Attending the World Youth Alliance Asia Pacific Summer Camp 2015 really changed my life.
I am a university student majoring in Hospitality and Tourism Management, and so the first time I encountered the word “dignity” was while reading the information about the camp. I had no idea what it was like at all. I just went straight to Google and found very few Thai websites defining it. The meaning was kind of funny to me at that moment. I found out more about the term from English sources and started to see the relationship between human dignity and human rights, but the concept was not completely clear to me.
Having peaked my curiosity, I decided to apply for the camp. Surprisingly, I was selected as a participant (I first thought I would not be one for sure)! I got an email from the organizer confirming my eligibility for the camp with a soft-copy of 400-page document. I told myself this camp would not be easy for sure, but hopefully, it will be productive and fun.
True enough this summer camp was unlike the other camps I have joined in the past. It changed my perspective of seeing the world and human beings. I learned that human rights do not grant human dignity, but that this dignity is intrinsic from the moment of conception. This knowledge is something I can definitely apply to my daily life. Actually, everything I learned from the camp will be really helpful for me, even if I am not taking up Law or Political Science. Our facilitators were very kind and really helped us understand the topics, and the activities allowed us to build a strong sense of solidarity. Because of this camp, I gained a new family with members from different countries.
Thank you for this incredible and memorable summer camp. Go WYA!
By Sittinan “Aon” Poonsawat, student from Mahidol University, Thailand. Aon joined the WYAAP Summer Camp 2015, and is one of WYA’s newly certified Track A members.
Photos from the camp here. If you are 18 years old or below, you may be interested to join the International Summer Camp.
