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We left Kota Kinabalu for Labuan at 8 in the morning. Everyone was excited and full of spirit to teach. Some were revising their flipchart. We were greeted by Mr. Goh Kok Kyiu in Labuan ferry terminal and was treated lunch too. Thanks to Mr. Goh for being so hospitable. Also thanks to Mr. Naysan Lee for assisting in printing of the Iban flipcharts. Upon arrival to Limbang by ferry, we were greeted by Mr. Kong Siew Moi, Dr. Johun Teh, Mrs. Jubang and a few youth. They brought us straight to Mendamit Bahá’í Centre which is 45 minutes from Limbang Town using two cars and a school bus. There at Mendamit Bahá’í Centre, we met Mr. Sumbang and Mdm. Rata, Mr. Changgau and Mdm. Sema, Mr. Suili and his brothers – Richie and Junaidi, and other youth.

Jesion Meding of Kampung Selampit graduated with distinction from University of Medan, Indonesia

He wrote: “Yesterday was my graduation day. It was a historical moment in my life and a gift from the Blessed Beauty. I was awarded “Best Student of the Year”. After the ceremony, I was interviewed by a news reporter… and I told him the source of my motivation is the Word of God and Bahá’í principles like truthfulness is the foundation of all virtues, peace and sincerity and the meaning of true education. It was a special time for me…as I was able to share some of the teachings with the reporter.

A youth camp which presented talks on ‘Challenges faced by youths of today’ and ‘How to build self-esteem’ attracted 26 Baha’i members from the various places in Miri and Niah yesterday. It was held at the Petronas Games Village here.

Themed ‘Youths and Spiritual Knowledge’, the event was organized by the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Miri, specially for youths aged between 13 and 16.

“This group gathering was organized to increase awareness among youths on the importance of morality in accordance with the Baha’i principle, and in line with the government’s concern for youth provlems,” said a task force committee member and Baha’i member, SR Ramsey.

National Children and Junior Youth Education Coordinator Miss Geriti Katik our
resource person Mr Lee Yih Ven will be visiting advance clusters May-July to
train our newly appointed Children’s Class and Junior Youth Cluster
Coordinators; organize Children’s Class teachers gathering, get the statistic,
access SBI programs for Junior Youths animator and Children’s Class teachers and
train animators for Junior Youth Empowerment Programs. Their tentative visiting
schedule is below. We hope individuals, institutions and communities will give
them and your cluster coordinators

In conjunction with the spirit of charity and gift giving in celebrating Ayyám-i-Há, the Local Bahá’í Youth Committee of Kuching organized a blood donation campaign at the Kuching Bahá’í Centre last 26 Feb. More than 40 friends turned up to support the event. Ayyám-i-Há is the Intercalary days (26 Feb to 1 Mar) before the last month of the Bahá’í year, ‘Alá’, which is the month of fasting. Bahá’u'lláh designated the Intercalary days as Ayyám-i-Há in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas and specified when they should be observed. The Ayyám-i-Há are devoted to spiritual preparation for the fast, hospitality, feasting, charity and gift giving.

The journey started with eight youths from Bau, Lundu and Kuching, traveling together from Kuching to Serian on 23 November. In Serian we were joined by another group of nine youths and we stayed at Ellen Joseph’s residence before proceeding to our first destination, Kampung Bugu Mawang the next morning.

Book 1 course started with 11 Bahá’í youths with myself and Poly Jampang as tutors. The course was held during day time only. At the same time children’s class and junior youth class were conducted by Calstino and Hartini. They were assisted by Erwina and Dovin. In the evening, workshop on arts was held whereby the youth were taught how to chant prayers, songs, games and dances. Besides that we also visited and prayed for a friend who was ill. He passed away a week later.

The campaign started on 1 November 2003 and was successfully completed on 30 November. The purpose of the campaign was to get the participants to attend a series of Ruhi courses, namely, Ruhi Book 1 through Book 4.

On Nov 1, Book 1 started with 4 participants. At the same time the junior youth class started with 22 participants, including one non-Bahá’í. On Nov 5, Book 2 started with 8 participants. At the same time a group of 8 persons started with Book 4. On Nov 18, graduates of Book 2 proceeded to Book 3 with 13 participants. On Nov 23 graduates of Book 3 continued to Book 4 with 12 participants.

A very successful Winter School was held at Sematan Beach from 6 – 9 December 2002. It was attended by about 180 Baha’is and was graced with the presence of Counsellor George Soraya, Auxiliary Board Members Bunsie Tunton, Kalong Katik, Rahmi Kho and most members of the National Spiritual Assembly of Sarawak.