OYW content
Idealism
“And who of you are here to make the world a better place?” the professor asked during my first lecture of International Relations at university. Hesitantly I raised my hand with a few others. Did he just read my mind? That was exactly the reason for me being in this classroom. “Remember this moment,” he said with a mocking smile, “because your naive idealism will soon fade away.”
Fast forward to 2017. My idealism did not vanish. On the contrary, One Young World has revived it to new heights. The OYW question “How do you want to build a better world?” is exactly what got me thinking again. Brainstorming about it, many ideas ran through my head. Something local. In The Hague. With youth. Different backgrounds. Perhaps even from different neighbourhoods. Mutual understanding. The power of diversity. And building bridges.
To give you some idea of what got me inspired, I will take you on a journey to Lebanon. A fascinating multi-religious country with 18 official sects in a highly tumultuous region with a war in Syria raging at its borders and close to 2 million Syrian and Palestinian refugees living on its land. While the Lebanese cuisine and music are a source of pride shared by all its inhabitants, the political situation is highly complex and society is physically and psychologically segregated along religious and ethnic lines after a devastating civil war that officially ended in 1990. While I had never set foot on its soil, I knew it was the country where I wanted to conduct research for my MA thesis.
And so I did. Being interested in the actual impact of local NGO programmes on its participants, I focused more specifically on the effect of reconciliation initiatives on youth. Given the highly complex character of Lebanese society, such initiatives aim to bring youth from different religious, ethnic and geographical backgrounds together. Often under the heading of a cultural project, but always with the aim to let them meet, talk and discuss issues that would otherwise not be touched upon. Issues such as identity formation, the consequences of poverty, religious differences, inter-community violence and mutual distrust. Sensitive topics, especially in a society where hatred and fear of ‘the other’ is passed on from one generation to another.
I wish I could share all the ins and out of the research - that is how passionately I am about these initiatives - but I will focus on some eye-opening findings. Bringing people in contact with each other, how simple as it may sound, is a challenge. But once trust between antagonistic groups has been established, which may take weeks or even months, basic human interaction can create magical moments. For some youngsters this moment is the first time in their lives they meet someone from another sect. Perhaps unbelievable in our eyes, but a reality in a highly segregated society such as the Lebanese. It is the first moment they can ask questions to ‘the other’, often realising their struggles are similar. It is a moment to reflect upon the stories they have been told, realising their prejudices do not hold. It gives them the opportunity to visit places of worship of other religions or walk through areas of the city previously unknown to them, realising their image of ‘the other’ was wrong.
Human interaction is powerful. It gives people an opportunity to talk, to ask questions and to reflect upon their ideas and thoughts they have about one another. This also holds for a city such as The Hague, where on the surface everything seems to go well. But dig a little deeper and you will find invisible lines running through the city, separating neighbourhoods, and thus people, from each other. How often does someone from the neighbourhoods ‘het Statenkwartier’ and ‘de Schilderswijk’ visit each other’s areas? Especially in a time when fear of ‘the other’ seems to take centre stage, it is so important that we keep meeting people that would normally not cross our paths in our daily lives. That is why my answer to the question “how to build a better world?” is that I am developing a platform in The Hague where youth from all different neighbourhoods, backgrounds and cultures can actually meet. Interactive workshops and visual arts will run like a red thread through these interactions. But what it all boils down to is meeting the vibrant diversity The Hague has to offer and realizing the positive impact diversity can have on our society.
Sceptics, cynics, pessimists – I do understand your doubts about the feasibility of such a project to a certain extent. But no one has every changed anything by giving up before even starting. Or by thinking that idealism does not get you anywhere. It does. It brought 1,500 young leaders from all over the world together in Bogotá, Colombia in 2017 and it will do so again in 2018 in The Hague. All who want to change the world. With their own ideas. In their own ways. Something that should be applauded and that I am more than honoured to be a part of.