By Emmy Rusadi
“You shouldn’t join the International Youth Federation just because it sounds cool”
This sentence still haunts me – I remember thinking it when looking for information about the IYF. I was thinking of the reasons why I want to be part of such a community and things like being a hero or becoming popular crossed my mind.
You are now reading this because it may help you decide why you want to be part of a global organization. What’s in it for you? Why should you put energy into making the world a better place when you can tell yourself that the world doesn’t need our help to get better or heal? I mean, the IYF doesn’t have superpowers, right?
What sets up apart from the rest of the world
IYF members are just like you except their thoughts begin with “we”, not “me. The IYF is about working together and doing it responsibly – we have our dedicated chairs and members who bring knowledge and experience into our extended family.
We are living in an era plagued with problems but we sometimes forget that we also hold the solutions. This is what I’ve done for this world.
In 2011, I built a national community in Indonesia called ASEC (Actual Smile English Club) which can be accessed at www.asec.web.id. I tried to promote and develop the capacity of youth, to help them gain (affordable) English and organisational management skills.
We have routine programmes and we force ourselves to acknowledge the challenges that exist. We look at the quality difference between urban and rural communities and we also look at poverty and how to use education to curb it.
We send books, go to places and influence people, we collaborate and we present our work in international forums, help our members to access scholarships, train them to enter international forums and encourage them to speak up.
I’ve been part of the IYF for over a year and I’ve worked with excellent people. We focus on the SDGs (climate change, human trafficking, human right, violence, poverty, education, water scarcity, etc.) and in addition to changing the world we also want to welcome more people into our community. You can be a member too. More information here: www.iyfweb.blog.org
Why did I choose the IYF path?
Truthfully speaking, I fell in love with how people can mobilize and work together towards the same goal: to give young people from all over the world a platform where they can share their thoughts, learn something new or join our campaigns. Being a global citizen is hard, I won’t sugar-coat it but if not us, then who is going to change this world?
Welcome to an era with no borders. Welcome to the IYF!
