Reflections on a Scottish experience… Aye!
10 Jul 2008 in Civic Participation
Samar Mezghanni joins us as a Youth Ambassador from Tunis, Tunisia, where she is currently studying psychology at the High Institute of Human Sciences in Tunis.
Samar wrote the following after participating as a delegate in the CIVICUS Youth Assembly in Glasgow, Scotland from June 16-18, 2008. The theme of this year’s Youth Assembly was “People, Participation, and Power.”
CIVICUS, an international alliance of an estimated 1,000 member and partner organizations dedicated to strengthening citizen action and civil society throughout the world. The CIVICUS Youth Assembly was established to serve as an international youth-led forum to inform and shape the debate at CIVICUS World Assemblies. The inaugural Youth Assembly was held in May 2007, with 150 young people participating from 66 Countries.
When I first arrived at Glasgow International Airport, my only concern was to find other delegates to accompany me to the Euro Hostel. I was nervous, worried, and a little bit scared: It was midnight in an exotic European country, where people drive on the other side of the road! Everything was different: the check-in machines at the airport, the freezing “summer” Scottish weather, and the ironic questions from the airport security police: “Did you pack your own suitcase?”
In Tunis, where people pack their suitcases by themselves, I had been anxious. I did not know what I should expect to face in Scotland. I did not recognize any friends names among those participating in the Youth Assembly, and I had no idea whether or not it was safe to visit a country where people drink beer more than water!
***
It is raining now in Glasgow. I am lying down in my favorite place here: Glasgow Green Park. I can feel the fresh air soothing my nervous thoughts and calming me down. I can sense pure space up in the clouds I am admiring and the unbelievable beauty of the green color surrounding me. I can finally realize that although I am sitting in the square where criminals used to be executed publicly, I can feel full of life…
***
When I first arrived to the hostel, I found Iain, the organizer, waiting for us. It took only a few minutes to get my room, to meet 12 people from different countries, and to have an intercultural conversation during which I discovered new perspectives, enlarged my poor knowledge of geography, and even shared a couple of beers!
It is amazing how fast we can learn. It is incredible how an exchange experience can change our ideas. It is just indescribable how fears suddenly disappear when you feel warmth, even in cold weather, when you see similarities through differences, and when you feel that someone is taking care of you without feeling that you are being spoiled.
I remember many international events where I was given a five-star hotel room. I was spoiled, but I was still worried because I didn’t feel safe even though I was in Arab countries similar to mine. In the Euro Hostel in Glasgow, where I had to share my room with a girl from New Zealand (a country I had barely heard of before), where I had to be in the breakfast room before 10 am, where I took the stairs so many times because the elevators were full, in that tiny but tidy place, I felt safe. I knew I could always find my vegetarian meal, ask the many organizers around me for directions and catch a bus to take me to the conference center, safe and dry in a rainy day.
***
In the Scottish park, I am smiling. The rain is passing through all my fears and cleaning my prejudices. The wet grass is nurturing my new global vision. The trees are surrounded by hundreds of voices shouting for human rights…
***
In my Tunisian bed, I am smiling. Inspiration is waking me up and pushing me to write about my amazing experience. The memories are making me relax while I am sneaking in bed again. The blue pillow I got from CIVICUS Youth Assembly is alerting me before sleeping: tonight, while resting my stubborn head on my CIVICUS pillow, I am going to dream of human rights…
