ReBorn

This is the Article I sent to the AYCC committee for the 2008 AYCC Book:

Short Brief of AYCC

Asian Youth Culture Camp (AYCC) held by The Office for Hub City of Asian Culture, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Republic of Korea, and this 2008 AYCC is the 3rd AYCC. For this 3rd AYCC, The Office for Hub City of Asian Culture, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism collaborated with Gwangju International Center, United Nations Environment Program National Committee for the Republic of Korea (UNEP) and Chonnam National University as the host.
The participant came from Cambodia, China, Denmark, Indonesia (including me ), India, South Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Tanzania divided into seven group. The camp was held from October 30th to November 2nd, 2008 and divided into three group discussion session, one group presentation and a mission impossible. Even before we actually meet each other, we already involved in the online discussion. I think the idea was brilliant, because we need some kind of “warm-up” before the camp because the participant comes from various academic backgrounds.

The Camp

In the first discussion session, we asked to present about individual proposal that we made before the camp. So after some short introduction we started to present each proposal. I tried to address an issue about one of my country’s World Heritages that endangered by Climate Changes, that is the Komodo National Park, home of the unique Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis). The proposals from other participant were very interesting and have unique point of view. In the second session the observer from AYCC committee give us a topic to discuss. We only have short time for the discussion but we can freely expressing our idea. And as the discussion go on in my group, we talk more about damage on World Cultural Heritages and the causes.
The last intra-group session was to summarize the previous discussions. Its quite tough discussion because too many things to consider while so little time we had. But that is the challenges of discussion. And I’m really nervous because every move was taped by television broadcaster (I didn’t remember the name, maybe it’s Arirang).
The discussion in our group consume so much time, so we didn’t have the time to create the report. As the solution we take some times from our sleep time to finishing the report.
The next day, we had rare opportunity to joined 2008 Asian Culture Forum which was organized by Korea’s Global TV Arirang and hosted by Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism at Hotel Ramada Plaza Kwangju. It is invited many fantastic speakers from good organizations like Director of Liverpool Biennale (United Kingdom) and Director of National Art Center, Tokyo (Japan).
After the Asia Culture Forum, we return to Chonnam University and we gathered at the hall to present the group report. My group presenter was Chang Min and he did great job for us, even we receive The Best Team Award. In order to refresh our mind, we go to eat dinner together and play some Korean game. I really like the time when we playing together, because it shows that there is no barrier between us.
Last day was an outdoor trip called “The Mission Impossible”. All participants were assigned into new groups so each of us can interact more among participants. Each group has different mission to accomplish and after the first mission at Kwangju Biennale, All groups were separated to different places. And my team got the Kwangju River Bike Mission. We had to take the Bike tour, take pictures as evidence of task completion and draw a map of Kwangju River. I feel so lucky to get this mission because I love riding a bike and Kwangju River is really nice place for biking and jogging. Kwangju River can be a perfect example for riverside management. Not only provide clean river but also a place for entertainment. We also had lunch in Korean traditional restaurant (really old one, just like in the countryside of Korea). I really had a great time during “The Mission Impossible” task.
Closing Ceremonies
Every group presented their travel time by showing some pictures taken at the mission with short explanation. And then winner announcement held followed by music performances. I really happy because both of my group get “The Best Team Award” (Presentation group and Tour group).
Suggestion
Overall, the camp is a huge success. The participants had valuable experiences of working with together on environmental issues and exchange our cultures. I have some suggestion for future camp. It is not about the camp itself, but the promotion and post-camp actions.
I think for the next camp the promotion should be more incessant. In order to bring more youth to experience the great time in the camp. Independent website definitely needed to maintain the post-camp actions and maintain the relations between the participants. This is also easing the participant candidates to review about previous camp. Last but not least, I hope AYCC will hold again next year.