Youth’s Organizational Role Contributes to the Success of the Conference

Youth were not only the main topic of the 75th Anniversary Conference in Brazil, they played a decisive role in its organization and infrastructure. They were responsible, among other things, for the event’s secretarial work, orientating participants on the scheduled activities, assembling the kits of working materials and documenting the event with still and video cameras. The group was comprised of 17 young people selected from among Brazilian youth movement activists and members of SERTA, a project supported by the Kellogg Foundation in Northeast Brazil.

For 20-year-old Janílton Lima, participation in the conference was a unique experience. “It was a big incentive for the independent organization of youth and also a lesson in organization,” he said. Although the event took place in Brazil, Spanish – the language spoken by the majority of the 250 participants – was the official language. Lima noted that since he had already come into contact with the language through SERTA, he experienced no difficulty interacting with the Spanish-speaking participants.

“I learned a lot of new words.”A colleague of Lima’s, 22-year-old Nazaré Martins, said she was pleased to have been invited to participate in the conference. “It was great to get to know new cultures,” she summarized. “We exchanged emails and telephone numbers.From this meeting we learned some important lessons in leadership, humility, commitment and partnership in work.”

• Read more: 75th Anniversary Seminar in Brazil

07/11/2005

Published in Interaction nº 11