Ringing in the new year with Y4U, 13 youths from different faiths (and nations!) gathered last January 9th, 2010 (Saturday) in the afternoon to hangout, chillax, meet, have fun, and plan activities for iTrip program of 2010.

The Peacemakers' Circle interfaith dialogue center played host to Y4U's first gathering for the year which started with interfaith prayers from the Christian, Catholic, Muslim, Shumei, Hindu and Earth faith traditions. It was indeed a colorful and diverse group not only in terms of religious affiliations, but because the youths came from different cultures as well-- Indian, Japanese, Indonesian, African, Mexican, Brazilian, aside from the local Pinoy!

A short orientation and recap of past Y4U activities, and welcoming of new faces in the circle preceded an icebreaker which Sharon V. facilitated. In this activity which was coined "Zestiny", each participant picked up a message from the basket, read it aloud, and shared reflections about it or how the message related with one's insights for the coming new year.

The program then proceeded with brainstorming and brewing up with different activities for each month for the whole year. This includes the plans laid out by the newly-approved youth ambassador of the United Religions Initiative in Southeast Asia-Pacific (URI-SEAP), Ishilta Pinlac, who was formally introduced to the group.

Aside from the ever inspiring presence of the Xaverian Missionaries and Shumei Philippines, the circle also welcomed the participation of a youth rep, Mr. Lloyd Yales, from a government agency-- the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP). OPAPP expressed willingness to support the interfaith youth activities of Y4U in the future, according to Lloyd (Woohoo!).

For a short while, The Peacemakers' Circle executive director, Ms. Marites Africa, and URI-SEAP regional coordinator, Dr. Shakun Vaswani, dropped by to greet everyone and encouraged the youths in their endeavors.

A hearty vegetarian snack and lively conversations (mostly musings about the different languages represented in the circle) capped off the afternoon.

Stay posted for the launching of the i-Trip program for the whole year! Coming out soon!

(Thank you, Nico Africa, for the great photos! Thank you, Mrs. V for the snacks!)