International Teamwork
by Billy Fong, Malaysia
Reflections on a Historic Event
by Sam Tan, Singapore

Amazing is He who directs this show. Not an invitation is sent. Yet, people of every race, color, and creed flock to a little hamlet in the southern part of India called Prashanthi Nilayam, the Abode of the Highest Peace. Those who are fortunate, nay chosen, to be part of the Divine plan have a great opportunity and at the same time a great responsibility. For these are the people that bear the name and carry forward the ideals of our dear Swami.

A truly historic "Sai" event occurred this past September, an International Conference on Education and Human Values. What made this Conference truly historic? For those who know about Swami and are involved in His work, it was the first time that a conference such as this took place. What added to the uniqueness of the event was that many who knew nothing about Swami attended this Conference. Some of these people were eminent scholars, scientists, and educators in their respective countries.

It was extraordinary to observe Swami interacting with these first-timers and the detail with which Swami plans. Here are just some examples, seating (meaning chairs) was provided for all Conference delegates right in the middle of Sai Kulwant Hall. Swami arranged, during the times that there were no Conference activities planned, special seating in the Mandir for those that were new to Swami to allow them the opportunity to interact with Him. Instructions were given to dress "Western" to help make those new to Swami a little more comfortable in their surroundings. All events and aspects of the Conference were handled and conducted with the highest regard for detail and professionalism. Swami took great care in addressing the Conference delegates and ensuring that any doubts, questions, etc. were answered.

The following are some highlights of the Conference and experiences of working together for a common goal where boundaries and countries no longer matter but all are working for the same common ideals.

Just after the 2^nd World Youth Conference in 1999, I was offered the task to coordinate, jointly with Dr. Ravi, the Secretariat for the International Conference on Education in Human Values scheduled in September 2000.

The job of the Secretariat was to coordinate the compilation of the proceedings of the conference as well as to provide secretarial services for the speakers and the organizing committee.

During the conference there were roundtable sessions and workshops, as well as case studies. As the participants were to be high profile people in the education field as well as dignitaries, the rapporteurs for the roundtable sessions would need to be senior Sai devotees who had experience in chairing and coordinating meetings. As such, we wrote to all Central Coordinators to request their help in identifying with this task, devotees who would be able to help.

I remember at a meeting with Bro. Art Ong Jumsai, sometime during Guru Poornima last year, when he mentioned that one of the additional tasks of the Conference Secretariat would be to come out with a daily bulletin (about two - three pages) of the event of each day to release to the Press.

The idea then came - instead of just producing this daily bulletin only for the media, why not also produce this daily bulletin for each of the delegates? In Prashanthi there is no newspaper and this bulletin would be something that all delegates would look forward to reading. As the conference was an international one - the daily bulletin needed to meet the highest standards. Taking all this into consideration, I tried to visualize how the bulletin would be; I envisioned a very well formatted bulletin with color pictures (captured by digital cameras) and well written summaries about the events of each day. The challenge would be to get the bulletin out by the end of the day for distribution to the delegates the next day.

I realized then that we would need a team of people who had experience in publishing such a bulletin. The SYAN newsletter came to my mind and I visited the SYAN website. I was very impressed with their newsletter. I then emailed to the Editor of SYAN, to run the idea by him to see whether the SYAN team would like to take up the challenge. The response was one of great enthusiasm! We had a meeting over the phone together with other SYAN team members in the USA discussing the hardware requirements as well as the human resources that would be required to fulfill the task.

Then came the day when we were all to meet in Prashanthi. The team included youth from the USA, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. The Secretariat Team was also comprised of rapporteurs - mainly senior Sai devotees from various countries in the world as well as a number of young adults from the USA.

As I now reflect on the bulletins and final report that we prepared for the conference, I realize that it was really amazing that we were able to summarize several roundtable sessions, workshops and case-studies within a period of four days and produce the bulletin on time each day.

I believe the following are the factors that had helped us in our task. First, we had a very good system to track the smooth flow of data coming in from the various round-table sessions, workshops and case studies. Second, we had excellent Teamwork. Each and every member of the team contributed their own unique qualities, talents and experiences in reporting, summarizing and editing reports that came in. They were supportive of each other in their respective tasks. Third, we had a harmonious working relationship. Although all of us came from different cultural backgrounds, we were all able to work together harmoniously for a common task. I believe each of us has this love and respect for each other as individuals although at times there were some differences in opinions.

Fourth, we all had dedication and devotion to the task on hand - all the members with their love for Bhagawan wanted to give their best to the tasks allotted to them. For example, I can remember one of the youths taking the trouble to go out into the village in the middle of the night on a borrowed motorcycle to get bulletins to be printed on time.

And most importantly, we had Bhagawan's Grace and His Invisible Guiding Hand in our work!

Thank you Bhagawan for giving us the wonderful experience of working in the Secretariat and allowing us to do your work as a team!

Billy Fong
Malaysia

It was really a spiritually uplifting experience working in the Conference's Secretariat team with fellow brothers and sisters from Malaysia, Indonesia and the United States. I felt that it was Swami's Will that brought every single one of us together to perform His work and to be His instruments. This is really one of Swami's miracles in arranging a Satsangh (Good Company) for His devotees in a special way.

The conference itself was unique and special from any other international conference. It was held in a "non-toxic" environment where everyone was close to the Avatar. The mix of educators from different parts of the world was a real strength of this conference. There were a significant number of non-Sai devotees as participants. One lovely feature as observed was that people were not pushy of their own ideas and points of view. They came with an open heart to listen and share.

I personally have learned quite a bit from my involvement as a Secretariat team member during this conference. One thing is for sure, this experience reinforces my understanding of Swami's 3 Ps (Purity, Patience and Perseverance) and 3 Ds (Duty, Devotion and Discipline). The teachings of our Beloved Sri Sathya Sai Baba are applicable in every aspect of our lives.

Sam Tan
Singapore