Young Catholic students recently gathered for the 10th Asian Sessions and Council of the International Young Christian Students Movement to focus on poverty and the role they could play to tackle it.
The gathering took place in Piliyandala, about 20 kilometers south of Colombo, Sri Lanka, from 19 to 28 August under the theme ‘To Turn on the Channel of Life; Learn, Dialogue and Empower now'.
Through the event, young Catholic students testified that coming together to discuss poverty and dialogue about their lives has made them more responsible.
"It is a life-changing experience," says Ravish Zahid, a ninth-grader from Lahore, Pakistan. Until she joined the Young Christian Students (YCS) movement in her school, she had "always taken life cool and easy".
Zahid was one of 67 students from 14 countries and territories in Asia who discussed the impact of media, poverty and dialogue on their life and formulated action plans to address these issues at the personal and organisational levels.
"Even little things matter. Take being on time for sessions or washing utensils after a meal for instance - they lead you to punctuality and responsibility. I've learned much about personal sharing, being obedient to my parents and leading a life of caring as a Christian youth," Zahid said.
Responsibility was not the only thing the youths learned at the sessions. "We gained awareness of the world, society, and how to see it differently. We discussed four issues - student poverty, media, dialogue and HIV/AIDS," reported Pratiba Rai, a 16-year-old student from Nepal.
In Pakistan, Christians live in "the most underdeveloped areas," Zahid said. "There is a lot of poverty, and child labour is very common."
As a movement, she continued, "we decided to do different projects with children to help them with their lessons and carry out fundraising to get educational material for needy students."
Muslims make up more than 95 percent of Pakistan's people, while Christians are mostly relegated to low-paid jobs in sanitation, brick-kilns and as farm workers.
In Taiwan, however, poverty among students comes in the form of spiritual and social poverty, according to 16-year-old Lucia Lu from Taipei. Her companions, Avi Hish and Shang Yu Shan, agreed with her, saying that poverty of the spirit is the greatest challenge in a fast-paced, material world.
In South Asian countries students suffer from lack of money and have to undertake jobs just to help their family survive, she said. "However, in Southeast Asian countries you see many working students because they feel poor due to the pressure from materialistic society, especially pressure from their peers," she told.