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board members came and three special guests also attended. The meeting focused on Convention '94, Short-Term Plans, and Long-Term Plans. For the convention, primarily the format and agenda were reviewed. One of the concrete projects produced from the meeting included the YJA Kickoff day. For that, a package including a Win, Lose, or Draw game, Jain topics of discussion, and information about YJA and Convention '94 was sent to all the local youth representatives across the continent. The Kickoff day were held in the months of March, April, and May 1994, all across North America by the various youth groups.
Continuing to promote the name of YJA, Young Jains of America moved forward by also obtaining space in each JAINA Focus magazine published monthly. Adhering to the schedule of Young Minds, the second issue came out in March 1994 with a much larger audience than the maiden issue. The Jain Digest also saw a large youth section describing youth activities across North America in the latest issue. In addition, for the first time the JAINA Executive Board meeting (in Los Angeles, California) had a youth delegation attend to present the activities and status of Young Jains of America.
The primary activity this summer was the First YJA Convention in Chicago, Illinois. With several guest speakers and a variety of discussions and workshops, the youth have many activities in store for the July 4th weekend. To publicize the event, brochures were sent out to many youth and their families throughout the continent early in the spring.
The next generation of Jains are faced with unique problems and challenges. They have different needs from the first generation. For the most part, these needs are only partially addressed by the larger Jain community. Herein lies the main challenge and the purpose for an organization such as YJA. As a youth organization, YJA is suited to clearly define the problems of the youth, address their needs, and provide practical and effective solutions.
Since the last two JAINA conventions, communication has increased amongst the youth from different regions. The youth are eager to move beyond the parochial interests that plague some of the first generation Jains. They are eager to see how religion can play a greater role in their lives. They are also eager to develop a sense of urgency, since many people believe that Jainism will diminish in the twenty-first century due to the fact that the youth are not taking an active role in their community. We need to and we want to change this notion. The time is perfect to put YJA on a firm footing and develop it into an organization which will cater to the needs of the second generation Jains. We have had a solid start, but the efforts must continue for success. We hear the constant fears of our parents and we are responding. We urge all the Jain organizations to encourage youth activity of all kinds on a regular basis within their community.
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