Asia Pacific Youth Meet 2019
Kuching, Malaysia
Morning Programme
The morning programme of the Fourth Asia Pacific Youth Meet in Kuching was held on the fifth floor of ‘Sai Tower’ – a building that was lovingly dedicated to Swami for the purposes of youth and skill development. More than 150 youth delegates gathered here and the entire hall was brimming with excitement and positivity.
The morning began with inspiring presentations from all the countries in the region on the various service activities they were undertaking, specifically in the areas of Healthcare, Educare and Sociocare. There were also presentations on opportunities for the youths to come together at the regional level to serve.
Educare Working Group
As the theme ‘Youth for Youth’ suggests, this Youth Meet was a wonderful platform for the youths to share their challenges and experiences with each other. The delegates were determined to go beyond the geographical boundaries of their countries and the theme for discussion focused on how youths from all over the Asia-Pacific could find opportunities to collaborate and support each other in areas where help was needed.
The delegates had already made preparations for the morning conference in the lead-up to the Youth Meet. They had chosen a specific Seva of interest and surveys had been sent out to the various project coordinators in each country to collate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and constraints of each project. During the morning programme, the youths divided themselves into their chosen domains of Health, Education and Social Services, and engaged in rich, productive and dynamic discussions. They learnt about how projects of the same nature were conducted differently in other countries, and obtained a better sense of the differing problems and needs faced. The outcome of each group’s discussion was summarised and presented in the evening in Swami’s Divine presence.
Sociocare Working Group
Healthcare Working Group
To all the youths’ bliss and absolute delight, Swami compassionately graced the morning programme with His presence, and spoke to the youths at length. A youth representative from each country delivered a short presentation on Swami’s instructions for the country and it was most inspiring to see how all the countries were serving diverse areas and needs back home. They were all working in parallel with Swami as their common centre!
Swami lovingly gave the delegates practical guidance that was grounded in the deepest, yet simplest of spiritual truths. He spoke about the importance of Seva, the mind-set one should adopt in serving others, and how one should serve silently and selflessly without expectations or any need for recognition. “When should we do Seva? All the time. Anything that is done selflessly is Seva. Where should Seva be done? Where the need is. How should Seva be done? Selflessly.” Swami guided the youths on how to go about attracting other youths to participate in the various service initiatives. He explained that it was important to attract others first by giving them what they liked doing. For youths who had come for the first time and were new to the idea of Seva, it was important for the youths to appreciate them and recognise their efforts. After some time, once they developed a better understanding of the concept of Seva, they would understand that everything was Seva, and would then be happy to serve wherever required. Swami said that the youths of today were suffering from excessive comparison and competition – instead they should be comparing and competing positively! All youths should learn how to bend and be accommodating, for they would break otherwise! If they were to compete, they should be competing to be the first to apologise, the first to accommodate the other party and the first to sacrifice for others.
