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CoEJ Youth Conference 2008 |
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The Path to Inner Peace
The CoEJ Youth Conference this year took a different perspective to its predecessors in the sense that its primary objective focused on a sense of empowering attendees to commence a very personal journey towards inner peace. This process was facilitated with the expertise and support of three very unique and motivating individuals: Shaikh Arif Abdulhussain, Clive Hyland and Kassam Jaffer.
Shaikh Arif Abdulhussain, director of the Al-Mahdi institute in Birmingham is renowned for his lectures which he delivers worldwide. At the conference he gave three lectures founded upon the theme of ‘negative suffering’; what it is; how it affects us and understanding the practical solutions to eliminating it from our lives.
The second speaker of the day, Clive Hyland is a life coach and chairman of the company “Think, Feel, Know”. His workshops on “emergence of the self”, “Communications and connections” and “State of Being: Mind, Body, Self “ initiated a path towards self discovery with a particular focus on how we react to situations as well as the processes we undertake in order to make the decisions that shape our lives. Clive also led us through a guided meditation session to bring the event to a refreshing close. This proved to be very beneficial for the attendees as it allowed time for consolidation after an intense day of self reflection and learning.
Our third speaker, Kassam Jaffer, is a Professional Management and People Development Consultant. He led a workshop entitled “Handling Change” which focused on how we react to change and the common problems we face when dealing with it. This is often the root cause of ‘negative suffering’ translating into a substantial obstacle on the path to inner peace. Kassam took us through the ‘change cycle’ and introduced to us many avenues to aid us in understanding and accepting change.
The chosen location was that of The Pavillion Suite at Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham. The design and layout of the halls were very well suited to the event as it effectively aided discussions and networking whilst maintaining a professional ambiance.
Overall, the event was a great success. The hall was filled to its capacity and there was an excellent melange of participants from different jamaats. The round-table setup worked effectively and was further enhanced with the presence of a trained facilitator at each table to support discussion. The networking exercise performed during lunch, along with the random table allocations allowed participants to meet new people from different parts of the country clearly illustrating the fact that the event lent itself very well to networking.
The verbal feedback received thus far indicates that participants enjoyed and benefited greatly from the event. One participant, just days after the event, said: “Had it not been for the conference, I would have walked out of work today. I would have quit.”
From an organisational perspective, it was most definitely a huge success. A big thank you to all the organisers, volunteers, speakers and of course participants. |
