What is the difference?

By
 In News

SEARCH_IMG ARTICLEIn my country, Togo, there is still a lot to do to give youth the place it deserves in society. Young people are working hard for their community but most of the time; they do not have the support they need. I have been educated by my mother, a great woman who always tells us, her children that ‘Your knowledge is of value only when it helps you contribute to your community’s well-being’.This familial background gives me the strength to work for my community. Taking part in the 6th World Youth Congress in Rio De Janeiro was the starting point of another great aspect of my life.

Tuesday 17th March, what a night it was. I opened my email box and saw ‘Invitation to the 6th World Youth Congress’. Wow!!!. I danced in my room and called my mother. My journey to Rio De Janeiro had begun. It proved a difficult one. I looked for sponsorship but I couldn’t get any. My mother supported me by financing my travel. Without it, “Rio De Janeiro” would have just been a dream. In Rio, I met other great and amazing young people from around the world, representing different cultures and backgrounds. I worked with them to establish the twenty solutions for a more sustainable future and we shared our experiences. Working and meeting people, who like me are doing their best for their communities, empowered me a lot.

Back home with my friends, I established projects in education, health and environment. For example, I established a project in a village to improve girls sexual and scholarly education with a view to resolving the increase of pregnancies among girls aged 12 to 19 years old.

I also became involved with PCI again. I was one of the young people selected to take part in the editorial meeting to elaborate the youth version of the Education For All Global Monitoring Report 2012. Unfortunately, I could not take part in the meeting in London. I felt very hurt and a little discouraged because this sad event happened at the same time as other sad ones. Then, I remembered something David Woollcombe said during the congress. He said that young people should always be positive and courageous, irrespective of the difficulties. This phrase helped me to stand up again. So, I did my best to work with the team, via the Internet, to help elaborate the report.

I am currently working with some friends to improve the health care for prisoners of civil prisons. We are also cleaning areas and  working on a documentary to show the unbelievable management of rubber waste in our city.

I learned something important in Brazil: we are all human beings with the same problems and the same desire to make change. The difference is just that we live in different parts of this beautiful world that we have the duty to protect.

Nassifatou koko Tittikpina from Togo was one of the delegates at the 6th WYC

Recommended Posts