World Vision Youth Conference

As most of you now know, some Fridays ago (9th of June), I went to a youth conference in the exhibition centre, in the city. It was a fantastic opportunity to listen to some great keynotes from some pretty inspirational people! We were actually delayed to the conference but on walking awkwardly in the middle of a speech, we sat down on seats with a booklet and a book. Chapter one, by Daniel Flynn, the co-founder of Thankyou™ (I’ll get to that soon). We first listened to a speech about humility from a man who pretended to be a mountaineer. We played a game of what would you do? - Mount Everest version. I was out within the first question; would you rather climb the side of the mountain with the most beautiful views but which has the most risk or the side with a not so good view but higher chance of survival? I chose the beautiful side. I was actually pretty surprised since the people who chose the more selfish options like ripping off Sherpas, leaving behind an injured friend just so you can reach your dream… Well those were the people that got through. But in the end we found out that it was all a test. To see how many people had basic humility in them. Good to know that I had just enough to get out in the first go!

After the test, we had recess before coming back into the building to listen to three keynotes. I’m going to talk to you about them. The first was from a Sri-Lankan Australian (Like me!). She talked to us about a challenge that she and some other girls were working on, Taboo. When something is taboo, it means it’s not usually talked about… Like Voldemort! Most women (and some men) between adolescence and the age of around 50 go through the monthly cycle of menstruation (laugh if you may, but I am serious). What I found out that day was that in countries like India, periods were seen as a shame. Even in western countries, this normal thing, something that leads onto birth is considered as an embarrassment. But in India, it is taken to a whole new level. Women and girls on their periods are forced to stay in an empty room with nothing for company when they’re on their periods. This is because of a stereotype, a superstition that she will contaminate the family. They have to stay in an empty room for sometimes over a week for something they can’t help. And so this girl, Therena and some other girls are starting up a business in selling sanitary products around Australia. They haven’t gotten it out yet, bu they have hopes and “dreams power reality”. These profits go into funding programs to educate people more about menstruation and give sanitary products to these women. Therena talked about empowering women. And I just love that idea!

The next keynote was from one of the co-founders of Thankyou™. Justine Flynn. She talked a little bit about Thankyou’s journey. Thankyou isn’t like one of those businesses, selling products thinking mostly about the money they’re going to get rather than the actual customers. Thankyou was a business that started in 2008 and they went through so many setbacks just to get to where they are now. Fresh out of high school (with no money or ideas on how to actually achieve his goal), Daniel Flynn wanted to do something about the world water crisis. And so with his best mate, Jarryd and his then girlfriend (now wife), Justine, he started Thankyou™(then known as Thankyou water). 100% of the profits from their products (which now includes water, body care ranges, a muesli bar range and even products for babies) goes to fund projects to help people living in extreme poverty. And I think that it is beautiful. As I mentioned, we got a free copy of chapter one. Now there are so many things wonderful about this book. For one, this book is not only about Thankyou’s journey, but it’s also about how you, yourself can achieve your dreams. Another thing is that the book is written in a completely different format to other books. Instead of being written in the typical fashion of vertical, flip to the left, read left to right. It is written horizontally. So you read it up to down and flip the pages up. Daniel says that this is to challenge your thinking and he is very well aware that this daring act could lose some readers. The final great thing about this book is that it has no recommended retail price. So you can pay whatever you want! You can be selfless and pay $100, $1000 even $10,000 (which someone has done!) or you can choose to pay just 5 cents. A dollar. Or you can pay $10, which is good enough! The choice is yours depending on how much you are willing to pay to fund the future of Thankyou. Now I know some of you might want to see for yourself! Where can you buy these things? Well… Thankyou’s products are on the shelf at Woolworths and Cole's and its water is sold in 7 eleven and even Australia post! As for Chapter one… You can order it online from their website, thankyou.co. But for the ones that don’t have the internet by their side, chapter one is sold at every airport in Australia and New Zealand as well as bookshops like Relay, News link and Watermark. It’s a great book and is worth a read and the money goes for a great cause!

Now after Justine talked about Thankyou™, we listened to Abe Nouk. Abe Nouk fled Sudan with his family through Egypt to arrive in Australia, in 2004. He didn’t know how to read or write. He was illiterate. But now, he is a poet, a community educator, a rapper… He was one of eight siblings and he was very lost when he went to school in Australia. He was not used to being allowed to talk to the teacher, answer their questions, and ask questions… And the thing that made me appreciate my life most was how he explained that he was fascinated by the toilet. He was amazed how when you flushed, clean water would replace dirty water… He was amazed at some of the food we had. Like Nutella (he unfortunately mistook Vegemite for Nutella once and lathered on layers of it on some bread before biting into the bitter truth). To think that he was once illiterate… His English is amazingly fluent!

After Abe, we went to lunch where I got to chat to Justine’s brother, Kalvin Hart who was the community builder, he talked to schools and the broader community about their cause (last year, he came to our school!). Kalvin showed us some of their products and let us use the special codes on the back of the products to track the impact. I got to see what project the product would help fund. I also got to talk to Therena and at that moment, I was feeling so very inspired and happy!

After lunch, we got to hear one more speech. This time from a Syrian born teen. Saad Al-Kassab. Saad Al-Kassab was a Syrian migrant. He talked about how beautiful his home, in Homs was. It was just like any well developed country. Lots of tourists swarming in, everyone was happy and living their daily lives in a truly beautiful country. That was until 2011. The Syrian government wanted power and power only. Homs was turned into something completely different. People who protested against the government would get shot, killed… Tortured. Saad’s own family came to so many near misses. His own uncle was tortured and killed by the government, because he posted on YouTube a video about the true realities of Syria. And Saad lost 7- not 1. Not 2 or even 5. But 7 of his friends. To the Syrian government. The sad thing is that these terrorist situations that happen around the world, as sad as they are... This is the harsh reality Syrians have to face. Not once here and there but every day. For Saad’s family, the last straw came when Saad’s brother wanted to go to university. That’s all. He wasn’t protesting. He wasn’t cursing the government. He just went to university. And got arrested. And as soon as he was released, the family fled Syria. They finally got to Australia but even there challenges faced him. He wanted to study like every other teenager. He wanted an education but he was turned down by many schools because he was illiterate. One day, he got a job as a gardener at a high school. And after a while, the principal gave him a scholarship. And so, he got to study. He’s graduated now and is on his way to become a doctor. For the record, he was on TV a couple of times!

Listening to these 4 speeches was so inspirational. Each one of them stuck to me, still sticks with me for different reasons. Overall, I am glad that I asked to go to this conference. It was a great conference and me and my friend, Xara definitely got a good experience. I may try my hardest to be compassionate and caring which I am (I hope at least!) but deep down I can be very selfish, disregarding the origins of where my belongings come from. Sometimes I don’t think about the lives others live. I acknowledge them. I do. Charity is very close to my heart and every time I get a chance to volunteer, I take it! But it means nothing unless I keep it within my heart and I reckon that through this experience, I am bought very close to these people and their experiences.

I hope you enjoyed listening to my experience with these stories. It was a great day for me and I really hope to get another chance like this again!

Davina David

9G

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