WORLD VISION YOUTH CONFERENCE 2018 💛

On Wednesday 14th March, me and my fellow student council members attended the 2018 World Vision Youth Conference at the La Vida Centre in Riccarton. The conference ran from 9:45 to 2:45 and was a great day for all of us. I believe we all learned a lot!

A few things we learned were the living conditions in South Sudan, how to take leadership, and lots about politics and the New Zealand government. 

South Sudan
South Sudan is one of the latest world regions to be granted as a country, when it gained it's independence from Sudan in 2011. 
It is located in East-Central Africa between Ethiopia and the Central African republic.
The living condition in South Sudan are unimaginable, with 80% of the population living with a poor income of less than $1.83 NZD per day. The citizens of South Sudan are very effected by conflict and ethnic tension arising in the region. 
The 40 Hour Famine is one of the major organisations working to help with South Sudan and the famine, poverty, and poor living conditions they live through. Money raised in this year's 40 Hour Famine will go towards South Sudanese refugees. 

For more information visit World Vision's website. 

How to take leadership
As well as talking about the famine, our speakers also treated us to talks about taking leadership roles in the community and country. The speakers talked about what it means to be leader, what they do, and how you can become a leader. We learned that leaders think differently - they have a vision of what to do and how. Leaders are ruthless, take risks, and are able to make good choices.

Politics
Chloe Swarsbrick, New Zealand's youngest member of Parliament at only 21 years old, was a speaker at the event. She explained a lot about how she got into politics, what it's like being in parliament, and how she decided to get into politics. Before Parliament she worked in the radio industry, inspired to become a politician after interviewing two candidates for Auckland Mayor. She said that she didn't like how most politicians in this country, and across the world, are "older, white men", and her plan was to break those stereotypes. It shows how anyone can be a leader if they really strive to be one.

What are we going to with this information?
Me and the rest of the accompanists to the conference are forming a committee this year. The committee is dedicated to organising, running and holding the 40 Hour Famine at Hornby High School this year. We were able to come up with some great ideas at the conference with the help of others schools and year levels, and we're working to get them into action by July. I think it is important to hold the 40 Hour Famine because we need to raise awareness for the living conditions in South Sudan currently, and the best way to do that is to put ourself in their shoes. 

What was my highlight?
A personal highlight for me is when one of the speakers said, "Be ruthless." That made me change my perspective on what a good leader is. I imagined good leaders to follow the rules and directions to gain experience to be at the top, but this conference showed me it's not. To be a leader, you need to be ruthless and take risks to get what you want. 

Here are some photos from the event!

Me and Nathan with Chloe Swarsbrick!

We all got a photo at the centre!