BEYOND PEKING: LESSONS LEARNED AND EXPERIENCES GAINED DURING THE 5TH APCRSHR

Everyone has its first – first kiss, first love, first step, first time, and first word among others. On my part, it was my first time to attend an international conference, my first time to go out of the country, and my first time to visit Beijing (Peking), People’s Republic of China – all of this is because of the 5^th Asia Pacific Conferences on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights (5^th APCRSHR).

In books we read only of ideas, thoughts and experiences of other men. The knowledge thus acquired is theoretical. In day-to-day life, we cannot be successful with mere theoretical knowledge. We must also know about the habits, manners and ways of living of other persons. We can learn about others by coming in contact with them. Travelling takes us from the field of bookish knowledge to the field of practical knowledge. From the realm of imagination we come down to reality and this is what I learned from my attendance of the 5^th APCRSHR.

I had a great time with my mentoring session. Dutch National Nadia Van Der Linde from UNFPA Regional Office and Pakistani Muhammad Shazhad Khan from YPEER Pakistan are such a great mentors. We had an amazing conversation during break times with our mentors. We talked about issues and concerns of the youth, how make advocacy effective, and taking initiatives. My fellow mentees – Lady Nancy
Lisondra (Philippines), Pattanan Jindapraneekul (Thailand), Komal Patras (Pakistan), and Mariya
(Pakistan) we formed a powerhouse group and I am happy and proud to belong to such kind of group.

The workshops during the Youth Day on October 17, 2009 made me more empowered as a youth. It was also an opportunity to exchange pleasantries and make new friends. Moreover, it helped me strengthen my advocacy skills like doing the elevator talk and one-minute speech is fun and thrilling. I also had the chance of meeting distinguished parliamentarians from all over the globe and personally talked to them and persuade them to sign in the Youth Commitment Desk which I am a volunteer.

Philippine lawmaker Rep. Edcel C. Lagman, Philippine POPCOM Commissioner Tomas Osias, IPPF President Dr. Jacqueline Sharpe and Dutch Deputy Prime Minister Andre Rouvoet are but some of
the distinguished people that I have met and talked personally. This significant for me because I was able to meet them and discuss what are the issues of the youth today especially with our local authorities and lawmakers. It is also a rare occasion for me to see these people as security threat to their lives is always an issue.

I also bring with me the things that I learned during the plenary sessions. Moreover, I will never forget the time when the Chinese authorities trampled down our right to voice out our sentiments during the
youth mobilization. I recommend that authorities must respect this and Indonesia must see to it that it is respected. Travelling is very important from the point of view of national integration. It brings people of different parts of the sub- continent closer together. Mutual understanding increases and causes of friction are softened.