The final preparation and the arrival of the participants of the 16th ANZBYC

The preparation work of the ANZBYC took almost a year. There were lots of fund raising activities like car washing, tea and dinner reception etc ; under the guidance of the Venerable Abbess ManShin and Venerable RuLian and the support of the BLIA members.
Besides the monetary support is required, the supporting staff members are required to facilitate such a grand events.
These fund raising and enrolment activities were ongoing for a year, from 5 supporting staffs increased to 54 supporting staff members, the initial 7 participants to 114 participants, and 8 speakers. The journey is indeed painstaking but fruitful.
The young Buddhist participants from different countries Taiwan, Hong Kong, Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Auckland and Christchurch has gradually arrived to the NZ North island Fo Guang Shan in July 13.
On 12th July, the registration for the ANZBYC participants starts at 9 am. They will receive the t-shirt and booklet for this event. The 114 participants will be divided into 8 groups. The names of these groups were named after the 8 pagodas’ names in the Taiwan Buddha Memorial Hall. The group names are as followed: 1 Humanistic Buddhism, 2 Buddhist Believes, 3 Good Deeds, 4 Gives, 5 Harmonies, 6 Positive Paramitas, 7 Mindful Commandments and 8 Noble Path.
They will also learn the song of 3G4G – 3 Good Deeds and 4 Gives, with the simple hand action. There will many workshops, conferences and small discussion groups during these 4 days 3 nights. The purpose of this conference is to instill the Buddhism values and teaching into these young minds. And hopefully they will face any adversity with a positive attitude and mind.