Challenged to take action

1 February 2008

Over the last ten days, I have taken part in a World Alliance programme with other young leaders from across the world. It has been an amazing process of learning, sharing and developing.

Tracy (second from left) during the Challenge 21 event

We have visited and stayed in three YMCAs across the country in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, giving us the opportunity to see the work of others, experience the Thai culture and see many areas of the country.

A highlight of the time was three days spent with a host family, living and participating in their lives and learning to cook Thai food.

Alongside this, there was an opportunity to engage with projects addressing the issues local people face. I visited fairtrade projects and learnt the trade of the local villagers who are being supported by the YMCA in Thailand to make their own goods to sell, as well as importing goods under the fairtrade banner. I was really inspired by the women’s patience as they taught me their trade, as well as their ability to develop new products and ideas.

When reflecting on the process, I started to think about what this means to us. During our time in Thailand, many of the participants bought fantastic t shirts from the YMCA of Chiang Mai to take home. It made me think about the products we sell as a YMCA. As an organisation which is about developing young people and developing opportunities, should we not be leading by example?

I would therefore like to challenge YMCAE, YMCA’s across England, YMCA’s of Europe and the world to ensure that the merchandise we sell is sourced only from fairtrade sources. If the YMCA’s across the world could lead by example on this issue it would have a massive impact and improve lives.

The conference also allowed the time to explore important issues including human trafficking, globalisation, HIV/AIDS and global issues.

Time was spent towards the end of the visit reflecting on how we can put some of our thoughts into action to have an impact on the YMCA’s we are all involved in. The European YMCA young leaders who were present have already come up with actions to implement on our return home, including asking YMCA’s locally, nationally and worldwide to take a more active stance in advocating on behalf of young people, spreading the message of the work of YMCAs the issues being faced by young people.

We also worked together in groups with representatives from 5 countries to come up with responses to the global issues we had encountered. Our group worked on HIV/AIDS and came up with a plan for the young people we work with to communicate across the five countries on the issue. They will first participate in a series of workshops and then engage in online forum discussions, with a hope that if the process is successful we can engage wider involvement from other countries and local YMCAs.

So what have I come back from this event with? I have returned with some very strong friendships with young leaders from all across the world. These friendships are one of the most special and treasured parts of the event and will also have an impact on the YMCAs we are involved in. It feels a real privilege to be a part of a movement where there are so many skilled and able young leaders, as well as opportunities like this where we can learn from one another. I feel enriched and renewed from this experience and look forward to responding to the challenges!

To view a photo gallery of the event click here