The Congress Times - Volume 1 - 1 August 2010

8/9/2019 The Congress Times - Volume 1 - 1 August 2010

1/8

No 1

All the News

Thats Fit to Print

Istanbul, Monday, August 1, 2010 Free copy

MERHABA ISTANBUL !

We are nally here!From over a hundred countries,

Selected were a few entries,

The best and brightest,

From lands farthest,

And its nally begun,A congregation of youth,

A celebration of truth!Where Earth Water and Fire,

Combine together with our desire,

For change, courage and hope,

Theres no stopping us now,

Theres no going back,

Were going to push ahead,

Towards the dreams of a thousand hearts,

This is just the start,

So wait and watch,

Its time for action and progress,

At the 5th World Youth Congress !

By Astik Sinha

Photo: Enjoying with Ailes.

CONGRESS POEM

The United Nations declared

the Congress, the rst event ofthe International Year of Youth,

one of the most important youth

activities in the world.

The Congress has previously

been held in Hawaii, Morocco,

Scotland, and Canada. This time,

it brings together about 1000

young people from a total of 147

countries and some 400 young

people from Turkiye - develop-

ment and youth specialists, jour-

nalists, educators, and artists. The

Congresss aim is to teach youth

how to create the most sustaina-

ble youth strategies possible in

our ever-changing world.

The Congress is available on-line

for young people who have no

opportunity to come to Istanbul.

The vertual version is supported

by United Games International.

The congresss main sponsor is

the European Capital of Culture

Istanbul 2010 Agency.

The congress, whose main

topic is collective work (Turkish

imece), is going to highlight

topics such as solidarity, youth

employment, leadership, com-

munication, and human rights.

Young People of the Worldare meeting in Istanbulfor Global Development

ISTANBUL, 31 JULY-13 AUGUST, 2010

THE 5TH WORLD YOUTH CONGRESS, ONE OF THE LARGEST AND MOST IMPORTANT YOUTHMEETINGS OF ITS KIND, IS TAKING PLACE IN ISTANBUL- THE EUROPEAN CAPITAL OF CUL-TURE - FROM JULY 31 UNTIL AUGUST 13. ORGANIZED BY TURKEYS MINISTRY OF STATE,BRITISH CHARITY PEACE CHILD INTERNATIONAL AND THE TURKISH E-GENLIK NGO, IT IS

TAKING PLACE AT THE YILDIZ TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY DAVUT PAA CAMPUS.By Maria Kuchma


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2 No 1, Istanbul, Monday, August 1, 2010

The event started with the Hawaiian

delegation who sang a Folkloric song.

Boys and girls dressed in the native

Hawaiin outts greeted the audience.The beautiful performance was follo-

wed by Kemal Uysals welcome note

who is the President of the e-Genclik

Association. Starting with the histori-

cal background of the World Youth

Congress, he told about his dream of

organising this congress in Istanbul

one day. He said that the aim of the

congress is to connect people from

every country, religion and language

on one plattform to help achieve the

2015 Millenium Development Goals.

He was grateful to all sponsors who

helped make this event possible.

Further, he thanked the Turkish

government for its generous support

in this cause.

Faruk Naz zak, the Turkish Ministerof Youth, emphasised the importance

of youth participation and the role

they can play in making this world

a better place. He ended his speech

quoting American President Theodor

Roosevelt: We can not give our youth

a future but we can give future our

youth.

Local government ofcials includingthe mayor of Esenler, the district

where the Yildiz Teknik University islocated, also spoke to the audience

telling about the historical and politi-

cal importance of Turkey where seve-

5th World Youth Congress

opens for joint actionTHE FESTIVAL AREA OF THE YILDIZ TEKNIK UNIVERSITY IN ISTANBUL GOT FILLED QUICKLY. ACTIVISTS, JOURNALISTS, ENTREPRE-NEURS, EDUCATORS AND ARTISTS HAVE COME TOGETHER TO PERHAPS ONE OF THE WORLDS BIGGEST GATHERING OF YOUTH. OVER1,000 YOUNG PEOPLE FROM MORE THAN 150 COUNTRIES HAVE JOINED HANDS TO CELEBRATE THE 5TH WORLD YOUTH CONGRESS IN

ISTANBUL, WHICH IS PROUD TO HOST SO MANY DREAMERS WHO PLAN TO BRING A CHANGE IN THE WORLD.

WE CAN NOT GIVE OUR YOUTH A FUTURE BUT WE CAN GIVE FUTURE OUR YOUTH,MINISTER ZAK QUOTED AMERICAN PRESIDENT THEODOR ROOSEVELT IN HIS SPEECH.


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3No 1, Istanbul, Monday, August 1, 2010

IMPRINT

Facilitators:Dumitru Iovu, MoldovaEmre Caliskan, TurkeyMtan Salam, Turkey

Photos by:Andrei Ioni, RomniaAnna Morawiec, Poland

Layout:Dumitru Iovu, Moldova

For more articles and media go to:www.virtualwyc.net

Are you a journalistor just a participant?

Do you have a voice?

Do you have a story to tell?

Or you just want to sayhow you feel to everyone?

If Yes, then become our

SPECIAL REPORTER

Send your materials to:[email protected]

or

bring your materials to:Media CenterRoom D-215,

house C on the map

Plese make sure your articlesare signed with your

Name, Surname and Country

and we will make sureto nd space for them in

The Congress Times

All articles do not necessarily repre-sent the opinions of the magazine.

ral different cultures have coexisted

peacefully for centuries and where

east meets west. They expressed their

condence that the young people

coming together here in Istanbul

will make a positive change in their

respective countries.

The speeches were followed by

various beautiful folkloric Turkish

dance performances showing the

rich culture of Turkey which were

well received by the audience.

The event continued by a short

speech of David Woollcombe, Pre-

sident of Peace Child International,

who congratulated the participants

for making it this far and expressed

his hope in them in making a change.

All in all, the opening ceremony was

an exciting start to 5th World Youth

Congress. It raised high hopes in the

participants to word fort the right

cause and join hands in making this

world a better place as reflected

in the congress theme, imece, the

Turkish word for joint collaboration.

Abid Iqbal and Glseren lcm

REPORTERSWANTED

THE BIG DEAL


4/8


Two days ago (31/7), the aile leaders

collected their family members with

boards or just calling out the group

names. After the members were

present, the aile leaders had various

kinds of introductions so that they

can get to know each other really

well. The next agenda was to have

the ice breakers by playing big fat

pony together in a long snaky line.

However, not all participants knew

how to play that game. People who

are in the front, enjoyed the game.

But starting from the middle until the

back of the line, most of participants

were just walking. Until then they

forgot about the game and spread

from the line. Finally, the leaders had

to collect the members once again to

give instructions, including regional

meetings and exhibition.

EVERYBODY IS HAPPY

Tho Chung Nguyen one of WYC 2010

participants from Vietnam said that it

was a good time at the moment. The

aile meeting and the ice breaking

could make the participants get to

know each other better, said this

Young Activist. Also, Chung thought

those kinds of activities could make

the participants build conversation

and communicate more effectively.

He personally felt that by doing

those activities, he could feel the

sense of imece introduced by WYC

2010. Besides, he had more energy

because of them.

In the other sde, Ayran, one of theaile leader, said that he found a

good result from the meeting. He

was surprised when he found out his

members made a good introduction

to each other by playing passing-

the-names game before he started.

They also walked so that they could

talk instead of taking the buses from

the dorm to the ice breaking area.

Everybody is happy, he said.

Feb Purnamasar

The First Aile Meetingand Ice Breaking Time

THE WORLD YOUTH CONGRESS 2010 HAD THE FIRST AILE MEETING YESTERDAY (1/8). PEOPLE GATHERED AROUND THEYEMEKHANE BUILDING AT 09.00 A.M TO START MARCHING TOWARDS THE FIELD NEAR TO THE ADIRLAR (TENTS AREA) TO

START THE ICE BREAKING EXERCISE.

Ayran and his members.


5/8


Ilhami Khaled from Lebanon was

one of those who applauded.

I think we can make a change in

our small communities. Everybody

should ask himself: what I perso-

nally can do for my family, for my

community? he said.

No one appeared to argue.

However, the talks saw inghtingbetween Arabic-speakers and those

who do not understand Arabic over

the language to be used during the

meeting. Although being a minority,

the latter struggled hard to be

involved in discussions. After an

hour-long word battle, the meeting

went on in both languages, with

people not understanding each

other at times.

I was really shocked because

I thought people would be tal-

king all together... but they were

just criticizing each other, saidWojoud Mejalli, a freelance jour-

nalist from Yemen. It was really

unpleasant, and it drove me to walk

out of the meeting.

Six topics approved for future

discussions in a democratic vote

were the only result of the talks.

The delegates selected educa-

tion and empowerment of youth

and women in the Middle East as

the two most important topics to

be discussed. Environment, youth

immigration, nationalism, and

human rights were the other four.

Wojoud agrees with those putting

the education issue on the top

of the agenda. But human rights

should come second, she argues.

Then - youth immigration.

There are two types of youth

immigration in the Middle East - the

one is related to people moving

from rural areas to cities and ano-

ther to those moving abroad. A lot

of talented people I know in my

country travel abroad and do not

return home, Wojoud said.

She said if she had a chance to

go abroad, she would rather not

do that.

I know I can get my education in

my county. But other people take

the easier way and just go - and

never come back.

Security and poverty, which Western

people view as major issues of

concern in the Middle East, have

been banned from discussions.

Only a few people voted for them

to be addressed.

So, they dont want to talk about

terrorism? Wojoud wonders. Its a

stereotype? Ok! We need to discussit, its not a thing to be ashamed of!Ask them - dont you get double

check at the airport?

She called on her congress mates

to be less concerned with their

national pride and see things

as they are in order to improve

the situation, because admitting

the problem is the first and the

most important step towards a

solution.

Maria Kuchma

Can Arab YouthMake a Change?

THIS IS THE QUESTION THE PARTICIPANTS IN THEFIRST MIDDLE EAST REGIONAL MEETING WERE

ASKED ON SUNDAY.A DEFINITE NO WHIPPED OUT BY SOMEONE WASTHE ANSWER. THE OTHERS WERE SILENT, ANDTHEN A FEW CLAPS FOLLOWED, MEANING YES.

Calling participants.

Ice breaking.

Calling participants.


6/8


The warm meeting of the

thoughts about traditions

Participants of the Congress were

shown traditional music and dances,

modern dancing performance in

Turkish style, as well as fed with a

traditional sweet Ashe. Video pre-

sentations gave a very romantic

and a bit Hollywood-style image of

Istanbul and Turkey on the whole.

Something exceptional was felt in sit-

ting straight on the asphalt under the

stage, eating crackers and drinking

lemonade with the several friends,

all from different countries, which

you manage to nd in the st daysfuss. All the organizational problemswere forgotten, and even the absence

of the key and roommate who owned

it - nothing could make you nervous

when inammatory dances poureddown from the stage into the crowd

of happy people, who danced not so

skillfully, but willingly.

It is usually said in Russian, better one

time to see than hundred times to

hear about. And the article which just

makes those who were not present

hear aboutwould not have the right

to exist. As a journalist specializedon the topic of traditional culture in

the modern world I could not help

thinking and analyzing everything Isaw and heard last night. Firstly, the

traditional Anatolian dances were

shown without misrepresentation

(as I can judge) - I mean, everything

was done in a right, proper way. The

music for dances was played solo on

traditional kemene, the clothes were

not just invented for the performance

and - the main thing - the people on

the stage did not showing as if they

were dancing - they were really com-

municating with each other in dance.

To understand what Im talking

about you should know, that cultural

policy of Soviet period in Russia

tried to erase difference between a

great amount of Russian regional

traditions and make some real art

of masses out of everyday life. Due

to this, everything we have on the big

stage is a kind of distorting mirror

of tradition. Everybody is ashamed

of it and nearly nobody knows that

this cant be named real Russian

tradition. The only hope is the youth

movement for the rediscovery of folk

heritage, that now exists and grows,

mostly in Moscow, St. Petersburg,

Novosibirsk, Vologda.

As I see, Turkish young people dont

need to rediscover anything. Of

ON THE DAY OF THE ARRIVAL OUR HOST COUNTRY ENTERTAINED US MUCH WITH THE NATIONAL EVENING PARTY. EVERYBODY SURELYWAS HAPPY TO GET SUCH A GREAT REST BOTH FOR THE SOUL AND FOR THE BODY.


7/8


course, not many of them know

exact movements of the compli-

cated time-tasted dances. But they

can surely discern the difference

between authentic and fake. I saw

them dancing - moving in a kind of

traditional manner, standing not one

by one but in the circle and going

on the average to dance in front of

others and communicate through

dancing. I really liked it.

The other day I wanted to talk to seve-

ral Turkish young men and women in

order to know whether my conclusion

is right or not. But when I came to the

Aile meeting in the morning - my group

name is Yali apkini by the way - and

it was the Turkish girl Caglayan who

proposed that we should show each

others national dances. That seemed

enough to me to be ensured in my

opinion and share it with all of you.

Irina Shuvalova


8/8


Once you come into the doors of

the exhibition, your eyes will be

caught by a (wii platform) , and you

will unconsciously give this game a

try! Its a winter game in which youstand on the platform and act along

with the screen that is shown in front

of you. Turkey will host the World

Winter international Universiade

in 2011, Umut Gurer said, Event

Management and licensing specia-

list. The program will host over a

100 guests all of them whom are the

leading names in the tourism sector.

This program will mainly offer

various winter games and around 52

countries have already registered so

far. The place will take place in the

27th of January up the 6th of Febru-

ary in Erzurum, Turkey Gurer added.While walking ,you also hear the

sound of Ameklung, trying to ndout its secret, while enjoying the

spicy taste of ginger candies. You

can climb the stunning mountains

in Papua, dive in Maluku and go

on a relaxing shopping session in

Jakarta. Just looking around you

realize that you are surrounded byan unbreakable unity in diversity.

Being mesmerized by the beautyof the country, you dont mind the

geographical coordinates, forgetting

that Bali Island is in Indonesia.

Passion is the rst word you wouldchoose to describe a country,

once you saw the little chlorites,

the symbol of love, union and pro-

gress. You will be challenged to use

your imagination in order to find

creative ways to utilize your jewelryto wash clothes or dance. You will

nd out that Belarus isnt the onlyone country famous for being called

potato land. Welcome to Peru!

You will feel yourself the master of

Time when you will experience the

mysteries of Maya and Aztec civili-zation expressed in ritual dances.Colorful sombreros and ponchos will

be the only national costume which

will t you in this ancient picture.The only word that you should

scream out while youre in Mexico is

Arriba.

Another activity that was interesting

in the exhibition was the Adiya-

man University call for participants

to write down what they think of

poverty. Selin Akbary a family leader

and the coordinator said the idea

is simply to motivate youth to more

understand about poverty from their

own perspective and what they can

do to eliminate it. Akbary added:

all of the photos at the exhibition

are taken in a small city in Turkey so

it simply represents poverty in the

country and how youth are working

toward helping in solving it. To more

understand about poverty we have

a workshop on the 4th of August

within the workshops activities. she

nally added.Exhibition day was truly a master of

mini minds , big ambitious!

Wojoud Mejalli, Virginia Dumitrasand Diana Ionita

Mini ambitious,

big countries!EXHIBITION DAY!

The Congress Times - Volume 1 - 1 August 2010

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