At the end of the conference every committee had to write a summary of all the week of the conference and what we did in our committee. We collaboratively came up with what should be contained within our summary and then I typed up the following piece that appeared in the 'end of conference' booklet.
At the beginning of this week, the Gender Issues committee convened - 15 strangers spanning 3 continents and 9 countries, by the end of the week left 15 friends, all citizens of a global community.
During the week the committee worked, discussing all manner of difficult issues found under the auspices of Gender Issues, ranging from the glass ceiling women face in the workplace to the rights of transgendered individuals. However, no matter where the discussion went or how tired everyone inevitably became, there was always a positive attitude and as unanimously voiced by the committee, a great sense of community.
One the of the best things about the Gender Issues committee at TYA 14 was its ability to balance hard work with play: diligently slaving away at their projects at one moment, always ahead of schedule, and having massive committee-wide photo shoots the next. This perfect balance of the formality of a conference and the informality of a group at ease with each other really fostered a the creation of friendships, so much so that one participant said that they felt we were all kind of “meant to meet together.”
With final projects going to be implemented for all walks of life – from an awareness campaign about the illegal sex trade in Germany to EMBRACElets, a fundraiser selling bracelets that serve as visual reminders of equality between all genders – every participant really poured themselves into their ideas. The entire committee is very excited about returning home beginning to work, some have even begun the second stages of their projects already.
With all the varied topics, ideas,and project that have been thrown around this week, it has been a whirlwind event for all involved. While some days the committee did seem to barely make it through the long intense days, they always came back and dedicated themselves all over again the next, truly a testament to their passion and stamina.
One purpose of TYA is to teach youth what it means to be an actor in the global community but another is to teach them what it means to be a human. In the words of the participants - we learned about more than just gender issues, we learned about foreign cultures and about our own.
At the beginning of this week, the Gender Issues committee convened - 15 strangers spanning 3 continents and 9 countries, by the end of the week left 15 friends, all citizens of a global community.
During the week the committee worked, discussing all manner of difficult issues found under the auspices of Gender Issues, ranging from the glass ceiling women face in the workplace to the rights of transgendered individuals. However, no matter where the discussion went or how tired everyone inevitably became, there was always a positive attitude and as unanimously voiced by the committee, a great sense of community.
One the of the best things about the Gender Issues committee at TYA 14 was its ability to balance hard work with play: diligently slaving away at their projects at one moment, always ahead of schedule, and having massive committee-wide photo shoots the next. This perfect balance of the formality of a conference and the informality of a group at ease with each other really fostered a the creation of friendships, so much so that one participant said that they felt we were all kind of “meant to meet together.”
With final projects going to be implemented for all walks of life – from an awareness campaign about the illegal sex trade in Germany to EMBRACElets, a fundraiser selling bracelets that serve as visual reminders of equality between all genders – every participant really poured themselves into their ideas. The entire committee is very excited about returning home beginning to work, some have even begun the second stages of their projects already.
With all the varied topics, ideas,and project that have been thrown around this week, it has been a whirlwind event for all involved. While some days the committee did seem to barely make it through the long intense days, they always came back and dedicated themselves all over again the next, truly a testament to their passion and stamina.
One purpose of TYA is to teach youth what it means to be an actor in the global community but another is to teach them what it means to be a human. In the words of the participants - we learned about more than just gender issues, we learned about foreign cultures and about our own.
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