We're incredibly inspired and excited by the tremendous effort of our Givology chapter in Seoul - our first international chapter and one of the most creative in raising awareness for education around the world. Under the leadership of chapter president Ji Hong Park, the Givology chapter held a Youth Assembly for their local elementary school to discuss the challenges facing youth in the developing world. Below is a re-cap of the event from the perspective of the chapter leaders:
[b]Givology Youth Assembly, a truly rewarding experience[/b]
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[/b]A year ago, Givology members had a serious discussion. “Can’t we educate and donate at the same time?” After multiple fundraising campaigns, we wanted to experiment an innovative idea for our next activity. “How about opening a camp and invite young students who are willing to pay for our camp?” One student suggested, and the idea took shape as “Givology Youth Assembly.”
With support from our school, the first camp took place in Cheongshim International Academy. Over 20 Givology members were divided into Executive members, teachers, and staffs. Executive members arranged overall schedule of the event, and teachers designed specific programs and rules of procedure for committee discussions. With over 120 participants from Korean elementary schools, the first Assembly was a huge success, and Givology Korea Chapter (CHOA) was able to donate $1000 to for education projects in developing countries.
The Second annual Givology Youth Assembly commenced on the 21st of July in CheongA camp. Our theme reflected Givlogy’s motto “Give to Learn, Learn to give.” Hundred Students were divided into Child Education, Human Rights, Environment, and Health committee to discuss issues facing youth. On the first day, students discussed what “true education” is, amended Gyeonngi Declaration of Students’ rights, made posters of schools they wish to build, and simulated Global warming through experiments. Each committee had different schedule, except the ‘Gold Quiz ball’ and special lecture session (delivered by speaker from HumanAsia, a Human Rights NGO).
On the second day (July 22nd), Givology members led an in-depth discussion on agendas facing global youth (ex) primary education, malnutrition, school violence. etc…). Participating in GYA not only helped students to understand the conditions faced by youth around the world, but also promoted their will toward making small changes around them.
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[i]Photo 1: [font='Times New Roman', serif]Students in Human Rights Committee are having a discussion after watching short documentary about youth rights abuse in Pakistan[/font][/i]
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[font='Times New Roman', serif][i]Photo 2: Givology Korea Chapter Co-president, Ji Hong Park delivering her address during the closing ceremony.[/i][/font]
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[/i]When asked a question “What did Givology youth assembly means to you?” Givology member Dongwon Sohn replied, “Certain experiences cannot be expressed through mere words. Great or fantastic, or phenomenal and stupendous, are not sufficient enough to fairly represent the value of those experiences. Participating in the givology youth assembly was such experience. To be frank, it certainly wasn’t all fun and games. Managing a class filled with over twenty students with ages ranging from 10 to 15, with some of them refusing to participate, others carried away trying to compete with one another, was none of the less frustrating. But what I’ve gained from it was more than enough return for the frustration.
Throughout those two days, I was not only teaching students about human rights, but also learning from the opinions of the unbiased and naïve children. The world viewed from their perspective was so drastically different that it opened my eyes to a whole new way of viewing human rights. Furthermore, it was rewarding in the sense that the students were beginning to further develop their opinions to a deeper and more sophisticated level, from the basic and elementary idea they began with. Overall, the issues we dealt with were rather depressing and heavy. But with the nature of the young students with the passionate teachers and staffs, the camp was more than successful and a truly rewarding experience. I’ve gained more from the camp than I initially could have expected, and I hope it was as meaningful for the students as it was for me.”
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23 AUG 2012