Religious Youth Service
UPF chapters organize Religious Youth Service projects that offer service-learning opportunities with a special focus on developing personal leadership and peacemaking skills. Through living together and providing altruistic service in a community, participants demonstrate that it is possible for our global human family to come together in peace for our mutual well being.
- Religious Youth Service
- Written by: Ana M. Cobiella-Olson, Ambassador for Peace, R.Y.S. Advisory Council
Miami, USA - Approximately 35 community leaders attended a symposium in Miami about plans for a youth enrichment camp near Port-au-Prince, Haiti, sponsored in party by Religious Youth Service Aug. 15-29, 2010.
- Religious Youth Service
- Written by: UPF - International
Tarrytown, NY, USA - The Universal Peace Federation announces that Rev. John W. Gehring has been appointed as the International Director of the Religious Youth Service.
- Religious Youth Service
- Written by: Religious Youth Service
Portland and Kingston, Jamaica - Eleven young people from the US traveled to Jamaica for a Religious Youth Service project Feb. 22-March 7, 2010, that included building fence in Portland, painting fences and walls in Kingston, making home visits, participating in a forum and making trips to historic sites.
- Religious Youth Service
- Written by: RYS-Suriname
Saramacca, Suriname - The Maria Internaat, is a girls' home run by Catholic nuns in Suriname. On September 18-20, 2009, RYS alumni collaborated with the Suriname Youth Parliament to assist the nuns in setting up a cattle farm.
- Religious Youth Service
- Written by: RYS-USA
Newark, New Jersey, USA - United Initiatives for Peace in partnership with the City of Newark Department of Recreation and Cultural Affairs hosted the 2nd Annual “You Got Schooled” tournament at Central High School in Newark, NJ. For two consecutive years, Religious Youth Service has been a part of the “You Got Schooled” tournament by conducting a Peace Mosaic project on site.
- Religious Youth Service
- Written by: RYS-India
Darjeeling, India - Twenty-nine RYS participants, representing various faiths and cultures, gathered to construct a community center of about 1,100 sq. ft for the needy peoples of three villages, thereby providing a much-needed meeting place. Ongoing efforts are being made in the development of a global peace village, and to encourage villagers to become effective decision-makers in the development of their own communities. The community center will also be equipped with important information concerning health and education.
- Religious Youth Service
- Written by: RYS-SriLanka
Badulla, Sri Lanka - The Blackwood Village in Beragala, Badulla did not have pipe-borne water. Religious Youth Service volunteers helped renovate the existing mini reservoir which had been abandoned in recent times, thus restoring the pipe-borne water way. RYS also supported the road repair, including the reconstruction of a bridge which was badly damaged, on the roadway that lead to the Hindu Kovil, which was also in a very dilapidated state.
- Religious Youth Service
- Written by: Prunella Mungroo
Petit Valley, Trinidad - Participants in the Aug. 8-19, 2009, Religious Youth Service project in Trinidad repaired the facilities at a wildlife rehabilitation center, fed and cared for the elderly at a home for the aged, and visited religious and cultural sites.
- Religious Youth Service
- Written by: Religious Youth Service - Nepal
Gorkha, Nepal - A Religious Youth Service Project was held in Gorkha, Nepal August 9-15, 2009 with participants from the Baha'i, Jain, Buddhist, Christian, Unificationist, Hindu, and Islamic traditions building a new community hall, visiting religious sites, playing in a friendly football match, and spending time building relationships with children and the elderly.
- Religious Youth Service
- Written by: RYS-Indonesia
Bali, Indonesia - RYS worked with the SOS Desa Taruna, a nongovernmental, social development organization for orphaned children, to renovate two fishponds, expected to provide a food source for SOS.
- Religious Youth Service
- Written by: RYS-Netherlands
Netherlands - RYS volunteers partnered with Thuis Op Straat (TOS), a local organization which offers afterschool programs for children. Participants set up a tent and some tables in a playground where they assisted the children in decorating pieces of cloth. The patches were sewn together into a beautiful cloth which was then given as a gift to the Stichting Marme, where it would serve as a tablecloth when regularly feeding the homeless.
- Religious Youth Service
- Written by: RYS - Philippines
Nabunturan, Compostela Valley, Philippines - A Religious Youth Service project in Compostela Valley Province May 23-26, 2009, included Muslim-Christian dialogue, visits to a mosque and a church, leadership and peacemaking skills training, daily reflections, a cultural program and community outreach.