Stopping-over of The Amazing Race Participants at FGS South Island
On 15th January 2021, New Zealand Red Cross organised The Amazing Race for 16 Christchurch refugees. In this Race, 16 participants were divided into 3 teams, and Fo Guang Shan (FGS) South Island was chosen as one of the stations for the participants to stop-over. The participants are refugees from Afghanistan and other African nations. Each of the 3 teams consisted of 6 to 7 participants led by a team leader. Following the instructions in their passage cards, the teams would head towards different stop-overs at different times.
The team leaders for the day’s event were Selam, Tedres Habtegrorgisrat and Samuel Hidrat Equbazgi, who at different times of the day, led their teams to stop over at FGS South Island. At the Temple, each team was received by Fo Guang Yuan (FGY) Art Gallery Christchurch staff Juin Mei who would then test them with questions. Each team would be allowed to leave for the next station only if they could answer at least 1 question correctly. The questions asked were: (1) Name the place where FGS originated, (2) Who is the founder of FGS? And (3) how do Buddhists greet each other?
After getting some hints, all the 3 teams were able to provide correct answer and move on to the next station. Since time was the essence of the Race, the participants were not able to spend time at the Temple. Nevertheless, they were grateful that, through participating in the Amazing Race, they were given the opportunity to come to a Buddhist Temple. They hoped, in future, to visit FGS Temple South Island again.