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| by Hanh Zung, |
Jul 19, 2008 |
Huu Ninh, Vietnam’s representative on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, shook the youth with facts and figures on Vietnam’s climate change, awed the audience with the IPCC’s Nobel Prize, and inspired everyone to take action with his own burning passion! The most popular guest speaker to the VYF participants, however, must have been Tran Hai Linh, the country general manager of Lenovo Vietnam- Vietnam’s youngest manager at the age of 25! Young, brilliant, funny and down to earth, Linh’s talk made Vietnam’s economic picture seem as simple and interesting as cake while his personal experience was yet another brilliant example of hard work and passion leading to success.
A plan in my hand
No talk should come without action. The last day of the forum was dedicated solely to the sharing of organizational experiences, and the formation of individual (or group) action plans! Practical, small-scale yet meaningful ideas were put together with constructive critique and comments from VYF members and facilitators. Ngoc (17- Hanoi) recruited 2 new friends to join “Paris Delight”– a student-led fundraising campaign to raise money for HIV/ AIDS victims through a French bakery class! Thanh Trang and Thuy Trang, two girls currently studying in the US, already have a timeline set to start their awareness campaign on the issue of Agent Orange in the United States!
Hear what the members have to say
Ngoc Anh, 17-years old, says, “The skills and knowledge I’ve learnt only in 5 days are incredible. I’ve learnt to care. Something that can never be read in books or learnt through lectures!”
17-year old Thuy Linh’s favorite VYF memory was preparing for her first ever formal debate on “Growth or Development” during Economics Day (Day 3). Thuy Linh is a strong believer in Sustainable Development, but was put on the “Growth” side, and struggled for days to come up with solid evidence and persuasive arguments to back up their side. She found that the hard work gave her more than just a successful debate, in the end: “I did something I never thought I could do before. Winning over yourself is the best feeling of all.”
Hai, 16, says he was most impressed by the energy and preparation put into the forum by the organizers, who were only 2 years older than him: “I like the way they care for every single participant. Or how they always know where to put a game, when to take a break, and when to let the conversation flow!”
Diep, 17, has taken up the VYF’s slogan as her own: “I want to be a change, however small.”
To Zee, one of the organizers, the VYF has been the most rewarding thing she has done in her life. “When you’re a facilitator, you notice things. You see how every individual develops and grows so rapidly in only 5 days: how some kids who didn’t dare to talk in the first day became extremely critical and persuasive debaters in the last. You see the spark in their faces when the conversation is inspirational. And when the last day is over, and there are 30 people hugging you, saying they miss you, and love you, and don’t want to go– you know you have succeeded!”
Pay it forward
The VYF’s largest success of all is definitely the inspiration and motivation it created in the hearts of 30 young people, who will each go out into the world and inspire many more. 7 of these young people have been so inspired by this novel experience, that they are determined to turn the VYF from a first hand idea into an annual event! The new organizers are determined to pass on the passion that they have received, and bring in new ideas and improvements (such as a more diverse participant body), to create Vietnam Youth Forum 2009!
Do you want to see how and where they are, or to wish them good luck and give them support? Log on to www.vnyouthforum.org, and make this change!
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