Never have I ever thought that one fine day I would attend United Nations Conference and that too with my school friends! But, as life progresses, you don't know what path leads to unimaginable destinations.
Back in February 2020, the Covid thing was just about to take up the hype globally. I was reluctant to join the conference when I came to know that our school was taking us to United Nations Youth Conference. I was afraid due to the spread of COVID (because it was new and seemed pretty dangerous) plus I was a bit nervous to face those highly professional delegates of the United Nations.
I was like "what if I'd not be able to give satisfactory replies" or "what will happen if they would ask me to speak", etc. It was a sort of mixed feeling of excitement and nervousness. Nonetheless, I let my fear go and decided to face what comes on with the hope everything goes well.
Arriving at the conference:
Along with my mates, I took up this opportunity. It took us around one hour to reach the " International Youth Conference" in Cheras, KL. When we arrived, we were welcomed by the volunteers and conference organizers. By the way, there were too "school-going-students" like us and it helped to give some sense of relatability.
In the conference room, the situation was not as tense as I had imagined. Everything was cool plus we had an "Ice Breaking" activity to get to know about the participants of other schools. As a result, I made a bunch of friends; got to know about each other, led casual conversations, and exchanged each others' INSTA IDs.
There were hundreds of international students from Russia, the UK, Singapore, Australia, etc. By this time, all my fear faded away.
Getting engaged:
After the meet and greet or ice-breaking session was finished, it was now lunchtime students were now divided into groups over the tables of meals. We enjoyed the international cuisines, like, avocado salad, Manchurian, etc. I made some more friends during lunchtime. During this 30-minute lunch break, we discussed everything from politics to favorite video games. Now, it felt like home.
Learning about sustainability:
Then, the conference had started. The official delegates gave us several examples of Youth's involvement in the sustainability of our environment. They presented the case studies of teens in Kenya and Fiji.
Delegates stated that teens in Kenya voluntarily gather used plastics, papers, cardboard, wood, pieces of clothes, and glass from the streets of Nairobi. They then shift the entire bulk to their storage facility. The team of local teens reuse the collected materials to make bags, clothes, souvenirs, shoes and sell them to tourists. And, they DO bargain for their product! This has helped to reduce pollution and enabled teens to develop soft skills such as; communication, designing, etc.
Also, we got to know about how teens in Fiji are planting trees to prevent climate change. Teens in FIJI have taken up plating tree drivers and with the help of their school teachers, they sow seeds of trees. It's part of their daily homework to water these seeds. Local schools even reward these teens with certificates at the end of the month. This has motivated more and more teens to participate in FIJI's tree drive.
Given that, the officials also told about how United Nations support these youngsters with their Sustainable Youth Program by giving them resources and aid. United Nations recently gave financial and technical assistance to teens across the world, who are working tirelessly to create a sustainable environment.
I got a chance to ask a question to Mr. Sharmakee, who was the ambassador of the United Nations Sustainable Youth Programme. I asked him what if the teens are criticized by certain groups of people during their community services. He said that teens must focus on the betterment of their community and ignore the odds that counter their aims. At the end of the session, I collected certificates and took a selfie with Mr. Sharmakee.
What did I gain from the conference?
This conference left me with a question that "why sustainability is so necessary?" You see, this planet earth is not for granted. Whatever you sow, it will surely grow. We have become "hyper-consumers" and the more we have, the less it is. We are wasting water, clothes, etc without even bothering the consequences.
But, the entire concept of sustainability (which I understood) is that humans should try to spend their lives in such a manner which provides JUST enough resources to fulfil needs without wasting those resources. For example, it's not necessary to get new pairs of sneakers on every Christmas when you fix your old ones.
This would save your money plus you don't know how much carbon, fossil fuels, and chemicals are produced in the making of one pair of sneakers. Also, you cant figure out how much water is wasted in the same process, which could have been used otherwise to irrigate food crops!
Verdict:
Fast forward to 2022, the friends I made at this conference are some of the best ones I've ever made. The exposure of this conference enabled me to expand my volunteer services by becoming a certified Climate Change Informant Of the United Nations.
If I had restricted myself from attending this conference (due to fear of facing the crowd) I would not be able to accomplish such exposure today. I took up this conference and certainly I felt a better version of myself.
1 Comments
Good Job!
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