New Ideas for Subud Youth USA

Hello fellow Subud Members,
 
I was able to get out to the Subud Rocky Mountain Regional gathering. I am very happy that I made the trip! It was not the biggest gathering Ive been to, however there was a special quality to the meeting. I had called ahead to see how many young people would be attending. For the number of people attending, the amount of young families was very high, and there were even a few young people from Subud families who were thinking about getting opened in the next few years. So from a SYA standpoint it was a very good meeting to attend. It was not a long gathering but I did get the chance for some one-on-one conversations, and even a brief Subud Youth USA meeting attended by the majority of the young families and youth at the congress. Here is some of what we discussed at the meeting:
 
I began by talking about what the SYA team is up to right now, and the website and facebook profile. Then I mentioned the Social projects that came up in the SYA meeting at the national gathering in Portland. Also mentioned the Susila Dharma/youth project being created by Alex Woodward. Also talked about social projects involving many different themes including building houses for the needy or Subud centers ect.., long term projects that could be done on a revolving schedule so the project could be ongoing with different groups of youth coming down to the project when they could get there. This could be in the USA or Mexico, or where ever there is a need and it is possible to do it. The Crestone group is always open to ideas. 
 
Then I asked what if any ideas might people like to see in SYA in their region and outside it. I spoke about the fact that Subud gatherings sometimes tend to happen in the same areas making it difficult for some to attend, and said that I was going to try to get more gatherings in my area (Like the Subud San Diego area Thanksgiving camp out), and they should be active in getting meetings in their area to. One member has already been asked by the new SRMR leadership to head up the family camp for their region. 

We also talked about the family "ARTS camps" that we all grew up with. Everyone seems exited about the idea of bringing these back. perhaps from 5 to 7 days in length including travel. Also there was concern for these camps only being in the same location all the time, so there was talk about having multiple camps around the country.
 
Next there was the suggestion of a Subud Youth version of a "green tortoise" style enterprise involving a bus and camping, fishing and tourism trips. We had a Sudud member say that she has a bus, that needs some work , but is already transformed as a mobile living space.
 
Also the idea of Subud youth Backpacking trips--Subud youth rafting trips (on the "Loma to Westwater" river area for example. a calm section of river good for a family voyage).
 
Another thing that was mentioned was a receiving that a member had at the congress about all the families in Subud and not knowing how individuals were connected, or who was in what family. So, a way to know who is who was suggested. I thought perhaps we could create "family profiles" and put them up on the Subud Youth USA website. or each family could make a photographic family tree and send it to SYA and we could put those on the website.
 
And last but not least, someone asked what ever happened to "The Mentor List" within Subud to connect experienced people with those seeking some guidance in various subjects/work activities.
 
 
CHEERS,
 
Ethan

SYA Co-Chair