IAYSP Oceania Leadership Seminar #Australia

From July 5 – 7 2019, a three-day Youth and Students for Peace (YSP) Leadership seminar, with the theme, “The Role of Youth and Students in Nation Building and Peace”, was held at the Oceania Peace Embassy, Sydney, Australia. Sixty-one youth leaders and representatives from seven different Oceania nations were present. The lectures were given by guest speaker Dr. Robert Kittel, International President for YSP along with Sub- Regional Leader Rev. Yutaka Yamada, and IAYSP Oceania Secretary- General, Mica Camara.

The seminar opened with a banquet dinner in the evening of July 5, where Dr. Kittel shared a speech on, “The Role of Youth and Students in Creating a Culture of Sustainable Peace”. This was followed by a full day of lectures on Saturday July 6, where leaders, youth leaders and youth representatives were presented with lectures on: The Vision and Mission of YSP, Dual Purpose and Pair System, Attributes of True Love, the Importance of Marriage for Society, and the Root Cause of Human Conflict. After each session, there was time made available for questions and answers as well as hearing reflections from representatives regarding lecture content. The day concluded with a brief introduction to the Four Family Loves Curriculum (FFL), written by Dr. Kittel. Each participant was given a booklet on the curriculum and lecture materials. Participants were asked to pick one lecture that they would practice and present to their pair in the following day activity.

The final day of the seminar continued with presentations of YSP and future activities from representatives of each participating nation, and reflections about the seminar. Some reflections shared were pertained to the hope felt from being together with youth across various nations whilst grasping the same vision to bring about a world of peace and create a culture of hyojeong (filial piety). Participants were grateful to have this opportunity to meet and share together with youth from nations of Oceania and hoped to build a network to further YSP activities and education within the region.

The seminar concluded with a graduation ceremony and closing remarks from Dr. Kittel and Rev. Yamada, each expressing that they were very hopeful after witnessing youth gathered from throughout the region. This was a new start to conduct YSP activities in this region.