This blog post is dedicated to my God, the organizers of the world youth forum 2018, the friends I made there and everyone one who helped me throughout the experience. Thanks for being kind and great at what you do. The world is so much better because of your kindness.
First, imagine the look on my face when I received a phone text (yes, you read that right â my acceptance came in form of a phone text and email for official purposes). I was head over heels, I was surprised, I was happy, I was excited, I was humbled and grateful. I literally was having all emotions in one place. I give God the glory.
The journey begins â Egypt VISA processing in Uganda.
Having gotten my air ticket ready, I thought I was set to go and get the visa but on sept 29 the 2018, I got to learn the reality about visa processing. Getting this VISA permit is not easy but thanks to God that after 4 days in two weeks of struggling, I finally got a call from the Egyptian embassy letting me know that my visa had been catered for. Thereâs also a good in everything depending on how you see it, I got to meet other World Youth Forum participants from Uganda, we met the ambassador and consul of Egypt. It was an amazing experience as well.
Before I arrived in Sharm El Sheikh, people had told me of how Egyptians are only mean and angry and cruel people so I was a bit worried going there. However, I âm always up for a challenge and was ready for anything that would come out of this trip. Â However, I quote one of the famous authors.
To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries. â Aldous Huxley â
Egyptians are kind, compassionate, fun, friendly and intelligent people. They warmly welcomed us, they complimented us, and I repeat, they were very KIND. In every place I went to, I met kind Egyptians and I kept telling them of the stereotypes against them and how they completely demystified those words. I am forever grateful to some special Egyptian friends I met like Maretchia, Gahd and Mohammad (Cleaner at Sharm Grand Plaza) who were so kind to me at the time I needed such Kindness. Sharm El Sheikh is a city built on peace and this was purely exhibited throughout the days I lived there.
Living in Sharm Grand Plaza.
If traveling in a Limo to our hotel was not enough, I do thank the WYF 2018 organizers for the incredible hospitality they showed us. Here I was in my own room in a 5-star resort hotel. It was overwhelming, this resort is big, clean, the food is amazingly delicious, and the people are so nice and kind. From the resort workers to WYF participants to the random people on their vacations at the same resort, everyone was beautiful and kind. I remember running to the red sea beach just to have a my first sunset experience. It is so calm out there, I just love it.
Day one: Opening ceremony of the World Youth Forum.
This day started so well, we were excited about attending it and having to meet many people out of the 5000 and more youth that were in attendance.
The ceremony was held in the auspices of the president of Egypt, His excellency Adbel Fattal El Sisi and his wife. There were many delegates from all over the world.
One of the important words I picked out from this session was, we do not have to do everything individually to change the world, but we can change #oneworld at a time. We donât need to do everything, we just need to do one thing. It made me think of those little bits of goodness done by people which create ripples and when combined, they become so huge and change the world.
Take home: Find a passion, we hope it is one positive enough to change the world, work on it effortlessly and see how it changes #oneworld at a time.
We learned about the 7 pillars of the Egyptian character (I took this test in the FREEDOM.E corner and passed at 70% as an Egyptian lol!)⌠It was just a game at the FREEDOM corner, doesnât mean I am Egyptian.
For the official opening ceremony and all proceeds, kindly check out the Facebook page for #worldyouthforum for the full video of this day.
We had many parallel sessions on two consecutive days including
The role of world leaders in building and sustaining peace
Agenda 2063: The Africa we want
Water security in the wake of climate change.
The digital world as a parallel society; how it controls on our real world.
The role of entrepreneurs and startups in global economic growth.
Empowering persons with disabilities: Towards a more integrated world (which reminds me of how inclusive this conference was because I met man disabled people, regardless of their type of disability.)
Other sessions included the opening of the world youth theater, the marathon (biking marathon: meaning unless you knew how to bike, you couldnât participate- this happened after the running marathon was cancelled due to the temperatures out there.) and finally the closing ceremony on 6th November 2018.
The Forum was publicized so well, there was a short film, a peace song (on you tube), branded items, streets, planes, buses etc etc. You couldnât get lost being in Sharm. The publicity is something every other conference in the world needs to borrow a leaf from.
I can not forget to thank whoever contributed to the gift hampers we received, there was so much. I can not explain the looks on everyoneâs face when they received the gifts.
Fun activities while in Sharm El Sheikh.
Sharm El Sheikh has beautiful places like the old market and Nama bay and its even more magical to visit them at night because the whole city is lightened up. It was surprising when I found out the shops close at 4:00 AM. Thanks to my beautiful friend from India for the fun night tour. We had fun touring the old market, the Tourist Information Centre (with free info/ flyers about Egypt). We could dress up as Muslims and tour inside the mosque (by the way, the dresses were a compliment from the mosque and Tourist Information Centre). The night continued with us trying out Egyptian food, shopped and window shopped. I would recommend all these fun places and fun things to do. They are perfectly safe, unless you donât follow the rules given, which you should you know. Sharm is all about peace.
Some fun activities at the resort- Sharm Grand Plaza including, sunset and sunrise watching by the sea, Zumba dancing, water yoga (or as I called it Aqua Yoga), normal Yoga and sunbathing among others.
There were so many activities to do like quad biking in the desert outside Sharm, something I did with my beautiful friend from South Africa. Other attendees preferred snorkeling, glass boat cruising, a visit to St. Catherine and scuba diving, but I couldnât even attempt this, it seemed scary to me. However, I will surely try them out the next time I get an opportunity to visit Egypt.
I canât even say goodbye to Sharm nor to Egypt because I met incredible people with the same goal as mine. It was a space to network and connect with friends from all over the world. The whole idea of networking shouldnât be how many people I was able to meet, but how many was I able to connect with even after this week. Thank you to the beautiful family of Sharm Grand Plaza and to the amazing friends from so many countries that I connected with. Thanks for making my experience a beautiful one. I love you all and would do this again 1000 times. Special thanks still go to world youth forum organizers for the amazing opportunities you gave us and for the security and comfort of a lifetime. We look forward to using the experiences and knowledge learned to make the world a better place through our initiatives.
Take home for everyone: Be Kind wherever possible, it is always possible â D LAIMA FIND REAL QUOTE PLUS AUTHUR.
Because through kindness you never know who you meet, what you can learn and how far it can take you.
My experience at the #WorldYouthForum2018 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. This blog post is dedicated to my God, the organizers of the world youth forum 2018, the friends I made there and everyone one who helped me throughout the experience.