearts and allow it to manifest substantially for the betterment of the communities around us. Its revival in New Zealand chapter of UPF also lays down a platform of understanding to hopefully prevent unfortunate consequences in the form of hatred and violence, caused by the fear of not knowing each other’s internal motivations. Although it is but a small step in the things we wish to accomplish together, we hope and we believe that nothing but goodness will come out of this sincere, peaceful and determined project. May we have the chance to meet again and work together in the name of global peace and harmony as One Family Under God.

 
– Photos courtesy of Barry Noel;   Written by Andrew Halim