Encouragement given to youth by St .Pedro Poveda and the vision he shared with an evangelizing mission has come a long way. This was witnessed at the 3 day Youth Leadership Camp 2009 at the SARPI Centre Honavar. 17 participants from Anand, Mumbai, Pune and Honavar came together from the 2nd to the 4th of May.
Sessions on ‘You are chosen,’ ‘Self disclosure,’ ‘You are Salt and Light,’ ‘Jesus the Leader,’ ‘Poveda and youth’ and ‘Challenges of youth today,’ provided adequate opportunity for the participants to understand new perspective and introspect and come up with something really practical and doable in their daily lives. Unique and lively dynamics used in each session by the facilitators- Savitha Pais, Gregoria Ruiz, Fr. Lesther (Redemptorist) and Reeves Rodrigues engaged the youth through the different hours of the day. This accompanied by the all important moments of prayer, camp blessing, Taize, walk with Christ and Masses were moments of spiritual sojourn and tranquility.
Everyone had a thrill of a time at the Kasargod beach one evening, enjoyed the sightseeing trip to Murudeshwar and later eagerly learnt from their visit to the San Motto village where they saw how ropes are made from the very start and shared a meal with the villagers.
‘This camp helped the youth in the psychological and spiritual growth. It gave the youth an opportunity to discipline themselves, interact with one another openly, educate and inculcate leadership values. Life was different there, full of entertainment and enjoyment yet bringing the best out of each individual aiming at living for oneself and others. We realized we are salt of the earth and light of the world and we have to strive honestly to fulfill the dream of St. Pedro Poveda. The camp was a wonderful and lifetime experience for all of us,’ say Cheryl and Lynn, participants from Pune.
