From Europe, With Hope

Published in Ask Anggi Column, Speak #July# 2013

Youth leadership is a hot button issue these days, and young people are more welcome than ever on the world stage.  In fact, even the United Nations is scaling-up its commitment to put youth on the global map. You’d better believe it, because my own experiences proved it.

I was granted a slot to deliver a presentation at the 4^th Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in Geneva, Switzerland, in May,  sharing the stage with senior delegates from no fewer than 173 countries. I was representing my school SMAN 98 Jakarta, and I was  the youngest delegate to speak at the conference, which was officiated by the President of Switzerland, Ueli Maurer.

After the conference, I took part in a scientific field trip along Route du  Grande St Bernard, a road running alongside Alpine settlements, linking Switzerland and Italy. For that, I was representing the Forum of  Scientist Teenagers (FOSCA) of Jakarta.

Feeling very lucky to have the opportunity to meet resourceful and inspirational people from around the world, I decided and distribute “Speak!” to other  delegates. I also handed it out to Indonesian expats during the international Symposium of the European- American Student Association in Istanbul, Turkeys, also in May 2013. Did I mention that I stopped off that conference in Istanbul before going to the on in Switzerland?

Anyway, I was struck by comments my peers from other countries made about Speak!

 “This is inspiring,” said  Ms. Vijayarani, a senior delegate from Nepal. “ I hope my country will develop something like this Indonesian youth magazine soon!”

Another expert, Dr. Parichatt from Thailand, praised the publication for the way it channel aspirations of young Indonesians. Mr. Enroel of Switzerland, applauded its  the design as “bright and brilliant … won’t be surprised if someday I will see these on the bookshelves of school libraries globally”.

All in all, I returned from this trip with tons of extra hope for the future of young Indonesians. Now I am I am sharing these thoughts to encourage those of you who are in the same position as I am – trying to  make our way in this world by  learning  new skills and gaining confidence while also having fun.

As our nation’s youth, we are very important to Indonesia’s future – because in years to come, members of our generation will be leading the nation.

As our first president Soekarno  put it:“Give me 10 youth and I will shake the world!”. We should take confidence from this and not worry too much about failing, for worthwhile success will never happen without the valuable lessons we learn from making mistakes.