The First Day of the Third Season of “3G4G Festival of Culture Sharing” – Bringing Right View into the Schools

The first day of the third season of “3G4G Festival of Culture Sharing” was held on 17th May. It was participated by over 400 students from Baverstock Oaks Primary under the guidance of Principal Mary Wilson, teachers and parents. The group was split to come for a morning and afternoon session. They were welcomed by Venerable Zhiming, BLIA North Island Vice-president Sally Wong and over 20 BLIA volunteers. This visit was started off by introducing to the students how give greeting by saying “Auspiciousness” in Chinese.

This festival is filled with a wide variety of activities, including visiting the special “The Enlightenment of an Indian Prince” exhibition, watching a short cgi film about the Buddha’s life, 3G4G temporary tattoos, Q and A and tasty brownies made by the volunteers. In order to allow the students to fully understand the meaning of 3 Good Deeds and 4 Kinds of Giving, they were organised into 5 groups to receive temple tour through the art gallery, Main Shrine, Pagoda, courtyard and make lotus origami. The happy children were well organised in their groups where older students took care of their younger peers. When tour guides brought up questions they’ve all enthusiastically answered, where they’ve especially remembered details of 3G4G. The accompanying teachers and parents were highly impressed.

Officer Piho Tauiti and Anson Lin also gave support on behalf of NZ Police, where they invited the students the join interactive games to teach everyone about how to respect and share with others. Their fun and humorous delivery were highly appreciated by the students.

Following the guidance of Venerable Zhiming, the students joined their palms and closed their eyes to practice meditation to settle body and mind under the accompaniment of peaceful music. After this 2 hour event, student representatives gave their thanks to the temple for their meticulous efforts.

All the students will surely share the story of today’s fun filled and worthwhile visit all their family and friends.