Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

It’s a rich experience, says youth camper

VIJAYAWADA: Her participation in an international youth camp helped her know the world outside and make friendship with representatives of various service organisations from several countries.

“Now I gained knowledge about international problems like war and racism and the role of younger generation in developing counties,” says 25-year-old Chatra Sushma, who was the only person from South India to participate in the recently held 39th International Youth Camp in Egypt.

She was one of the 162 participants of the global youth summit.

Maintaining that a dialogue is the only way to develop relations with other countries, she says: “Youth of all participating countries in the camp have expressed a strong desire to restore global peace. Resistance to war was very vehement,” she recalls.

Youth from 31 countries, including 17 oil-rich Arab countries, participated in the meet, which was hosted by the Egypt Government for a week from August 23. A team of four students from the four regions of India, accompanied by an officer from the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sanghatan (NYKS), New Delhi, represented the country in the international forum.

“We had set up a stall in the exhibition organised on the sidelines of the meet, and displayed Indian costumes, the tri-colour, a replica of Taj Mahal and photographs of famous places in the country,” says Ms. Sudha, who is pursuing M. Phil. in Acharya Nagarjuna University. A graduate from the P.B. Siddhartha College of Arts and Science, Ms. Sudha is presently working as treasurer of Priyadarsini Mahila Mandali, an NGO.

“I have forwarded my application to the NYKS through our organisation, which received the best Mahila Mandali award last year from the NYKS. The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports sponsored my tour,” she explains.

Besides participating in brainstorming seminars and workshops on global peace, the participants also had their share of fun by participating in cultural programmes that marked colourful evenings of all the seven days.

“Honouring our request, the organisers arranged a tour for us to Egyptian mummies at Cairo. The parting scene was touching and we all exchanged our email addresses with each other,” Ms. Sushma says.

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