Hi All! *sheepish grin*
It's been over a month since I last posted anything on this San Mateo Patch blog. In mid-conversation regarding the junior youth spiritual empowerment program (JYSEP), I got sidetracked by - guess what? - my own wedding. Three weeks, two families, a bunch of friends, cupcakes, flowers, prayers, and vows later, I am Mrs. Florence Oxenham. Our apartment is now quiet, Oli is back at work, and I can finally go back to writing for this blog. I've missed this :)
Ok, so, I know I promised at the end of the last post that I would outline some of the features of the junior youth groups functioning in San Mateo. Well, during the weeks leading up to the wedding I was unable to visit any of the groups or spend much time on the program. I can tell you, however, that there is a camp being planned for youth who are interested in training to become junior youth 'animators'. (The camp will run on the weekend of 23-24 November at Bosch Baha'i School, a beautiful retreat and conference centre nestled amongst the redwoods of Santa Cruz county). Thus, I thought it would be appropriate to dedicate this post to the notion of an ‘animator’. It’s also apt because, while I have never been involved in the program as a junior youth (JY-me pre-dates it), I trained and served as an animator intermittently for some years.
The designation “animator” is neither a title nor a position. When an individual - typically a youth of 15 years or older - goes through a specific training program, gains first-hand experience of establishing and facilitating a junior youth group, and deepens his or her interest in nurturing junior youth, he or she becomes known as an ‘animator’ - one who animates (i.e. encourages, supports, mentors) junior youth (11-14 year-olds). The course - Releasing the Powers of Junior Youth (more commonly known as ‘Book 5') - is one in a series of courses developed by the Ruhi Institute (based in Colombia) with the overarching aim of empowering individuals and communities to take charge of their own spiritual and material progress.
Book 5 starts by asking these potential animators - say, our 15, 16, and 17 year olds - to think about the characteristics they would like the junior youth to possess by the age of 15 after the 3-year program they will undertake for their spiritual empowerment. It asks: "Will the youth you envision be distinguished by a high sense of purpose upon their completion of the program? What would they consider this purpose to be?”, “On what would they focus most of their energies?”, “What would motivate them to work for their goals?”, and “Would they be satisfied with the present conditions of the world? If not, what would they think should be changed? Would they feel empowered to contribute to such change?”.
Here is a group of youth being asked to reflect on, well, ultimately themselves. Asking a 15 year old where they see an 11 year old in three years time is tantamount to asking that 15 year old to think of his own situation, his own attitudes towards his ‘purpose’ and ‘goals’ and ‘motivations’ and contributions to an ever-changing world. By 17, the age I was when I first undertook animator training, I was a somewhat jaded and confused young woman. I believed in the good of humanity and I wanted to be part of that goodness, but I had also succumbed to the material trappings of the world, peer pressure, and the dictates of high-school bullies. In the opening pages of Book 5, I learned that the period of youth is ‘characterised by strength and vigour and stands out as the choicest time in human life’. We youth must ‘be distinguished amongst men [mankind] by [our] sanctity and detachment, loftiness of purpose, magnanimity, determination, noble mindedness, tenacity, [and] the elevation of [our] aims and [our] spiritual qualities’. Here was a program that encouraged me to strive to live by a higher set of standards, to overcome challenges of living according to these standards, and to explore the contradictions between beliefs and actions when they arise. But beyond all this, the program assists youth to recognise that a dual process of transformation is required - personal transformation and societal transformation - and so they must take charge of their own personal growth and the transformation of society through living a life of service to their communities. First step? Animating a junior youth group!
More to come...
Wishing you all a merry thanksgiving season!
Gratefully,
FO.
