If you have any questions, please email way-forward@saiyausa.net
Introduction
We, the USA Sai Youth, came together for the first National Youth Conference on May 29-31 in Chicago, IL, where we listened to great speakers, participated in wonderful workshops, learned about unique service projects, and most of all, interacted with youth from all over the country, building bonds across cities and regions. We have begun to think not as separate groups or regions but as one nation, united in the service of Swami's Divine Mission.
What do we do with this new-found sense of unity? How do we translate our common interests and ideas into action? These are the questions the Way Forward Initiative seeks to answer. Those who attended NYC will recall this last session held on Sunday afternoon.
During this workshop, youth reflected on their personal insights from the conference, then joined "Houses" where they shared ideas, resources and inspiration with other youth who shared their interests. Now it is time to expand the Houses to include all Young Adults in the United States.
Read below for a full understanding of how each USA Sai YA can participate in this national effort, whether you attended NYC or not. This is one unified national offering to Sai, implemented through diverse avenues, and focusing on local needs and interests.
Step 1: Join a House
Below is a list of the 10 Houses, with a description of each House’s purpose and objective for the coming year. Please reflect upon your own passions and interest, skills and experience, and then choose one House to which you wish to contribute for the next year. You may only choose one house at this time.
If you have any questions, please check out the Frequently Asked Questions section.
Step 2: Interact
After you sign up, you will be contacted by your House facilitator and introduced to the other members of your House.
Each House has its own page on this website, a virtual space where members can meet, upload files, plan projects and share information. You are also free to use any other collaboration tools you may prefer, such as Google docs, Yahoo! Groups and Facebook, provided they are approved and moderated by your House facilitators.
Step 3: Get Started!
Each House has a core initiative it is working hard to accomplish within the next 12 months, in anticipation of our Beloved Swami’s 85th Birthday in November 2010.
JOIN A HOUSE TODAY.
Going Green: Navigating with GPS
Purpose: To integrate spirituality with the environment through the process of conservation, preservation, education and alternative/new practices and designs.
Objective:
1. Implement an eco-sadhana program where individuals can sign up for specific eco tasks such as composting, recycling, saving water. Dedicated "champions" help out in the specific categories. Attempt to capture metrics over a year period and share lessons learnt.
2. Educate with information, presentations and introduce sai green practices at events, in the centers, at home.
3. Work on a fun large project such as designing a sustainable house with sustainable transportation.
Health & Wellness
Purpose: To actively engage in our personal wellbeing and help the Sai Organization and local community through educational and practical activities centered around health, nutrition and physical fitness.
Objective: To create a set of initiatives for young adults focusing on mental, spiritual and physical wellbeing. Define the needs of centers through a survey, then organize activities at a center level
Human Values Projects with Community Youth
Purpose: A forum to promote and enhance service projects with community youth focused on developing human values. Includes character education, tutoring/mentoring, and health education projects.
Objective:
1. Increase collaboration between YA groups with ongoing community youth projects through the sharing of experiences, ideas, and project materials.
2. Support interested YA groups to get started in community youth projects.
3. Build a web database to facilitate communication and the sharing of lesson plans, values activities/icebreakers, workshops materials, and teaching techniques.
4. Act as ambassadors into the local community - look for innovative methods, activities and best practices in working with community youth.
(includes Sai Careers, Ceiling on Desires)
Purpose: To live a blissful life, spreading love through actions and enabling others to do the same in our home and work lives.
Objective:
1. To create a marriage workshop model based on Swami’s teachings for a local community
2. To hold a pilot “Ceiling on Desires Day” in a local community
3. To develop a personal evaluation spreadsheet to use Swami’s teachings to iterate values into our careers.
Medical Service
Purpose: To build a growing awareness in healthcare, psychology and disease prevention in at risk communities
Objective: Create and pilot a model for needs and impact assessment for healthcare, psychology and disease prevention within at risk communities.
National Infrastructure, Communication & Planning
(Includes National Strategy, Community Engagement, YA Best Practices, Disaster Relief)
Purpose: To improve the national YA infrastructure through enhanced communication tools, sharing of best practices and short- and long-term planning, aimed at the creation of a vibrant Sai-oriented national YA program.
Objective:
1. Communication Infrastructure: To improve collaboration between local and regional groups and create a more cohesive, outward-facing communication strategy with the larger community.
2. Community Profile: To explore engaging with the larger community as a collective entity by either inviting them to service projects or by creating activities that better lend themselves to non-Sai groups/individuals.
3. Leadership Training: To develop a leadership training program for youth leaders
4. YA Best Practices: To survey YA groups and develop a set of best practices
5. Disaster Relief: To develop a toolkit for disaster relief projects across the country
Refugee Projects
Purpose: To help refugees become independent and get settled, to develop a feeling of oneness with the refugees.
Objective:
1. Working on scaling this project effectively for youth groups that are interested (building infrastructure to share best practices, lesson plans etc).
2. English as a second language – Creating and applying content to help refugees with language needs to get back on their feet.
Rehabilitation Projects
Purpose: To create guidelines and resources that enable us to better serve the needs of at-risk populations in our local communities in a sustainable manner.
Objective:
1. To analyze the needs of at-risk populations within the local communities.
2. To develop model programs for assisting the target audience based on needs assessment.
3. To implement pilot projects, track progress, refine the projects to ensure sustainability.
SSE Group 4
Purpose: To help youth ages 16-18 to transition from SSE to the YA group.
Objective: Survey Group 3 students and pre-YA’s and develop a set of recommendations for the design of an effective pilot program and methodology that can be replicated across the nation.
Sai & the Arts
Purpose: To explore Swami's teachings using artistic expression (creative writing, drama, film, music, etc.)
Objective:
1. To create service projects based on the artistic talents and expressions and Sai teachings to present to the community.
2. To find ways of making existing service projects more creative by adding an artistic component
3. To create and pilot a community fair/talent show involving the combined participation of Sai YA's and youth in a local community
Now that you have read and understood the Houses, JOIN A HOUSE TODAY! (Please remember to select only ONE house.)
If you have any questions, please email way-forward@saiyausa.net
I have more than one interest. Can I choose more than one House?
We ask that each YA pick only one House, as there will be plenty to do. But working in one House does not mean you are barred from engaging in activities or projects started by another House. As Houses roll out their initiatives and activities, youth will have the opportunity to participate in those initiatives regardless of their House affiliation.
Do I have to choose the same House I chose at NYC?
No, you can choose any House you wish, even if it is different from the one you participated in at NYC. This is your opportunity to reflect again and choose the House where you believe you can contribute best.
Is this House structure somehow replacing the regional and local reps?
Absolutely not. The Houses are simply groups of like-minded youth across the country, who are collectively applying their interests and talents in a given direction. The Houses are limited to being think tanks, collecting resources, and piloting new ideas for projects; they are not intended to execute full-fledged service projects. The structure of the YA wing of the US Sai Organization is created by Bhagawan, and is not being replaced. As new ideas and pilot programs emerge from the Houses, they will flow into, and enrich, the existing work being done in our regions and local groups, as well as the Sai Organization as a whole.
What happens after I register for my House?
A week or so after you have registered, you will be contacted by the facilitators of your House, so you can join in the conversations and activities that have already begun. If you do not hear from your House in about 10 days, please send us a message.
If you have any questions, please email way-forward@saiyausa.net