人間通訊社

Since 2012, members of BLIA YAD Europe always look forward to December, as they join together for the annual Buddha’s Light Young Adult Regional Camp. On 28th December 2017, nearly 100 BLIA YAD members from across 8 countries in Europe gathered at Hotel Sierra Oriente in Madrid for the 2017 BLYA Regional Camp.

After arriving at the venue and settling in, BLIA YAD members Andre, Roxy and Jason led an icebreaking session, encouraging the youth to get to know each other. Through a variety of different games and activities, all barriers were transcended. One of the activities included a language exchange games, where the participants had to use their local language to introduce themselves and say “Hello, I am a Buddha’s Light Young Adult.” Afterwards, everyone had to pass on the new language that they had just learnt. This activity not only highlighted the multilingualism of European youth but also their enthusiasm to learn and understand other cultures.

The official opening ceremony was held after dinner, with many distinguished guests including Mr. Zhu and Mr. Sun from the Representative Office of Taiwan in Madrid, the President and Advisors of BLIA Madrid. In his speech, Mr Zhu praised the youth on their energetic spirit and encouraged everyone to maintain this passion and take this wonderful opportunity to meet other young people and make the most of the event.

Chief Executive of BLIA YAD Ven. Hui Chuan also recorded a video to send his greetings to the European youth. He reminded everyone of the objectives and the spirit of BLIA YAD. In her welcoming speech Ven. Man Chien thanked the guests for the support towards this event. She mentioned that this year’s camp is a special milestone for the BLIA YAD members in Europe as many of the youth have undertaken the responsibility of staff members, including Dharma affairs, curriculum, activity, media, translation etc. This is not only an opportunity for young adults of Europe to learn as participants, but also to staff members as they get to use their skills and talents that they have learnt from their own subdivisions and expand to a regional event.

The first day concluded with an evening chanting session led by YAD members from Frankfurt and Paris. Even though a lot of the participants were tired from travelling from different countries, the youth enjoyed the first day and looked forward to the next day of classes.